Monday 22 June 2015

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!

21 comments:

  1. The weather has not been good here either rain all day today, but at least that makes more time for crochet. Your jumper looks delightful, a very impressive pattern.

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    1. Hi Lorraine! Yes, yesterday was also very rainy and grey, I'm hoping it will be a bit better today! Glad you like the jumper! :) xx

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  2. A great jumper and i love the yarn you chose. It looks great! The walk looks lovely too, its always so nice to get out and about. Have a great week.

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    1. Hi Teresa, how are you doing? Thanks for your kind comments!! :) xx

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  3. Hi Ingrid, I have never tried to crochet a garnment. I really fear that it won't fit. Nevertheless someday I will definitely try it but I will choose a lacy pattern so that nobody can see how bad I am in sewing things together. I don't know the Sidar Americana yarn, is it a pure cotton yarn? I love to use the Lang Quattro but it is quite thin (needle 3), so it would take ages to make a garnment from it. The weather here is awful, lots of rain and only 11-13 degrees. I put the heating on this morning, I don't want to freeze anymore. Have a lovely day, Viola

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    1. Hello Viola!

      As you can see, a basic simple pattern like this is not to hard, just 2 rectangles. What I did was to measure myself, check out a few of my own jumpers and compare the measurements, then make a little swatch to compare my number of stitches with those from the yarn label (per 10cm square) - and from that multiply the stitches accordingly to get the width I wanted. (I use the same principle when I knit a jumper).

      Sirdar Americana is 60% Cotton and 40% Acrylic on a 4mm hook. It is quite soft and easy to care for.

      If you are interested, this is our weather forecast: http://www.weeronline.nl/Europa/Belgie/Antwerpen/4053795

      It shows that temperatures are going up as from tomorrow, and it should be hot towards the end of this week! :))

      Hope your weather gets better as well! xx

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  4. Hoi Ingrid, wat heb je een mooi shirt gehaakt! Zo simpel eigenlijk, 2 rechthoeken aan elkaar. Maar het staat goed en de mogelijkheden met verschillende garen en patronen/steken zijn eindeloos!
    Wat leuk dat jullie paarden tegenkwamen in het bos, ik geloof graag dat daar iets 'magisch' van uitgaat! Altijd fijn om door mooie natuur te wandelen. Groetjes!

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    1. Hoi Lizette, dankewel! Het was echt niet moeilijk. Ik zou graag nog eons gain haken. 😃 xx

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  5. It is simple and very pretty. Looks very nice on you. Lovely nature park photos.

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    1. Hello Nancy, thanks for your kind comments! Enjoy your week! :) xx

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  6. Hello Ingrid, what a pretty top you made, I love the yarn you used. It really looks so nice on you! Love the foxglove flowers, I have them in the yard too!

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    1. Hi Hetty! Glad you like the top, I decided that I want to make more, using different patterns. The yarn is very easy to use. Yes, flowers like that look so nice, shame they are poisonous. In England they also grow quite abundantly! (However, when my children were little, I had to remove them from my garden!!!) Right now I am really fond of lupins, I have got some and I keep reseeding them! :) xx

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  7. Love your crocheted top. I'm just putting the finishing touches on a crochet top for myself but I didn't design it myself. Hopefully I'll get blogging about it soon. I love those white cows.

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    1. Oooh! How exciting, Gillian! I will be sure to be checking your blog extra frequently - can't wait to see your top. :-)

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    2. Hello Gillian!
      I'm also looking forward to seeing your crochet top!!! :) xx

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  8. Hi Ingrid,
    Well done on your top! Garments do not need to be complex to be functional and attractive.

    I have been thinking about your side seams and holes accentuated. When you stitch your seams together, do you work 'around' the treble stitches? That can cause the edge stitches to pull away from the rest and create a holey effect. Is that what happened? Holes can be less obvious by stitching 'through' the middle of the edge treble stitch, between the threads within the stitch itself. I hope this is helpful.

    Thank you for sharing your wanderings! I love seeing photos of the Dutch countryside - it takes me back there! I had many lovely hours cycling through the woods, and if I was lucky I might spy some rabbits or deer. One day I was unlucky and brushed some stinging nettle which reminded me of the woods for days afterwards! I do love that everything is so green.

    Enjoy the summertime!

    This year, it has been the driest Winter for a long time. I am hoping for more rain so my trees can survive the summers - we need some drenching rains to wet the subsoil, not just dampen the top few centimetres.

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    1. Thanks for your tip, Jodie! Hope you will see some rain soon in your part of the world! 😃 xx

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  9. Great top , I love your yarn and I think you look fab with your new hair. You look beautiful

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  10. Thanks, Helda! ;) I just wanted to see my own natural hair colour for a change!! Take care! xx

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  11. This top looks so pretty on you, Ingrid.
    Amalia
    xo

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