Teresa - do you have a progress report?

Before and after joining up the neckline (11 Base-chain/SC). This neckline design is clever; it drops the neck a bit in front and is very graceful.

You can see the markers for the 4 increase points. After another dozen or so rows (varies, depending on the size), with increases at certain intervals, the two marked points at each side will join up (with a few extra chains) to make a sleevehole, leaving the front and back to join up for the body. Then the body is worked in rounds to the hem, and then one sleeve, and then the other. So almost all of the tricky parts are over, after the first four rows!

This time it is going a LOT faster!

Joy, how is your VEST coming along?!?

Teresea I like the look of your crochet hook.

We are coming over to Florida for Christmas and new yr maybe I will see soem nice craft shops to get new hooks and patterns.

Kath

I had gotten as far as Row 12, and took a good look. There was a BUMP in each corner, several rows back. I think I messed up the join into the increase-shell and got the corners out of alignment. Here's a picture of R.I.P -- Rip In Progess -- as I un-hooked back as far as Row 6. It took me until midnight to re-make the rows and get back to Row 12. But it is going quickly!

Don't you love those piles of curly yarn!

I have made zero progress on my 4-S Vest. I've actually had work the past few days and since I'm self-employed I have to take it when it's there. And in the evenings I've been working on Christmas gifts (where I've had my own piles of that curly stuff!).

I hope to get back to it quickly, especially after seeing the capelet made by twinkiesmom.

You're doing a great job - I'm looking forward to seeing this finished as well.

- Joy B.

Progress!
I think I'm going to call this one "No Blues Sweater"! Work is going a lot quicker than the first one, just as I hoped. The yarn is a little strange to work with though (stretchy). I started to get much more consistent gauge after the first few inches. Oh well. I have faith that blocking will make the difference less obvious.

I'm also pondering what to do about the neck. I made this quite a bit bigger than "Jewel" (42 instead of 36), and the neckline is fairly low. I'm not sure I want to do the ribbed edging in the pattern; I'd like to get more of a collar thing going on. THAT's the missing chapter from Doris's book! Collars!! Hmm, shells? ribbing? SCBLO? hmmm....

Hey Teresa,

Great progress! I think the missing collars are more about my personal likes and dislikes than anything else. I have a short neck. A really short neck. Collars are a nuisance for me to wear, particularly if I have on earrings. snag. catch. Argh!

Also a question of time and space. Adding collars means more samples, more copy, more photos, more pages. My poor one book would never hold all that could be done to these designs.

Most of the necklines in the book are relaxed and easy-fitting. Purposely so. That way more body types can get a more comfortable fit, better than if the necks were all too tight, huh?

Very few collars can easily be worked onto a loose, generous neckline. Cowl (which I did). Shawl (which I did).

If you want a collar on your No Sweat, you could do a cowl (like Eve's Rib Vest) or split cowl (same idea, only instead of seaming the two edges of the collar together, leave it split, choosing to begin the collar in center front, or asymmetrical or wherever). Doable. Fairly straightforward.

Hope this helps.

Nice to see how this is progressing for you, Teresa. I had one of those "lightbulb moments" today on how top down raglans work. There I was, in the cinema watching 30 Days of Night and blam, it came to me, lol! Amazon tells me that my Everyday Crochet is *about* to dispatch, so hopefully I'll be able to join in on a few of these, or even start my own CAL.

This was progress as of Saturday.

The body is now complete (thanks to a peaceful Sunday ferryboat ride) and I'm about to start the sleeves. Soon. As soon as I finish some of that work that pays for the yarn (and Internet, and heat, and dinner....)!

Wow Teresa -

That looks really good! Have you figured out which project you'll tackle next?

Thanks for all the tips and pictures you give. I am new at this website and I'm obviously not an intermediate crocheter. I keep studying this book (Doris Chan), thinking I will surely understand it eventually. Your notes will help, I think. I started with the first project, Cameo, and I ran into questions right away. I love this websight. Keep the comments coming!

that's lovely. I definitely need to get this book.

Hardcore? Hardcore is for babies. I'm HOOKCORE!

It's a good thing I know that blocking is going to make a difference, because that sleeve looks a bit lumpy to me! I'll try to pay extra attention to making the other sleeve according to the instructions, and if it looks better I'll know I have to un-do and re-do part of this sleeve.

This sleeve doesn't yet have the ribbed hem; I will wait until I complete the other sleeve, hoping this will make it easier to be sure they are the same length. But then again, why would I do that, knowing that my right arm is at least an inch longer than my left?!

