Take Apart A Sweater!!!

Update: Extremely helpful videos posted at the bottom, thanks to Lauren at Cashmere Creations!

Today's lesson: taking apart a sweater. Below is a sweater that I got at a thrift shop purely based on its softness. It's very worn cotton- smooth, soft, and comfy. The sweater wasn't my style, nor would it fit me so I decided it had to be taken apart and repurposed. The reason why I'm posting this now is because in a few days, I'll show the final product... the typical crocheted fingerless gloves. Nothing special, but they're turning out great so far. It's only taking 1/6th of the yarn from the sweater, but it's so nice to see a project from complete start to complete finished. Anywhosers, the original sweater:



Next is a close-up of what it looked like in its original glory. Nice pattern, but not for me.



I tried to multitask- take a photo, seam rip, and watch Scrubs. Not a good photo. Please ignore it.

It took about 45 minutes total to take it apart as I was not paying full attention to the unwinding. Here's the final product- one of the 3 balls of yarn. I wish I had an unending amount of it, it's by far the best yarn I've worked with. The WIP next to the yarn is my sister's wedding present (so far 6 months late). I'll write about it another day.
Have a sweater you'd like to repurpose? The Cashmere Connoisseur has a superb tutorial with photos and everything. That's a much better explanation than I could ever do without you sitting next to me walking you through it.


Part I:


Part II:

Lace Cotton Tea Shawl

I had already made a tea shawl from a pattern out of Amazing Crochet Lace and I loved the outcome, and I wanted to make my own tea shawl without a pattern. Below is the photo of the shawl from the book. Great book, by the way.

Anyway, here's my final result:
And here's a fabulous action shot:

Another action shot (all sorts of action, huh?):


How'd I do it? I can give a basic pattern, though it's probably not 100% accurate.

ch 6, sl st to connect to first ch.
ch 2, 9 dc in circle formed by connected chain, sl st to connect
sc in each dc, sl st to connect
(ch 5, sk 1 sc, sl st in next sc) around
(ch 5, sl st in hole created by chains in previous round) around
(ch 8, sl st in hole created by chains in previous round) around
It looks like for the next round, 7 dc in first hole, ch 2, 2 dc in next hole, ch 2, repeat from 7 dc around
(ch 6, sl st in every 3rd or so st)
(ch 7, sl st in each hole)
ch 3, 4 tc in hole, (ch 2, sc in next hole, ch 2, 5 tc in next hole) around
(ch 7, sl st in middle of group of 5 tc, chain 7, sl st in sc)
(ch 10, sl st in each hole) around
(4 tc in each hole) around
(ch 5, sc between each group of 4 tc)
(ch 6, sl st in each hole)
(ch 6, 2 dc in each hole)
Again, not sure exactly what this next section is, but I'm going with what it looks like:
(ch 3, sl st in hole, ch 3, *3 dc, 2 tc, 3 dc* in next hole) repeat around
(ch 2, sl st in between every two tc, *ch 2, tc* x4) around
now 3 more rows of the mesh, aka (ch 6, sl st in hole made from chains in last row) around
I don't mean to give up or anything, but I'm not sure of the last rows, but it's mostly 7 dc's in each hole, then the mesh rows, 4 dc+2 tc+ 4 dc in each mesh hole. I finished with the mesh holes, sc'd in each chain around, then finished with tassels at the end.
Tassels:
(Ch 10, 2 sc in each chain, 2 sc in sc of last row.)

Kitty Wearable Blanket

Post numero 2:
I found a great wearable blanket on Craftster and I wish for the life of me that I could find it again. Basically, it was a sleeping bag for a bottom with little foot holes at the corners that were cut out for walking purposes. The top is sweatshirt style, or those footy pajamas we wore as kids.

It's nice and long, so my feet stay toasty and warm. I made it the way I thought it would work the best, but it was short. I could walk in it, but I couldn't curl my feet up comfortably when sitting on the couch. So what did I do? I turned it into an old lady housecoat. It's so comfy! Please pardon the unflattering photo- it was a crafting day so I mostly didn't think of the outside world.














Alrighty, this is a close-up of the top section, showcasing the zipper and the extra cuff thingie I added around the neck for warmth.

Finally, we have the neck part itself. It zips up all the way to the chin. The neck is double layered for added temperature control or whatever.





The basic instructions:

1. I took 5 yards of fleece and measured my body.
2. I cut it to the length of my body from shoulder to toes plus 3 inches.
3. I took a sweatshirt, turned it inside out, and traced it front and back onto the fleece, then I added the amount needed at the bottom so it would go to the floor.
4. I cut it out and at this point it looked like a long sleeve shirt with lots of extra length at the bottom.
5. I sewed the arms and neck, and sewed all the way down to the bottom.
6. Originally, I sewed the bottom shut, then cut two holes at each corner for my feet to get out when needed, but it ended up feeling too weird.
7. I hemmed the sleeves too, then took a piece of fleece the length of the neck hole perimeter, doubled it over, and sewed it on.
8. I sliced down the middle to the belly button region and inserted a zipper so I could get in and out.
9. Finally, I made the executive decision to just open up the bottom and hem it.

I do believe I may go back and add another section (in a contrasting fleece) to the bottom and completely enclose the footsie area in. I think it's more special that way, plus it'll eliminate the need for socks at night.

Little Creatures

Ok, so I guess I'll just jump right in with some of my projects. These are happy little guys made with assorted techniques.

First up:
Amigurumi Ant- he's completely crocheted, the entire body is one piece. It's just a matter of increasing and decreasing. The antenna and legs are separate and they curl, so the ant kinda looks dead if i don't stretch him out. Second photo is a close-up of his fuzzy goodness.

Next up is a simple sea monkey (sock monkey with a mermaid tail):

Final creation is Gingie from Shrek(!):

Not the buttons! NOT THE GUMDROP BUTTONS!!!

Here's a better view of his work. He's got a felt body and everything else is crocheted.

Whaddya think?