Lace Coat, Finished!

I undid all the edgings and re-worked them. 

It looks much better than before, don't you agree?

I made button holes in simple Tunisian fabric, by skipping a vertical bar going forward, and adding a chain on the way back.   I placed the button holes so that buttons are next to Tunisian stripes, not the broomstick lace stripes. 

I am so relieved that all my efforts did  not go to waste.

Lace Coat from Vogue Crochet 2012

I have been working on design #37 Lace Coat by Lisa Daehlin from Vogue Knitting Crochet 2012 magazine. I finished the coat for now but I am not satisfied with the results. I will be working on it further, probably sometime later after figuring out what I need to do.

I used beautiful Lang Jawoll Magic yarn in 84-18, black and dark green mix. The yarn is very loosely plied, almost single to my eye.; I used 5.5 mm crochet hook and 25mm knitting circular needles mostly, but used a smaller hook for picking up loops.

What I like about the coat is the very lacy main fabric.  What I do not like is the front bands.  The neck and the bottom edgings are okay as they are, although I would like to have a bit firmer feel along the neck.  In order to re-do front bands, I will need to remove the neck band and the last row of the bottom band since they were applied after front bands were completed.  Bummer!   I am going to leave the coat on the dress form for now. 

Broomstick and Tunisian Lace

Light weight and lacy fabric in dark green and black.
Love it! 

There are forums on Ravelry where this lace coat project is discussed.  They are so helpful.  I highly recommend reading them all before starting the project.  I was buffled with the instructions on sleeves initially.  With some logical thinking and reading posts by trailblazing Ravelrers I am feeling confident in finishing this project.

Tunisian Crochet Lace Tunic

It is finally finished and I just love it.  Jojoland Melody is a light and beautiful yarn, and turned out to be just perfect for this tunic.  What a luck!  Can you tell how happy I am with the tunic?  I like the length of the bodice as well as the sleeves. 

 

 I deviated from the pattern and did the following:

Sleeves: Cast on 78 stitches (must be a multiple of 3) for 16 ½” long sleeves. Sleeves were knit sideway. The Tss and Tps edge was about 1” long. To knit 15” wide sleeves, 28 rows in pattern stitches were needed. On the 28th row, do Tss on return, and follow with 3 rows of Tps for the edging.  I left the remaining yarn on each sleeve, to be used later in assembly.  I used one ball per sleeve.
Front and Back Bodice: Cast on 117 stitches and knit 40 rows in pattern (19 ½”), reducing to 99 stitches over the 40 rows (reduce 3 stitches at each end every 10 rows starting at row 11, three times total, 18 stitches decreased). Place a marker at each side at 40th row for the sleeve placement. Knit 16 more rows (7 ½”). On the last row, do Tss on return followed by three rows of Tps for the edging.
Assembly: Seam bodice together with right sides together from the bottom edge to the marker. Seam bodice and sleeves together with right sides together, making sure the attached yarn of the sleeves will be at the cuff end. With the attached yarn on the sleeves, knit top edge finishing as instructed. With the same yarn, knit the sleeve cuff edging. Instead of buttons, I used chain stitches in zigzag pattern to close the top of the sleeves and shoulders.  I borrowed this method from Madonna pullover I knit this summer. 

 

 

More photos of close up and the on-the-table flat photos.

 



This was my first successful crochet project.  I think I will do more crochet in the future.





Tunisian Crochet Project

I have been working on a lovely tunic from last year's Vogue Crochet magazine, #32 . This project is one of several Tunisian crochet projects in the magazine I liked and especially I like #37 besides #32. By the way, this is my first time taking up Tunisian crochet. So, how have I been doing?  Well, so far so good, although with a lot of trial and error. For example, I am currently working on my third sleeve and I will need to make a fourth one: i.e. my first two were not good at all.

First of all, the yarn used.  I have had seven balls of Jojoland Melody, a light fingering weight yarn, in navy blue/burgundy mix for several years.  I thought they were perfect for the tunic. The original design was crocheted with Koigu KPPPM using 5 mm hook.  Melody is thinner and less meaty than Koigu and I decided to start with 4 mm hook.

Before taking a plunge, I did some practice with 4 mm hook and obtained the gauge of 21 stitches and 10 rows for 4” by 4” square. I thought I was ready.  Since I was not certain about the yarn amount, I did some crude calculation and concluded that I had to be able to complete one sleeve with a ball of Melody.

As usual, I started with a sleeve when not certain about the gauge or the design. With my gauge, 16.5” meant 87 stitches. I think the pattern instruction has the cast on numbers for sleeves wrong. It should be 78 stitches with the gauge and the intended length. When I was almost done with the first ball of yarn, I had still some inches to complete one sleeve. Not good at all! I had to make the garment smaller (not a good idea), or go up on the hook size to make the fabric less dense. I took the latter option and restarted with 5 mm hook.  Assuming I was not too far off from the gauge in the instructions, I started with 78 stitches. 

When I completed the second sleeve I noticed that the fabric was too stretchy at the lower half than the upper half (see the photo above).  Also, I noticed a severe biasing of the fabric towards right. Apparently, this biasing is typical for Tunisian crochet. I was not happy with the completed sleeve at all. Looks like I was still learning how to maintain the tension with the first half of the sleeve. What do I do? I contemplated for a few days and decided to start again. I hate to regret too late. So, here I am, working on the first good sleeve. I am crossing my fingers!