Designing my "Hounds Abound Sweater Jacket"

Hounds Abound Sweater Jacket

Sometimes I come up with these great crochet design ideas but for one reason or the other, getting my brain and fingers to work in tandem can be a challenge. By the time I think I am ready to start working up my idea, I've seen some other beautiful piece of crochet inspiration and my mind wanders elsewhere....

BUT, I am trying really hard to slow down the pace a bit and enjoy the creative crochet journey. I've been making a better effort to complete some wips (works in progress) I have had lingering for a while and some other 2023 crochet and design goals, and so far things are going as expected. It's probably best not to elaborate on that last statement, lol.

I finally finished my Betty Ann Sweater Blanket, design by Daisy Farm Crafts, and enjoyed utilizing the houndstooth stitch. I have used this stitch before, and it is really easy and eye catching. It also happens to be a rather popular stitch in the crochet hemisphere right now.

Here's my finished blanket. It is photographed on my queen bed in the photo below, but should fit a twin bed beautifully. I hope to use it in my new home as a throw, sometime in the near future.

Having recently purchased a box of 15 mini (67 yard) skeins of sample yarns from Hobby Lobby, along with lots of yarn ends on hand, I decided to turn an idea I had in mind into a reality and began gathering materials for making my houndstooth cardigan. I decided I would use these for my contrast colors and that I would use up the remaining Impeccable yarn I had in a cream color as my main color.

The next step would be to determine just exactly how I wanted to construct my sweater and finalize the stitches that would work best for my chosen yarn. Having loved the result of my Betty Ann Sweater Blanket, as well as the soothing rhythm created by working the houndstooth stitch, this is what I chose to work my sweater design in. 

How should I go about constructing my new pattern? There seem to be several houndstooth sweater patterns available already, so I decided to make my design a bit differently, trying to make it one that appears unique from the others. Nowadays it seems as though anything granny stitch or patchwork is very popular. With that in mind, and with the ample amount of varying color choices to work with, I set about making my cardigan in patchwork "panels" to be assembled and made to fit as I worked the design.

I determined that I would make the back portion using three panels, made to measure the width of my back and using the Craft Yarn Council Standard Size Charts, I began my journey into pattern designing my first sweater.

Here are my first three houndstooth "patchwork strips." My plan was to work up one strip/day for as many as I needed, and that turned out just perfectly. 

I seamed them together and went about creating two more strips for the right and left front. I attached those at the shoulder seams and then tried it on for fit.

Next, I made a total of four strips, a bit shorter, to be joined in sets of two for the sleeves. I wanted to make this as a "puff" sleeve, so although the sleeve images appear to be rather long, I fixed that while working my fitted sleeve cuffs.

Front view of sleeves
after attaching to the cardigan.

Back view after attaching sleeves.

Trying it on for fit. 

What it looked like after seaming along the
inner edge of the sleeves and down the sides.

I determined after I attached my sleeves, that I needed to add a bit more to the front side of the cardigan to get better coverage, and went about creating two inner front panels that were seamed to the left and right outer front panels. This did the trick and gave me the added coverage I was looking for.

After adding the inner front panels.

Double checking the sweater length.

The length of my cardigan was just where I wanted it, and having added front panels, I was now ready to add my ribbing, This would be worked as SC in the back loop and slip stitched to the edge of the sweater. First I worked the bottom ribbing, then the neckline and finally my ribbed sleeve cuffs. 

This photo shows where I marked along
the neckline ribbing for my buttons
and the button hole placement.

Back view of my finished
Hounds Abound Sweater design.

Side view.

Taking my little Murphy out for a walk...

If you are interested in making your own scrap-busting "Hounds Abound Sweater Jacket," you can find very detailed pattern directions for adult sizes small, medium and large in my Ravelry Store. Simply visit me there by clicking on the link below.

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/hounds-abound-sweater-jacket

Feather Stitch Hexagon Cardigan

Hexagon cardigans seem to be flooding the internet and are extremely popular right now. And, why not?They are pretty easy to make using two hexagons made to the same size, folded to create the arms and body and with a few added touches, you have a beautiful sweater!

After designing a feather stitch square motif for my "Soft As A Feather Baby Blanket" along with the 2nd version of the blanket that I fondly call "Bahama Dayze," I decided to get my creative self busy and work up the pattern directions for a feather stitch hexagon. So, this simple little hexagon was born.