I detoured to make a pair of "mandolin gauntlets" (wristlets) for my pal, and 2.6 hats (that's one for my dad, one for me, and the beginnings of two others) ... I got back to this project last night, because I need a new sweater to wear against the howly winds of the past few days!

Not-so-good sleeve...
By morning light, I took a close look and compared the first sleeve --

with the second sleeve (3/4 done) --

Maybe more sensibly, I COUNTED THE PATTTERN REPEATS! and sure enough, I had done one too many decreases on the first sleeve, which explains why it looks so lumpy along the underside (my triceps are firmer than that!). The sleeve for my size has ten repeats (ten shells with single-crochet between each), and each set of 5 taper rows should decrease by one shell, so the wrist-part of the sleeve should be 8 shells around. The second sleeve is 8, but the first one is just seven. Wrong!

So I pulled it out. I have a new-found faith in blocking, but not THAT much faith! I'd rather get the basic shape right first.

On the plus side: now that these two sweaters have helped me "get" shells -- how stretchy they can be, and how to join the rounds, and how to make increases with them -- I've got some cool hats going!

Hey Teresa -

How's it going? Are you there yet?

Did you know that Doris has a new pattern in the fall Interweave Crochet magazine? It's called the Sera Lace Top and it is lovely, more of a mesh with shells. If I added that to my list, I'd have 4 of her sweaters that I'd like to make next year! I have been busy making those "Going Green" tote bags shown on the home page here. I've got them down to about 7 hours each now and don't even have to look at the pattern anymore.

Anyway, I'd love an update if you have anything to say.

- jb

On track!
I finished both sleeves (that one definitely needed rescue; now the increases look smooth on BOTH sleeves!). On one sleeve, I did the first couple of rows of the sleeve ribbing -- and did it wrong! The count is off (one too many ribs [FPDC/BPDC]). But it's only 2 rows so I will pull it off and do it over this evening.

I have decided to go ahead with the ribbing as shown in the book, after all -- no collar. I wear turtlenecks all the time anyway! The ribbing should pull the neckline up and in a bit so that the sweater doesn't slide quite so far down my shoulders.

I think I am going to wear this a lot. Even before blocking, I like the way it fits.

'nother update, 7 p.m.! Finished the sleeves with 8 rows of ribbing where pattern calls for 10, only because that's where my yarn ran out.

I like the ribbing! I thought it might be stiff, but it is thick and sculptured; it feels great.

I think I went a bit TOO oversized when I chose my size, as far as the neckline is concerned. So I'm about to add 2 more rows of ribbing (there are already 4 rows) with yet a smaller hook, to bring the neckline in and up a bit. I used a "J" hook [earlier I accidentally posted as "K"] for most of the sweater (a size up from what the pattern called for); I used an "I" hook for the ribbing. I'm going to try an H for one row and then a G, to see what happens.

AND.... !!! I'm hoping that the half-inch-long loose end I just discovered, right up by the neckline, doesn't mean that some stitches actually disassembled themselves! There's some extra "white space" (it looks a little TOO lacy right around there), but this might just be a loose shell or stitches, not actually MISSING stitches. I fear I might have cut off an end where I joined new yarn without actually having woven it in. How could I do that?!? Yikes!

I've secured the end, and I'll stare at the stitches for a while and see if I can figure out whether there is any "needle-weaving" ("needle-crocheting"?) I need to do. And if so ... HOW??? Or.... just always wear a dark turtleneck under my dark sweater....!

Teresa, if it really is the worst, you cut too short, check out Tips and Tricks here for the post on how to move a buttonhole. There is good advice there on how to hide a hole.

I hope it's just loose stitching that can be firmed up. Good luck.

Pauline

Teresa -

It's beautiful! I'm so impressed with your work!

Last night I finished all the ribbing, put it on, stared at it in the mirror, didn't want to take it off, it feels great! But -- two fixes required!

First, urgh, yes, part of a shell in the very first row (at the front, natch!) is missing some of its "legs." LESSON ONE! Cut the extra IMMEDIATELY after weaving in an end! More to the point, DO NOT go back later with the scissors and try to guess which loose ends have already been woven in! I made a bad guess.

Bad! Bad!! However, I think I can figure out how to fake it a bit. Pauline, thanks so much for the reminder about the "buttonhole" posting. My brain is V-E-R-Y slow at figuring out shapes -- what would a crochet stitch look like if I made it with, say, a big needle instead of a hook? I dunno; my hands know how to do it with a hook, that's all!

