Hello Needlework Lovers and Esteemed Artisans
I am very excited to make this post today because today is officially the end of a project I had been working on for a while. A crochet project that taught me a thousand and one lessons by the time I was done with it. It was during this project that I was taught a different method of joining granny squares. I learnt the proper way to use a lint remover and if I'm being honest, it was also my very first time using a lint remover. This also happens to be the very first crochet project I soaked in hot water in a bid to steam it because my tension was too tight and how this turned out was explicitly discussed in this post.
It's a very happy day because today is the birthday of the actual owner of this crochet piece and I would be delivering it directly to her doorstep. A little back story of how this piece came about; a client reached out to me and asked that I make some simple for his friend as a birthday gift but he didn't exactly have anything in mind. I sent him a few samples of things girls may like and he chose a crochet granny square cardigan in black and white. This simply means, for the entirety of this project, I worked without actual measurement but a picture and estimations. Once payments were made, I began making this piece. Without further yapping, let me take you through the process of making this piece.
Materials Used
- 700g of Black and White Yarns
- 4.5mm crochet hook
- Darning Needle
- Stitch Markers
- Measuring Tape
Procedure
Since this project is made up majorly of granny squares, I had to begin the process of making granny squares. However, I used yeye extra yarn instead of the yeye regular which I usually use and my review about this new yarn was stated in the post I linked above.
The granny squares were made in five rows. For row one, I made twelve double crochet stitches in clusters of three each of them separated by a chain two, using white yarn. For row two, I switched to black yarn and continued making clusters of three in single stitches and into every corner stitch, I put two clusters, separated by chain two. Before moving from stitch to another, I made a single chain.
For rows two and three, I used white yarn but repeated the same pattern from row two. For row five and the final row, I switched back to black and repeated the same pattern as the previous row. I repeated this a total of thirty-six times because I needed 36 granny squares for the entire project: a total of twelve granny squares for both arms, twelve granny squares for the back panel and twelve granny squares for the front panel. Summing up all these squares gives 36.
Once I finished making all the granny squares, it was the moment of truth or the moment when I had to turn little squares into an actual cardigan. I have previously worked with granny squares so I had no fear but boy was I wrong! I believe that the major setback was from the type of yarn I used for the project but along the line, things got a bit messy. Messy enough to make me question my abilities. Was I really an artisan or was it all just a facade?
She may not know it but @doreenarch was one of my moral supporters during this period. She assisted me when I asked for help and she even lent me her lint remover the day after I requested for it. And for this, I'm very grateful my woman❣️.
After joining each granny square, one stitch at a time, sewing in the numerous loose ends and removing the endless amounts of lines from this piece, the project was finally ready to be delivered. A little tip I would like to share, especially when working with granny squares and on a large project too, is try as much as possible to work over your ends and do not leave all of the loose ends for later because it can get very tiring sometimes.
After the tears shed, the doubts, mental and emotional distress, the sleepless nights and every other thing in between, I finally saw this project to its completion. If I wasn't delivering it to a client, I probably would have framed it and hung it somewhere in my room as a constant reminder of a seemingly hard and terrifying challenge that I overcame. The moral lessons: one, never give up. Two, do not use that new yarn for a major project without giving it a test-run first.
What do you think of this crochet granny square cardigan? I particularly love how it came out in the end and I feel that pictures do not do this masterpiece enough justice. It's perfect to be worn with any type of bottom garment, depending on the occasion. Indeed a great addition to an individual’s closet.
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Images used belong to me and were taken with my mobile device except stated otherwise.