The photo above shows my hexagon completed through 5 rounds. It doesn't look like much in the photo, but make it with the color fading Caron Colorama Halo yarn in the pretty Bluestone Frost colorway and you have a lovely, soft sweater that others will want to make.

So, this blog is not a step by step tutorial on how to make a hexagon cardigan to an exact size, but more of a general guide about how I completed mine. There is a fabulous tutorial on how to make a granny stitch hexagon cardigan that you can see by clicking on the link below. I viewed it in order to get a general idea about the construction of a hexagon cardigan, but used my own pattern design and methods for completing it.

GRANNY STITCH HEXAGON CARDIGAN

To start, I gathered some yarn that I had purchased on sale from Joann Fabric and Crafts a while back. I had 4 donuts of the Caron Colorama Halo O'go yarn and thought how pretty and soft this would look as a hexagon cardigan. Using a 6.5 mm hook, I made two identical Feather Stitch Hexagons. (You can find the pattern tutorial on Ravelry by clicking this link:) FEATHER STITCH HEXAGON MOTIF

I worked my hexagon for 20 rounds. Each round that you complete after round 5 makes the hexagon a bit floppier. I love how the yarn colors fade from the light frosty blue to a more darker shade, so I decided to work from the lighter end of the donut. I used one donut for each hexagon so I could get a nearly exact match.

I lay my hexagon motifs out on a flat surface and adjusted them both so that the tail end from round 20 was centered on both the left and right bottom of the sweater. Photo below shows both hexagons from the right side out.

Next, I needed to seam my shoulders together. I turned my hexagon wrong side out so that my seam would appear on the inside once completed. I attached my yarn in the right hand corner and worked SC stitches through the outer loops along each top side edge. I didn't work these stitches too tight as I wanted it to lay against my shoulder nicely without pulling.

Here is what my seam looked like once completed from the inside.

                            Once turned right side out, this is what my shoulder seam looked like.

After turning my work right side out, I determined that I would need an additional 4" for the back center and went about adding 4 rows (2" total for each) of feather stitch along the back side edge on both the left and right panel. As I completed the second set of 4 rows, I joined both panels together working a slip stitch; after completing one feather stitch of one panel I slip stitched into the top of the feather stitches from the second panel to join it together.

I added 2" to each side of the back panel.

                                                                

Preparing to join the back panels.

Joining panels together with slip stitch.

    

Now that my panels were connected, I decided to try it on for fit. It fits well overall, but I want to add a bit of length to this before adding my bottom ribbing. As you can see in the photo below, if I wanted a cropped cardi, this would be fine, but I would prefer mine to go just below my natural waist.

=

This is just a bit short.
I will add three rows to the bottom.

I attached my yarn at the lower left front corner and worked three rows back and forth along the bottom. This gave me an additional 1.5" in length to work with before adding my ribbing. Once finished with those three rows, I turned my sweater to work along the neckline and worked a sc stitch along the entire neckline and down and around the bottom edge. When finished with this "round" of sc it landed me exactly where I needed to be in order to begin the bottom sc ribbing.

I attached my yarn at the X on the left front
and worked my way around to the right side X.
Without fastening off, I will continue to work up
 around the neckline and back down around the bottom
using SC in order to prepare for the ribbing.

I used my 5.5 mm hook and attached my yarn in the lower right front corner and chained 11. I sc in the second ch from my hook and down toward the sweater edge. I worked two slip sts along the edge, ch 1 and turned my work. I continued to work sc in the back loop, but when I reached the last st farthest away from the bottom edge of the sweater, I made a regular sc. This gives that outside stitch just a bit more structure. On the way back, I worked one regular sc, then 9 sc in the back loop only, slip stitch to attach, ch 1 and turn and repeated all the way around the sweater bottom until I reached the end. Once I worked the entire bottom ribbing, I tried it on to make sure I liked the look and fit, then went on to work my first sleeve.

Beginning the bottom border.

Working my way around.

Trying it on for fit and checking length.

