Saturday, June 15, 2019

A Crocheted Halter Top


First, thank you so much to everyone who responded to my last post, both here and privately. I appreciate every one of your comments so much and the encouragement and sympathy. I almost deleted that post after publishing it but I'm glad I left it up. Thank you!

Sweet wildflowers the other day at Serpent Mound
I haven't been sewing much this month, mainly because I am almost never home. I did get to finish this little crochet project, which absolutely thrilled me. Because, I've never really been able to get the hang of crochet.
Forgive the awful quality phone pics. Starting the cups. . .
Finished! Laid out on the other half of the wool blanket left after making my drum bag 😁
My great-grandma (MawMaw) taught me how to make a very long chain many years ago. She sent me home with a ball of yarn and a hook and I amused myself by making various chained strings. I couldn't figure out how to build upon a chain to make, you know, something useful. 😁 A few years ago I somehow managed to crochet a Princess Leia hat for Rosie's Halloween costume but I am still not sure how I did that. It involved jumbo thickness yarn and a size 15 crochet hook!

Rosie STILL uses this hat although now, almost three years later, its definitely very worn. 
I do knit, not very well, but I preferred it to crochet since it made sense to me. Since having an IV in my hand last fall, though, (they refused to flush it or move it when I complained more than once about the pain and the area around it was raised and red and hot) I am pretty sure my hands have nerve damage and I cannot hold my knitting needles for long without pain. For that matter, I can't do much hand sewing for long without pain. I decided to give crochet another try and bought some cheap cotton yarn and a hook at Wal Mart to give this project a go. I thought maybe crochet would be easier on my hands.

The yarn isn't the best quality but I love this color green!
That was a few months ago but I finally decided to start this last week and yesterday I finished it! I had to restart it a few times as I made plenty of mistakes starting out and I deviated from the pattern by making a graded band for the sides/back that wraps and ties in the front, and I added more rows to the cups and had to gather the bottoms because my boobs are a really weird size BUT OH MY GOSH I CROCHETED THIS! And it looks mostly ok. And it fits. And best of all, it's comfortable and soft and even in my current bra-hating state, I do not at all mind wearing this. I wore it last night, in fact, under a t shirt to my sons baseball game.

This skirt goes with almost everything.
                                         

The skirt is a quick one I made a month or so ago out of leftovers from a few projects I made earlier this spring. The fabric is absolutely awesome so I was happy I had just enough left for this skirt! I made it to replace an old one I wore so much it literally fell apart. Before tossing the old skirt I took a pattern off it and replicated it in this material. This material is slightly more heavy than the original but not much. The waist is shirred with a continuous spiral of elastic machine shirring. So easy to wear and this material holds up fantastically to washing. It's a bit big so I need to make the elastic tighter but it still works for now (until a child yanks on it and darts away, laughing) I made a bralette out of the same fabric to go with the skirt but I don't have any pictures of it yet. The woven, sewn bralette definitely isn't as comfy as this gently structured crocheted one.


It's been a cold week but I know the weather will heat back up soon and I will get a lot of wear out of this over the next month or two. Now that I successfully completed this one, I am going to try a different pattern for a similar top out of nicer yarn. And of course I'll need another skirt. 😁 Thankfully, it does seem that holding a crochet hook isn't nearly as hard on my hands as holding knitting needles so I even have lofty ambitions of crocheting a cotton granny square blanket for my bed before winter arrives. We will see!

Much love,
Sarah

2 comments:

  1. Congrats on figuring out crochet! I also learned from my grandma, and it's always nice to be able to continue that kind of tradition. Your top looks SO GOOD! Comfy, casual, and very well done. (Also wtf that sucks about the IV damage. Health care or lack thereof is a crime in this country - that's so terrible that it happened to you.)

    I hope it was also a fun burst of creativity, and not a drain, like so much creation has been of late. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! Yes, it was a really fun project to work on and not feel rushed with. I like making things for modern day wear, so this was definitely a happy project!

      And, I could not agree more about healthcare. My kids grandma, who lives near us and I help care for, has gone through an almost year long battle to have a broken arm fixed after a bad fall last summer when she was living far away from anyone who could help. A FREAKING YEAR. It's sad and wrong, especially for people who NEED routine care and medication to live somewhat normal lives. If one has private insurance, it can still cost a hell of a lot and for those who are on state insurance the waiting lists are SO long and the care can be inferior to what it should be. I wish healthcare was free for everyone; I feel it is a basic human right. I don't know the answers but something needs to done because people are needlessly suffering and/or dying every day due to not having or not being able to afford healthcare.

      Delete

Thank you for your lovely thoughts!