The Easy Peasy 'Coco' Sweater....

One of my happiest makes for a while.

I bought a couple of balls of Drops Alpaca in a nice little yarn shop one day. I bought them with the vision of perhaps some nice little wrist warmers to take me into Autumn.

It was gorgeous yarn in a gorgeous colour. A greeny/grey/blue. Totally me, and totally scrummy.

I like drapey, slouchy and swingy, and have a Zara knit top that I like to wear.....a lot.

One day, I'm staring at this gorgeous yarn.......then my focus shifts to this Zara top that is next to it....and the light bulb moment happens. Why don't I make a slouchy, drapey sweater thingy from this gorgeous yarn, instead of some measely little wrist warmers. This yarn seemed too gorgeous to just be a pair of wrist warmers. It can't be hard I thought. I looked at the Zara top and it was basically two rectangles joined together with sleeves. How hard can that be?

So......in my usual, fly by the seat of my pants, hurridly rushed sort of way, I scribbled what I wanted to do, got some more yarn, and just crocheted, hoping for the best.

I had many a moment when I was really worried that it would turn out horribly wrong, and it would be a complete waste of effort. But once I started putting all the pieces together, I started to relax and realise it was going to turn out just as I had hoped it would.

I LOVE IT

It's just a dream to wear. Sloppy and comfy. Warm and cosy, yet light if that makes sense.

Anyway, I'm thinking, as I usually do, that a couple more would be lovely to add to my wardrobe.

I did spend a while wondering it it needed some sort of fancy edging or embellishment. I was quite taken with the idea of some teeny little roses right on the join there between the neck seam and the arm join, but I still haven't decided. I might make some detachable ones that I can just put on if I feel like sprucing it up a little. I also had some cross stitch rose patches that I quite fancied sewing on, but, again, I am undecided. Maybe if I make a couple more I will experiment. I do like the colour of this one and I like it plain. So who knows. I like having the option though. I decided against any edging or fancy border. I think I just quite liked it simple. But the great thing about this pattern is the possibility or adding loads or keeping it simple.

So, the easy peasy basics of this sweater. It's basically two rectangles made for the front and back. I used Drops Alpaca in shade 7120 (Light Greyish Green it is called). It really is gorgeous yarn to use. It's 4ply, but I used a 4mm hook to make it soft and drapey. I made a chain of 180 for each main rectangle. I'm a UK size 12 and this was perfect for me as I wanted it really loose and swingy. I'd say give or take 20 chains if you want to go up or down. I used 4 x 50g balls for each rectangle and went up in rows until I had used all the balls. That equated to 108 rows to be even on both rectangles.

For the sleeves, I made a foundation chain of 40 and used 1 x 50g ball for each sleeve. I did 90 rows for each sleeve (so a thin, long rectangle). I laid out both front and back panels (WSF and one above the other) and crocheted (using the remaining yarn) each sleeve panel to both sections of the rectangles. I then just closed up each sleeve seam remaining, and crocheted together to two sides remaining. I worked out how much of the neckline I wanted to crochet together. Just enough to give a drape off the shoulder, but not so much that it would be annoying and always falling down. It's really down to you. I just tested it with stitch markers until I felt it was right for me. I believe I crocheted in 81 stitches from each side to get it just how I wanted it.

The stitch I used, I really loved for this project, and think it worked really perfectly. I believe it is called the Seed Stitch. It is the crochet equivalent to the knitter's Moss Stitch, which is s stitch I TOTALLY love in knitting, and what I wanted to re-create in a crocheted garment. I looked it up and some people refer to it as Moss Stitch in crochet but to avoid confusion for myself, I call it Seed Stitch (it does actually look like little planted seeds in the ground). There are lots of tutorial for this stitch on the internet. It's simply 'DC, chain 1' (UK terms).

Well I love it. Really simple to make. Snug. Soft and it's like wearing a big warm hug. It's fine to wear with something light, but I'll be wearing it with layers underneath for the wintertime too.

I'm liking the idea of a big wide Drops Alpaca Scarf to add to it, just to increase the snuggly factor in the Autumn time for walking. Oooooooh yes, doesn't that sound scrummy? There is quite a nice selection of colours for this yarn too, which makes it even more appealing. It really was a dream to work with, and it's a dream to wear. 

Maybe not everyone's style or choice, but it's very 'Me' so I'm all smiles!

Apologies for the quality of the photos. The weather has been rubbish here, and I had to try and capture it on rare day when the sun was out, and I had one of the Bear's to take a few shots. A little out of focus, but you get the picture, so to speak!

As I said in my previous post, I shall be taking a little break. I have so much to do in the day to day, that I just need to focus and get it all done. Also, I'm really getting into the frame of mind that this little blog of mine has run its course. I often have these thoughts, but they disappear and I carry on. Lately, they have been hanging around a lot longer. I think perhaps the break might be a good idea to see if I come back refreshed, or if it's to say goodbye.

May all your days be beautiful

xxx