Now that the bottom ribbing was complete, I began extending my sleeves. I located the bottom "center" of the hexagon and ran my finger along the "center line" to the sleeve edge. Using my 6.5 mm hook, I attached my yarn to the "underside" of the sleeve. I worked feather stitches around the previous row and added 2 extra FS/CH1 at the top of the shoulder seam. All in all I had 22 feather stitches worked around the sleeve. I worked in turned rounds and completed a total of 19 rounds,. On the 20th round I worked one regular sc, followed by sc2tog for 22 more sts. I worked a regular sc in the last st and had a total of 24 stitches. I added one additional round of sc before adding my ribbed cuff, but changed to my 5.5 mm hook and worked the one sc in each st for a total of 24. At the end of this round, I joined and continued with the 5.5 mm hook and worked a ribbed cuff of sc in the back loop. As I did for the bottom ribbing, I joined my cuff ribbing to the sleeve with 2 sl sts, ch 1 and turn, placing a regular sc in the outer most st for added structure. Once all the way around, I slip stitched my cuff together and fastened off.

Left sleeve and cuff completed.

I repeated this process for my right sleeve and cuff, making sure to work the same number of rounds and changing the hook from my 6.5 mm to 5.5 mm as I did on the first sleeve. I really like how the sleeve length works on this for me, and even have a little bit of a puff by working the "fitted" sc ribbing for the cuff.

Once I was happy with the bottom ribbing, sleeves and cuff, I only had the neckline ribbing to complete. I used my 5.5 mm hook and attached my yarn in the lower right corner of the sweater. Working along the neckline as I did for the bottom ribbing, I chained 11, worked back toward the neckline using sc stitches, joined to the neckline edge using two slip stitches and worked sc in the back loop only (with the exception of the outer most sc which was worked regular) all the way around the neckline edge until I reached the opposite corner. I fastened off and wove my ends in.

Overall, I am really happy with how my hexagon sweater turned out. I did notice that there seemed to be a bit of "pulling" along the ribbed border of my neckline. I think there are two possible things I could do to eliminate that from happening when I make this next time: 

1) I could make the neckline ribbing with my 6.5 mm hook instead of the 5.5 mm hook, or

2) I could alternate between working 2 slip stitches to1 slip stitch every other row in order to get more rows of sc along the edge and prevent the pulling. 

The good news is that I am already in the process of making my next hexagon cardigan, and when I get to the neckline ribbing I will definitely try out both techniques to see which one works the best!

I hope you enjoyed my guide and that I have given you a bit of encouragement to try your own feather stitch hexagon cardigan! If you do make one, I would love to see your finished work. You can find me on Facebook at Purdy Sweet Crochet or Instagram at Purdy Sweet Crochet.

Happy Crocheting!!

~Merri

Button Bay Scarf

I am so excited to share my Button Bay Scarf submission as part of the CAL Crochet A Long Design-A-Scarf Challenge 2022. What a fun way to get the creative juices flowing!  Inspired by the beautiful waters of Lake Champlain, which borders the Adirondack Mountains of New York State and the Green Mountains of Vermont, I have created a design for either sex that has lots of textural interest and is so much fun to work up. This scarf works well for any season or recipient. Just choose a hook and fiber that works for you. Once you master the stitches in this scarf, you will want to use them again and again. I know I did!

This scarf design is appropriate for crocheters with an intermediate to advanced ability level. An adventurous beginner can easily complete this scarf with the help of the video tutorials which are included here in my blog.

So let's get started and have a little fun!

For your scarf you will need the following supplies:

Materials:

3 skeins of Yarn Bee Soft Stitch, 100% Acrylic, (5.0 oz/210 yards/142 grams per skein)

Sample colorway: #126/blue air

Size I (5.5 mm) crochet hook

Stitch marker - use to mark right side of fabric (optional)

Scissors

Finished Scarf Dimensions:

72” long X 7” wide (not including fringe)

Your finished scarf dimensions can easily be adjusted in length by adding an

even number of foundation stitches to the original foundation sc row.

Stitches/Abbreviations Used

(BEG-FS) beginning feather stitch

(CH) chain

(HDC) half double crochet

(FS) feather stitch

(MB) mini bean stitch

(SC)  single crochet

(SC 3L) single crochet in the 3rd loop

Gauge: 18 stitches in sc = 4 inches 

• gauge will vary depending on yarn weight, hook size and tension

• gauge is not essential to this design

Pattern Notes: 

• Pattern directions are written using USA crochet terminology

• This scarf is worked length-wise.

• If desired, use a stitch marker to mark the right side of your fabric; any even row.

• The ch 1 at the end of each row does NOT count as a stitch.

• When working your ch 1 turning chain, bring ch loop up to the normal height of the st you are working for that row.

Special Stitches:

Mini Bean Stitch - Insert hook into st indicated, yarn over and pull up a loop. Yarn over and insert hook into the same st, yarn over and pull up a loop. Yarn over and pull through all 4 loops on your hook.

