Burda Style For people who sew

Description

I made up this colourful crochet jumper out of scrap wool for a five-year-old boy. The pattern is from a 1980s ex-library volume entitled ‘The Crochet Sweater Book’ by Sylvia Cosh – about half her patterns are incredibly 1980s, being either completely square or else bat-winged (either way, in the thick wools she recommends the bulk under the arms is unworkable), but the other half are quite nice.

This pattern was chosen specifically on account of the 1980s neckline, as the child in question has a lot of trouble pulling normal jumpers over his head (his skull at the age of five is the same size as mine! presumably he’ll grow into it). Since the neck is so wide that I can get my own head through it, presumably it will fit him – not tried yet.

The bright colours are, as Sylvia Cosh says, calculated to appeal to a small child. I had a few problems with the tension as my rows were initially not nearly high enough for the specified hook size/stitches per inch. I calculated how many extra stripes I would have to put in to compensate, then about halfway up discovered that my crochet technique was wrong. Changing technique made my stitches taller and narrower, but it wasn’t for a few inches further that I finally acquired a hook of an appropriate size to produce the original unadjusted tension; the sleeves are made more or less according to pattern, but the rest has been adjusted to within an inch of its life! My calculations to achieve this forgot to allow for the welt, so my version is a bit longer than the original.

(As usual I must apologise for the poor quality of the photography: the bottom image is taken from the original pattern and is thus much clearer.)

Material Notes

Mixed acrylic yarn, approx double knitting weight

Difficulty

Novice

Categories

Season

Spring, Fall, Winter

For

Children

Style

Casual, Vintage

Material

Blends