At last! I finished my final entry for the 2015 North Carolina State Fair -- a crocheted baby sweater. This is a pattern that I've made several times before. It was originally published by Doreen Knitting Books, Volume 100, in 1950 and is available in several places on the Web. It works up pretty fast and there are only two underarm seams to sew up.
I used some thin yarn from my stash. No labels so I have no idea of the manufacturer any more. Burn test indicated it's wool or some other animal fiber. There were small amounts of four shades of yellow and orange. Because the yarn is thin, I used two strands throughout and created on ombre effect by gradually blending the yarns from solid yellow to solid orange.
The original pattern calls for a threaded ribbon closure, but I added a loop and this cute button that went well with the colors.
This and the crocheted shawl I posted earlier are my first crocheted entries so it will be interesting to see how I fare against the other entries. I am a bit concerned about the armhole seams in this piece as there were a lot of yarn tails to be dealt with due to all the color changes. I think I'll probably lose points because of the inside appearance so I'm still thinking if there's a way to conceal the little fuzzy ends better. I haven't washed the sweater yet so that might improve the situation.
I look at the whole entering handwork in the fair experience as a way of challenging myself to (1) finish something on a deadline, (2) work within constraints set by others, (3) practice problem solving when I go beyond the boundaries of an established pattern, (4) see how my skills compare with others using the same techniques.
This time next month I'll know how my work compared with others, For now, it's great to be finished with everything so I can get back to some other projects that I've put on hold.
5 comments:
Love the colours you've used & the ombre effect works so well :-) Come back with lots of ribbons :-)
Oh this is one sweet sweeter I love it, I am sorry I am chiming in so late I was out of town!
Thank you, Muskaan! The ombre effect was my solution to having so little of each color of the yarn...a nice stash buster project. Now if I could just make some headway on the other odd balls in my yarn stash.
I'm hopeful that at least one piece will please the judges. This is only my second year of entering pieces in the fair so I'm grateful of any recognition. I'm anticipating that the knitting and crocheting competitions will be pretty tough. I have more optimism for my tatted entries. In that area, I know most of my competition. There are definitely advantages to competing in a technique with fewer practitioners.
Yes, Carollyn, this is a really cute pattern. I think I've made 4 or 5 by this pattern. I love it because there's so little sewing up required to finish it.
I'm so glad that all my fair entries are finally finished. I'm back to knitting an airy cardigan from Morehouse Farm: http://www.morehousefarm.com/KnittingKits/Lace/Edwardian/Charmeuse/
It doesn't require much finishing as the front and back are knitted as one piece.
I've signed up for Marilee Rockley's advanced tatting class so I will be doing more tatting that isn't edgings for a change.
It's really pretty. I hope it does well at the fair.
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