Scrappy Stripes Sweater

I've completed yet another pattern! This time I used a bunch of my leftover yarn bits and bobs to create a rainbow sweaters I have dubbed the Scrappy Stripes Sweater! This pattern is available as a free downloadable pdf on Ravelry.

Evelyn is sitting down wearing a rainbow crochet sweater

The sweater body is worked from the bottom up, while the sleeves are worked from the top down. Each colored stripe only uses about 80 yards of each scrap, and about 440 yards of a base color, in my case I used cream. This brings the total amount of yarn to about 1720 yards.

If you've got sharp eyes, you might notice some yarns that I have used in previous projects! The sweater is primarily made from aran weight yarn, but there are a couple dk and worsted bits snuck in there, with careful consideration as to how that would affect the gauge.

The sweater is made from dc and sc, the cuffs using the back loop only to create texture and stretch, while the sleeves use dc2tog for shape. The stripes keep their clean look using the standing crochet stitch. If you're unfamiliar with what that is, I'd recommend checking out this tutorial on Moogly.

Scrappy Stripes Sweater Side

Although the weather is a bit warm for this scrappy sweater, I still want to wear it all the time! It was fun to use up the ends of yarn and think about other projects I had made using it.

The pattern is available for free download here. I listed all the yarns I can remember here, but I can't guarantee the one you're eyeing is listed. Remember to let me know if you make something using this pattern! You can link it to the project page on Ravelry, or tag me on social media.

Hats for Trade

Since my visa doesn't allow me to do freelance work and I've been making hats like it's what's keeping me alive, I've been trading hats with my friends for different things. I believe I've mentioned this before, when I talked about my Ugly Hat Trade with my friend Katie.

This hat was traded with my friend Luc for food. It was made using the Hella Gay Hat pattern, which I lengthened to make a beanie. I made the larger size, and it ended up being too big. I tried a new technique on this hat, double knitting, which causes the design to be knit on both sides of the piece at the same time, just in opposite colors. It was a little difficult to start out, but easy to pick up. This method takes a lot longer than just creating 'floats' in the back of the work, but the tension is much better. Since there is essentially two layers of work, this makes the hat warmer and squisher, which is nice, but since I only double knit a small portion of the hat, it ends up looking a bit odd when placed on the head.I am very happy with the pom pom.