Beginning Feather Stitch - Yarn over, insert hook into chain space, yarn over, pull up a loop (3 loops on hook); yarn over, insert hook into stitch directly below ch space in row below, yarn over, pull up a loop (5 loops on hook); yarn over, insert hook into next chain space, yarn over, pull up a loop (7 loops on hook); yarn over, pull through all 7 loops on hook.

Note: When pulling up loops in either the beginning feather stitch or any subsequent feather stitch, it is important to draw the yarn up to the height of the previous stitch for ease of completing the last step where the yarn is drawn through all 7 loops on the hook,

Feather Stitch - Yarn over, insert hook into the same chain space where the last portion of the previous feather stitch was worked, yarn over, pull up a loop (3 loops on hook); yarn over, insert hook into chain space directly below one just worked into, yarn over, pull up a loop (5 loops on hook); yarn over, insert hook into next chain space, yarn over, pull up a loop (7 loops on hook); yarn over, pull through all 7 loops on hook.

Single Crochet 3rd loop - a sc st worked in the horizontal bar below the V of the hdc st in the previous row (in this pattern, the SC 3L is worked from the wrong/back side of the fabric)

***********************************************************************************

Scarf Directions:

Foundation Row 1: Foundation SC 201, CH 1, turn. (201)

Row 2: HDC in each st across to end, CH 1, turn.

Row 3: SC 3L for 200, SC 1 as usual for last st. CH 1, turn.

Row 4: MB in the 1st stitch, *[CH 1, skip a st, MB in next st.] Repeat from *[  ] across until you have 2 sts remaining; CH 1, SC last st. CH 1, turn.

Row 5: MB in 1st (sc) st, CH 1. *[MB in next mb stitch, ch1, skip next ch-1 space.] Repeat from *[  ] across working a SC in the last mb st of row. CH 1, turn.

Rows 6 and 7: Repeat Row 5 (2 xs).

Row 8: HDC in each st across to end. CH 1, turn.

Row 9: SC 3L for 200, SC 1 as usual for last st. CH 1, turn.

Row 10 (Feather Stitch Set-Up Row): HDC in the first st, CH 1, skip one st, HDC next st. *[CH 1, skip one st, HDC next st.] Repeat from *[  ] across to end of row. CH 1, turn.

Row 11: HDC in 1st st, CH 1. *[BEG-FS (see special stitches above), CH 1.] Repeat from *[  ] across, placing a HDC in the last st of the row. CH 1, turn.

Row 12: HDC in 1st st, CH 1. *[FS (see special stitches above), CH 1.] Repeat from *[  ] across, placing a HDC in the last st of the row. CH 1, turn.

Rows 13 - 15: Repeat row 12. CH 1, turn.

Row 16: HDC in each st across to the end, CH 1, turn. (A hdc will be placed in each hdc, each ch and the top of each fs of this row.)

Row 17: SC 3L for 200, SC 1 as usual for last st. CH 1, turn.

Row 18: MB in the 1st stitch, *[CH 1, skip a st, MB in next st.] Repeat from *[  ] across until you have 2 sts remaining; CH 1, SC last st. CH 1, turn.

Row 19: MB in 1st (sc) st, CH 1. *[MB in next mb stitch, ch1, skip next ch-1 space.] Repeat from *[  ] across working a SC in the last mb st of row. CH 1, turn.

Rows 20 and 21: Repeat Row 19 (2 xs).

Row 22: HDC in each st across to the end, CH 1, turn.

Row 23: SC 3L for 200, SC 1 as usual for last st. CH 1, turn.

Row 24: HDC in each st across to the end. Work each hdc st right over the sc 3l you made in the previous row, placing your hook in the same stitch location as each sc 3l st  in the previous row. Do not turn.

Finishing: Continuing to work along the “right” side of the fabric, CH 1 for the corner, turn work 90 degrees, *[work an odd number of  SC stitches along the short side edge, CH 1 in the corner, turn scarf 90 degrees to continue working SC sts in each stitch of the long side edge.] CH1 in the corner, and repeat from *[   ] around to end. Join to first st of the round and fasten off, leaving a long tail to match length of fringe.  If you do not wish to add fringe, fasten off and weave in tail.