Second, ribbing: I chose to make a rather large size -- 6 inches bigger than the "Jewel" sweater I made (i.e., 6" more than my bust measurement) -- and I also used a larger hook. So, call it about 8 inches bigger than me. The result is that when I put the sweater on, the top row of shells opens up so much, especially across the shoulders, that the neckline looks a bit sloppy.

I added 2 extra rows of ribbing with a smaller hook, and that helped; the neckline doesn't look sloppy now and hits me in a good spot. But the shells still look TOO open, almost stretched. So I think I will un-do and re-do the neckline ribbing with a smaller hook. Guess who didn't check gauge....

"Festina lente" -- make haste slowly! I always forget the "slowly" part.

Hey Teresa,

I feel your pain. Been there, done that. Cut ends not ready to be cut. ARGHHH!

If your neckline is just too, too loose and open, here's a suggestion. Frog back to the foundation. Sc around but work a few sc2tog. I suggest doing them at the top of the increases points, pulling up the neckline at the tops of the shoulders rather than at the front or back where it might look gathered there. Then, with fewer sc around the neckline, go ahead and do the ribbing. You could also skip the ribbing, but control the neckline even further by slip stitching around, working as loose or tight a gauge as you need to make the opening most comfortable.

HTH. I am eternally grateful for everyone's posts and progress reports, so helpful and encouraging to others who might venture here. THANKS!

Yours,

Doris

Teresa,

It *looks* lovely. With Doris' suggestion, it will fit lovely too.

Pauline

Progress! as in: Two steps forward, one step back.

One Step Forward: My missing stitches seem to have been less catastrophic than I feared. When I counted shells and compared carefully (and in my case, this involves a lot of counting-on-my-fingers and muttering), it looked to me like the gap opened up because the slipstitch that attached the front neckline foundation chain had started to work loose. In other words, I didn't lose a whole shell as I had feared. I worked the tail end back around where it looks like it should be, and took care when I put in the row of SC so they could help draw up the gap.

One Step Back? I counted OBSESSIVELY in working out where to make the decreases that Grand Master Chan recommended, trying to get an even number of SC around the neckline. And just couldn't get it to come out even. Because ... (ominous musical cue here) ... it looked for a while as if my increases weren't evenly spaced at the beginning! In other words, one sleeve is a little bit extra towards the center front, and/or the other is a little bit extra toward the center back. WHAAAAAHT???

But I didn't notice during all the trying-on, so I am not going to worry about it now. As they say, "the perfect is the enemy of the good" -- or in this case, "the perfect is the enemy of the FINISHED"!

I did double-check the neckline SC row before I continue with the ribbing, to make sure things looked even enough. (Didn't. So I did it over again.) Close enough! There's always another sweater ahead, to try for perfection ... and I want to get out the black yarn and get into the cardigan chapter!

So ... I'm about to take some pictures of the finished (YES!) sweater, flat, before I wet-block it. I like having the "before-and-after" to see how much it changes.

It's done! I am wearing it! I love it! Pix soon -- first we have to go to the aiport to pick up my mother-in-law, who is arriving from the UK for the next 2 months (her first solo trip since we lost my pa-in-law last spring). I don't think I can persuade her to crochet, but I might talk her in to picking up the knitting needles again, OR maybe she will take up spinning again! I "inherited" her Ashford Traditional wheel some years back but I have put it in the guest room with some enticing roving; crafty of me, eh? (get it?! crafty??)

I love my No Blues No Sweat sweater!

The sweater is looking great! Congratulations to you.

Maybe IT will inspire your MIL, though sometimes grief puts a damper on everything and for a surprisingly long time.

Congratulations Teresa! It's just beautiful. This really makes me want to get on with it (4-S still sitting in basket). But my work has been surprisingly busy the past couple weeks; end-of-the-year rush I guess, so I only get about 3 hours each evening to crochet. And I'm still working on Christmas. Off the subject a little, but I got a book called 24 Hour Crochet Projects, author Rita Weiss (this lady has been around forever, I have edging collection books authored by her from back in the '70s)thinking that would be great for Christmas gifts. Well, the title is a little misleading. I probably have close to 40 hours into one of the helmet hats (with all the frogging) and I finally had to put it down before I killed myself. I will go back to it soon, but with some serious modification.

Are you still going to do the Mei-Mei next or are you going to take a break?

Oh goodness, Christmas ...

Instead of Mei Mei I think I will make the cardigan (Cinnabar) because I would wear it a lot more. Taking a bit of a break though to rest my hands from crochet hook and computer. Wish I could take a break from the computer!

More pix to come, maybe this afternoon. Thank you for all the support and encouragement! It is very motivating!