I always swatch, whether crocheting or knitting. Even though it's going to take some valuable working time, I figure that it's worth knowing how to adjust (or if you even need to adjust) your needles/hook to match what the pattern says, so all the hard time and work you put into something will fit right. But lately, it seems that no matter how I swatch, my gauge is always off, so after I finish my gauge swatch I switch to the appropriate needle or hook, only to find out once I start my garment, I should've stayed with the original hook/needle that I used on my gauge swatch. It's VERY frustrating. So then, I have to tear out all the work I had done and start over.
This happened to me last night when I was swatching to start on the baby size Einstein coat for my little niece- or nephew-to-be. I did the gauge swatch, discovered I needed to change needles, so I began the actual project with the different size needles, only to find out that I should've stayed with the original needles I used to do my gauge swatch. I was SO mad!!! I put the work aside, and figured I can tear it out later today and begin anew.
I needed something to get me back into the "look-I-finished-something-and-it-looks-nice-and-didn't-take-me-too-long" mode, so I started the crochet Lion Brand pattern, "Newsboy Cap".
Now I don't know what it is, but no matter what I crochet, I always manage to get my gauge stitchwise perfectly, but for row-wise...NEVER. Why is that???? So the same goes for this hat. I figured I can't go with a bigger size hook to match the row gauge, because it's already a big hook, and I didn't want to throw my stitch gauge off. So there's a point in the pattern that says that the diameter of the hat should be a certain number of inches, and I was off by 1". Knowing that would affect the depth of the hat--and knowing that I prefer deeper hats--I figured I could do a couple of extra rounds of single crochet to meet that measurement, which I did. I still wish the hat could've been a bit deeper, though, but by the time I finished the crocheting part of the hat (not attaching the visor to the hat yet), I only had a little over 2 yards of yarn left...yikes! I was so worried there for a while whether I'd even have enough yarn to finish crocheting, then I worried I wouldn't have enough yarn to sew the visor on (but I had enough). I'm sure if I would've added even a few more rows of single crochet to deepen the hat, I would've needed just a tiny bit from a second skein, and that would've ruined the "victory" over only ne
eding one ball of the yarn. Since I already had the crochet hook, the pattern cost me $2.50 to download, then I used a coupon from Joann's to buy my yarn (came out to $3.80), so the total project cost was $6.30--LESS THAN $10!!!--not bad for a handmade, partially-wool hat. And I think it took me 1½ hours--it would've taken me less time, but I had to tear out several rows because I wasn't following the pattern close enough (the pattern is fine, it was "operator error"). I think that this would make an ideal quick, last-minute gift for somebody, because it's inexpensive and quick to crochet, and it's a nice added bonus because the yarn is machine-washable and dryable. Even if you bought the yarn at regular price (which for me was $6 per ball, $6.36 with tax) and got the download at $2.50, it would still be under $10 at $8.86. And once you buy the download once, you can make as many hats as you want, and soon enough, that pattern pays for itself. Heck, with what I saved today with my Joann's coupon ($2.40), all but 10¢ of the pattern is already paid for! :-)
This happened to me last night when I was swatching to start on the baby size Einstein coat for my little niece- or nephew-to-be. I did the gauge swatch, discovered I needed to change needles, so I began the actual project with the different size needles, only to find out that I should've stayed with the original needles I used to do my gauge swatch. I was SO mad!!! I put the work aside, and figured I can tear it out later today and begin anew.
I needed something to get me back into the "look-I-finished-something-and-it-looks-nice-and-didn't-take-me-too-long" mode, so I started the crochet Lion Brand pattern, "Newsboy Cap".
Now I don't know what it is, but no matter what I crochet, I always manage to get my gauge stitchwise perfectly, but for row-wise...NEVER. Why is that???? So the same goes for this hat. I figured I can't go with a bigger size hook to match the row gauge, because it's already a big hook, and I didn't want to throw my stitch gauge off. So there's a point in the pattern that says that the diameter of the hat should be a certain number of inches, and I was off by 1". Knowing that would affect the depth of the hat--and knowing that I prefer deeper hats--I figured I could do a couple of extra rounds of single crochet to meet that measurement, which I did. I still wish the hat could've been a bit deeper, though, but by the time I finished the crocheting part of the hat (not attaching the visor to the hat yet), I only had a little over 2 yards of yarn left...yikes! I was so worried there for a while whether I'd even have enough yarn to finish crocheting, then I worried I wouldn't have enough yarn to sew the visor on (but I had enough). I'm sure if I would've added even a few more rows of single crochet to deepen the hat, I would've needed just a tiny bit from a second skein, and that would've ruined the "victory" over only ne
eding one ball of the yarn. Since I already had the crochet hook, the pattern cost me $2.50 to download, then I used a coupon from Joann's to buy my yarn (came out to $3.80), so the total project cost was $6.30--LESS THAN $10!!!--not bad for a handmade, partially-wool hat. And I think it took me 1½ hours--it would've taken me less time, but I had to tear out several rows because I wasn't following the pattern close enough (the pattern is fine, it was "operator error"). I think that this would make an ideal quick, last-minute gift for somebody, because it's inexpensive and quick to crochet, and it's a nice added bonus because the yarn is machine-washable and dryable. Even if you bought the yarn at regular price (which for me was $6 per ball, $6.36 with tax) and got the download at $2.50, it would still be under $10 at $8.86. And once you buy the download once, you can make as many hats as you want, and soon enough, that pattern pays for itself. Heck, with what I saved today with my Joann's coupon ($2.40), all but 10¢ of the pattern is already paid for! :-)