Adding fringe (optional): I wrapped my yarn around a sturdy book about 80 times, and then cut through one end to make several strands for fringe. I grouped them in sets of 4, and looped them every other stitch through the short end of my scarf. Before trimming, use a steam iron to straighten the fringe. Take care NOT to touch your fiber with the iron, but gently spritz the fringe with the steam from your iron to remove any wrinkles. Trim fringe and enjoy wearing your new scarf!

If you enjoyed making this scarf, you may be interested in the coordinating Button Bay Beanie, which is available for free in my Facebook Group. Purdy Sweet Crochet Facebook Group

Button Bay is a beautiful little anchorage on the east side of Lake Champlain, south of Vergennes, Vermont. It has a couple of islands nearby that are great for exploring for fossils. Additionally there are beautiful walking trails that lead into the Vermont State Park and Campgrounds. We happened to visit there in early August this year, and it turned out to be one of my absolute favorite places to anchor out this summer!   Below is a photo of our boat and a few others anchored in the bay taken from shore as we walked along the path to the state park.

 

Linen Stitch Fall Poncho

As the days grow shorter and a hint of cooler weather to come begins to fill the air, thoughts of crocheted ponchos saturate my mind. Over and over I have been drawn to the same easy flow of the Linen Stitch, which is a very easy single crochet, ch1 combination. I love it because it is very simple and rhythmical as you work it up and it gives the overall effect of a woven piece of fabric. It looks fabulous in solids, striped and blended yarn colors. A win-win!

Last fall when we returned to our sailboat after having been landlocked for over a year due to my very poor immune system and concerns of getting ill, we finally traveled south to meet up with Purdy Suite, our 42' sailboat that we planned to spend many months of retirement on. It was a happy reunion.  

Being aboard a sailboat forces me to limit the amount of yarn I have to play with because there is only so much storage space available. But one thing I DID make room for was 10 skeins of Premier Yarns Everyday Worsted yarn and a few cakes of Lion Brand Comfy Cotton! I was careful to pack it in a seal tight container and managed to stow it in the forward anchor locker, unbeknownst to my captain, affectionately known as "Captain Overkill." That's another story on its own!

So, after working for two solid weeks straight from sun up to sundown,  getting the boat ready for launch, I got busy on a poncho I had been thinking about for quite some time. Here is what my finished poncho looks like.

Turtleneck:

I started with the comfy cotton and using a 5.5 mm hook, I made 60 rows of 30 hdc stitches worked in the 3rd loop and joined it together to form the turtleneck portion of my poncho. I wish I had taken more photos at the time, but this will have to do.

I turned my piece to work along the bottom edge of the tube and worked 86 sc stitches evenly along the bottom. I divided my stitch count by 2 and placed a stitch marker in stitch 10 and stitch 53. This is where the increases took place for the body of my poncho. I purposely do not like increases where the join of the round takes place, and that is why I chose to place my first marker in stitch 10 instead of the first st of the round. 

Poncho Body:

Because I worked the body of the poncho in Linen Stitch, and knowing how this stitch tends to "pull in," I went up a hook size and using my 6.0mm hook, I joined my round and then turned to work the next round from the opposite direction. For each marked increase I worked [SC1, CH2, SC1, CH1]. Turning my work after completing each round eliminates the possibility of an unflattering curve that would develop if I were to have just continued working the piece from the right side of the fabric. Because of the two increases in each round, my poncho body grew plenty enough to comfortably fit over my shoulders. 

What can you do if you are a larger size?

If you are a bit larger, you could work more initial hdc rows for the turtle neck portion until it is wide enough to comfortably fit over your head. Also, adding more sc stitches along the tube base before beginning the increases at each "point" for the body of the poncho will give you a larger poncho overall.

As I worked the body of my poncho, I tried it on frequently to make sure that it was working up as I planned. I wanted this poncho to be warm and comfy and large enough to cuddle up in while sitting out in the cockpit of our sailboat in the late evening hours, when it was a bit cooler out.

Border: 

I continued until I felt it was long enough on me before deciding on the border. Once satisfied, I worked one round of HDC, continuing with the established increases at each point, followed by 5 additional turning rounds of alternating front and back post double crochet stitches. My final round consisted of working 1 sc stitch in the back loop only of each stitch around before fastening off and weaving in my tail. I'm pretty happy with the final results!

I hope my post has inspired you to try making yourself a poncho for the fall.  Photos are always welcome, encouraged and enjoyed! If you feel comfortable doing so, please consider sharing in my Facebook group, which you can find here: Purdy Sweet Crochet

Happy Crocheting!