A simple Crochet Top and a walk amongst the forests and wetlands near Tilburg (NL)

Hello,

Hope you all had a nice weekend!!! Did you manage to catch a little bit of sunshine? We did, after a bit of a heavy rainshower, more of that later! First to some crochet news!

A simple Crochet Top

I started it some time ago, maybe early May, before the Baby Blanket and all the recent shawls - which is why it got put to one side for a while. So far I had completed most of the back and half of the front panel, but there were still quite a lot of rows to go!

After working hard this weekend to get this Top finally finished,  I can finally show it to you!

Here it is!!!

22.06.15 - My second crochet Jumper

Before it was finished: Here are the back and the front (which are identical), basically 2 large rectangles which I crocheted together to form a boatneck and simple cap sleeves by joining the sides.  This is my own design.

At the weekend : still more work to do!

Here you can see the easy stitch pattern I decided on: 2 rows of dc (UK) double crochet followed by 1 row of treble crochet (tc).

I wanted to have an even pattern that was not too holey, but let some air through nevertheless.

Sirdar Americana Cotton Blend DK

Boatneck detail

The finished Jumper!

Cool and comfortable!

The yarn I used was Sirdar Americana (I also used this for my Minty Shawl in a different colourway).

Hook: 4 mm       Used 9 x 50g*

From further away the colour looks quite neutral, but close up you can see the flecks of Red, Green and Orange in the Cream yarn. It will go with a lot of my clothes!

I made the Top quite long* (66cm) which is how I wanted it!

Some things I learned:

Making a smooth even edge - some of my early rows seemed to have gone a bit here and there, so I began to check the number of stitches in each finished row to make sure it was correct. Tedious, I know, but I soon got the hang of it and my edges started to be totally straight (and I didn't have to check anymore!)

When using a neutral yarn, it might be better to use a more interesting stitch pattern! (next time)

In hindsight I could have made more of a tunic shape (but I was dreading in/ or decreasing!)
I might need to make up my own paper pattern shape against which to crochet along!!!

Crocheting the edges together somehow seems to accentuate the holes made by the trebles (luckily the side seams don't get noticed much plus they could be extra air holes....)

Maybe crochet in the round instead???

The boatneck was a total success!!!

I was considering adding tassels but then decided against it!



A walk in a Nature Park between Tilburg and Eindhoven (NL)

Despite the crocheting on the weekend, we still managed to get out yesterday. We drove across the Dutch border to the Beerze Dale. (Beerze is a River) We noticed we were driving towards some very dark clouds! As we got nearer, there was still some rain, but the it stopped and we got going!

We walked an enjoyable trek of about 7 km, through forests, along fields and wetlands. I even got to stroke some grazing horses (in the middle of the woods) which was magical! We had to walk right through amongst them and they were such gentle creatures, busy with grazing.

Horses in the forest

Pale Foxglove (Digitalis)

White cows!

Extensive wetlands

We also saw quite a few wild flowers, an ants nest in a tree trunk, lots of electric blue dragonflies, a green frog and a brown toad. Lots of interesting new impressions.

What did you see this weekend? And what are your tips when it comes to crocheting a garment?

I look forward to hearing from you, please leave me some comments!