Oh what a beautiful morning…pleasant temperatures, glowing sun and brilliant autumn colors all around! I’m going to have to think about taking a walk up to the park later on. Bring my camera too!
The jacket is almost finished lacking only a few more ruffle rounds on the body. That might require a few more rounds on the sleeves as well as when I put it on to check the ruffle last night, I noticed that the sleeves and the body were the same length. That looked pretty good to my eye so I think I’ll try to maintain it. I’m really pretty excited about this and can’t wait to have it completed :)
In a comment on Monday’s post (which see for pattern link), Catsmum mentioned the back detailing. And I realized that the pattern picture doesn’t show it. That’s a shame because it’s quite nice:
There remains one thing about this jacket that still bothers me a bit. Things are just a little stiff - as though the fabric had too much body? The ruffles don’t drape nicely, though they aren’t terrible now. I know this is a result of crochet itself, being a somewhat bulky technique, and the synthetic yarn which is not blockable in the ordinary sense.
I’m thinking about killing it…
Seriously, I worked up a swatch last night in the same V-stitch/cluster pattern as the jacket (and the same yarn, natch!). Then I put it in a bowl and poured just-off-the-boil water over it. Once things had cooled off enough to handle, I squeezed out the water and dried the swatch over-night. This morning? It had relaxed considerably and the fabric was much softer and drapier. My main reason for the experiment was to see if boiling water would melt the yarn. That would have been overkilling the yarn, heheh… :) Anyway, I’m pretty encouraged by the results.
I hope to have the finished article to show you on Friday!
Notes:
1. The Dulaan Kick-off Contest is under way (see the button in the sidebar for information) and participants are off and running! This would dovetail nicely with Ryan’s Dulaan 10,000 or Bust! (scroll down a bit) contest so have a look at that too, if you haven’t already :)
2. Chatters is on for tomorrow night - at least I hope it’s on :) We had an awful time with servers last Thursday and never did get going. Things seem to have been fixed however, whatever the problem was, and I don’t anticipate anything unusual tomorrow.
Okay, I’m going back to work on my jacket. I can’t wait to actually be able to wear this. I love it already!
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that’s really pretty! thanks for the back view- i think i can use you pic to determine how much i need to lengthen the top for my disproportionate neck to waist measurements- do you think the weight of the ruffled edging might pull down the top a bit?
here’s hoping your host server can behave for chatting tomorrow night-
stay happy-
Barb - I do think a substantial ruffle (more rounds than the pattern indicates) would pull things down a bit. For all its lacey look, I’m surprised every time I pick the thing up at how much it weighs!
I shouldn’t be - I’ve put roughly 28 oz of yarn into it already and there will probably be at least another 6-9 oz.
Most of the time, you kill acrylic by steaming it with your iron held just above the fabric. Some people do this with baby blankets. With your sweater, I think I’d lay it out as flat as I could (tough with ruffles) and then hover the steam iron over it until it has been saturated. Then let it dry. But if you are satisfied with the boiling water method, then do that way. It might be better for the ruffles.
Charlotte - Thank you for the suggestion. I did give that some thought as that’s how I’ve usually read killing acrylic is done. Unfortunately, my iron is old and feeble and not, I think, up to the challenge.
Granted the experiment was only done on a swatch and if I decide to go through with this, I’m risking the whole sweater. But I’m optimistic about the outcome :)
It is turning out pretty! I have this on my list to do this month.
Wendy - I hope it works up wonderfully for you! Post a picture when you’re done - I’d love to see how it comes out :)
You don’t have to put boiling water on Simply Soft to soften it. Simply run it through the washer on a gentle cycle. You can either toss it in the dryer with a towel, which rubs it up a little bit, or lay it flat to dry. In either case, it will be noticibly softer after washing.
Carla - Thanks for the advice - I’ll bear it in mind!
