Meet Genevieve!



Happy Birthday to me! I had a fabulous birthday–filled with gifts of yarn, yarn books, a new coffee maker, and my very own dress form for displaying new yarn projects and working on new designs. I’ve named her Genevieve because she is oh so french, stylish, and lovely. You’ll be seeing a bunch more of her in the future as I dress her up in new sweaters, tank tops, scarves, etc. My mom said this was the largest dolly I’ve ever had. I guess it is a grown-up version of the myriad of dolls I made and sewed clothes for when I was a girl. I s’pose you’re never too old to dress up dolls, eh? This stripy sweater is made of a wonderfully soft 100% cotton yarn called Ty-Dye. I absolutely love how it feels and drapes so beautifully. The Berroco pattern left a lot to be desired however! It never ceases to amaze me how yarn companies can get away with sloppy instructions for garments. My mom had fits with the pattern and tried to warn me and give me tips for how to get around the large goof in the pattern, but I wasn’t able to make it work. So half-way finished with the sweater, I had a choice to make…either rip the entire thing out and see if I could try again to figure out the misleading directions, or just keep going and add a crochet or knit placket to one side to add the necessary inches that the flawed pattern left out. I think it actually worked out alright…I like the purple stripe down only one side…gives it a bit of an asymmetrical look. I probably should have knitted the placket instead of crocheted. It would have been more in keeping with the light, airyness of the stockinette fabric, but since I was crocheting all edges for a more finished look than the pattern calls for, i decided to just crochet the placket. The great thing about making your own garments, is that you wind up with something unique, and you can always go back and undo or redo something that just doesn’t sit right with you. I’ll keep the crocheted edge for now…the contrast in texture is also a boon. Next time you hit a wall in a sloppily written pattern, before you rip it out, consider if there is a way you can improvise, and if so, go with it! You might just end up with a one-of-a-kind piece that you like even more than the original pattern.

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