Finished Object Reveal: The Amalie Crochet Sweater

Sooo when did I say I'd finish this by again? Valentine's Day? Heh... as you can tell, I'm a bit late to that event...

Can I pat myself on the back though for making my first sweater?

. . . . .

. . . . .

The Reveal

Is it perfect? Nope.

Does that matter? Not really.

Only another crocheter who knows the pattern or the stitches in it would be able to really tell where the boo-boos are, and I don't think they'll be all up on my wrists and hips to examine it, right?

The Pattern & Yarns

I used a free pattern from Hobbii's website called Amalie Sweater. I I liked the pattern for its stitch texture on the sleeves and up the middle of the sweater front. I also liked the panel construction with easy seaming. It read to me as "beginner-friendly," so I took the dive!

My sweater is a size large. I went off my bust measurement to decide this part, plus a couple inches for ease and comfort. The sweater is basically a box with some shaping by the bottom, sleeve, and collar ribbing, so keep that in mind. It won't be a body-hugging, show-off piece of clothing. Think more casual.

As far as yarn goes, I used Cascade Yarns in 220 Sport and Llama Lace. The pattern calls for Light Worsted/DK weight for the main color, and lace weight as the complimentary yarn. While I wanted to try Hobbii's choices, I didn't want to chance a new yarn brand on my first sweater. I've used Cascade Yarns before and liked how it felt, so I knew what to expect of it in sweater form.

Here's the breakdown for those interested: I ordered 12 hanks of 220 Sport and three hanks of Llama Lace for this project. My sweater ended up using 8 hanks plus 32g of the ninth. Of my lace yarn, I used one hank plus 12g into the second. Those extra hanks now need to find a project... or another happy stitch-craft practitioner.

. . .

Project Musings

Block. Block. Block!

Sleeve before blocking

Sleeve after blocking

Front panel blocking

Blocking is essential to bring this project together. I've only blocked socks before this (see my Bookish Christmas Socks adventure!), and I saw the magical powers a good soak and shaping does to the ugliest of cast-offs there. Unless you have perfectly straight edges and crochet spot-on for shape and measurements, you cannot skip this step.

My pieces were all over the place shape-wise, and they're definitely not the right size straight off the hook (see the first image above). The arms alone were a decent amount smaller than they needed to be, but they expanded wonderfully to size with blocking!

One of many helpers for blocking

Now, I only had enough interlocking blocking mats to shape one part at a time. I got creative for the bigger pieces and used foam board to extend the blocking surface, and that helped determine what blocking method to use.

The preferred way to shape wasn't listed in the pattern, so I decided to steam-block. You could wet-block if you have the room (and proper blocking mats), but it was more time-effective for me to steam since it would take a few hours instead of a few days for a single part of the sweater to dry and then switch out. The foam board would have also been an issue with dry times and warping from the moisture. I also didn't have the space to keep a project that big away from cats and other humans for that long if I wet-blocked my pieces (Exhibit A above of my cat Jackson laying on one of the pieces).

Working the Slip-Stitch Ribbing

Ribbing in progress (didn't know I was doing it wrong)

Oh slip-stitch ribbing... you had it out for me when we first met. I thought you were going to end my time crocheting this particular sweater, but I learned your clever dance after a day of distancing (aka: I wrongly-stitched half the bottom edge and rage-quit after frogging the whole edge).

When I first looked at this section of the sweater pattern, my eyes crossed. Slip-stitch where? Is that two separate stitches or two in one stitch? Huh? What?! I had to find a guide and fast.

Thankfully, this video tutorial from Buttonnose Crochet saved my butt and translated the Crochet language of the Amalie ribbing into layman's terms for me. After viewing her video, I took off crocheting the sweater's bottom with confidence... until I realized I'd done it wrong.

I had been following the instructions in Buttonnose's video thinking it was universal for the slip stitches along the garment edge. My bottom was supposed to cinch in as I ribbed, but in my ignorance, I didn't look back at the pattern for guidance. I ended up having to rip my almost-done bottom ribbing out completely and restarting with Hobbii's pattern's numbers. I was pretty upset, but it needed to be done.

Finished sleeve ribbing

Another part I didn't understand was what the pattern meant by, "do x many stitches in x stitches around," or, "work evenly around with x stitches at the neck and x over here." I just picked up where it felt right and continued on. That may've made my rib edges wonky, but I don't see how else I was supposed to do it. The ribbing looks fine to me and doesn't shrink the openings too much, so I'm fine with it.

. . .

Final Thoughts

While mine is not perfect, I do declare the Amalie sweater a great beginner pattern. The devil is definitely in the details when it comes to properly blocking this thing, though. Your hard work won't look as great or be the right size if you don't take time to shape each section to the right measurements. It's quite satisfying to see the fabric morph from a dodgy parallelogram to a decently-square rectangle, too.

I also think this sweater would be a great stash-buster if you have a lot of light worsted/dk yarn in your collection with not enough yardage to finish a full piece. I bet this sweater would look pretty cool with a striped bodice and solid sleeves! What say you?