Tag Archives: Coatigan in Grannies

Dec6

Ta Dah!

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OK, I confess it doesn’t have buttons and it hasn’t yet been ‘blocked’ i.e. machine washed and dried, BUT it’s wearable AND I wore it last night to go out into the cold dark night! Well, it was just a visit to someone’s home – this coat wouldn’t hold up to any sort of windchill!!

 

It took about a week just to sew in the ends. Yes, next time I would do it as I went along.

The sleeves are only just wide enough, as I was wearing it over a sweater last night. I thought it would end up more roomy overall, but actually it fits just right.

Evening photos in artificial light…

 

And so another project is (almost) put to bed. I love finishing things!  How about you?

 

Nov29

Nearly there…

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Last night, the Coatigan got its button/buttonhole bands. Tonight, it got its collar.

I wove in a few ends, but I think I’m done for today. I do have this to look forward to though…

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Yup, a metric craptonne of ends. And the cuffs yet to add.

I did finish this yesterday though.

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The blues are a bit deeper in real life. It’s a pretty shade of James C Brett Marble Chunky, though I don’t have the label to hand right now. The buttons were bought on clearance at work. This is destined for one of my co-workers in my aim to give each one of them a random gift for no reason.

Tomorrow my goal will be to get the cuffs finished on the coat, and I may also start another small project, if I find the inspiration. I will also need to persevere on my piano practice. I have three tunes to practice – This Land is Your Land, We Wish you a Merry Christmas, and Silent Night. Eight weeks in and it is getting more challenging. I was getting quite frustrated with myself this morning, trying to get the hands coordinated. Considering I learned to type with all my fingers, both hands, when I was 16, I know I can do this piano thing, it just takes practice. What’s challenging you right  now?

 

Nov28

WIPs: Coatigan and Marble hat

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It’s been a blissfully uncommitted day today and I was able to enjoy a whole morning in my PJs doing nothing but join the squares of my granny square coat-of-many-colours, drink tea, eat breakfast, and throw in a couple of loads of laundry before the pile overtook the hallway.

The sun was pouring in and I was able to get some naturally lit photos of the coat, firstly joined but still flat, then joined down the side and sleeve seams.

The squares did get rearranged a couple of times. I thought I had it sorted, then was annoyed by two squares with a lot of raspberry pink next to each other. Move one square, and you end up moving six! The seams are single crochet on the right side, working into both loops. Decorative and sturdy.

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Back and front.

SO many ends. At least 744 of them.

Next up is to add the collar, cuffs and button bands. I will start on that tonight. I’ve decided to miss our usual Monday night activity and get more crochet done.

Ds3 actually came out for a walk with me this afternoon. Weather was bright and cool and it was nice to see him get out of the house with his camera.

One more thing to show you –  a small portable project. A hat in progress with James C Brett Marble Chunky. I’m going to add a button tab just for show. It’s good to have something to work on while out and about when projects like the coat or a blanket get too unwieldy.

This is a really basic double crochet hat, worked in a spiral, based on my Adjustable Crochet Hat pattern. I found the yarn in a clearance bin at my LYS. I’ve always loved the Marble Chunky.

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Have a great day, and talk to you again soon.

Nov26

WIP: Coatigan

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As promised, I found the time tonight to lay out the coat squares as per the pattern. The two odd ones will be underarm gussets.

These were just laid down any old how – I’m sure I will move them around a few times until I feel the balance is right, though I don’t want to overthink it too much. I had to stand on the coffee table to get them all in and of course the lighting leaves a lot to be desired.

This project has made a serious dent in my Stylecraft Special Aran stash.

Work has been busy the last couple of days but that has been offset by a fun meal out with seven other women last night. We went to the Gratitude Cafe, which is vegan, organic, non-GMO, gluten-free, and has raw and cooked options, some without onions and garlic. Basically anyone can eat there!

I had the potato skins with cashew cheeze followed by some coconut banana cream pie. It was accompanied by a cup of real hot chocolate. Real food rocks!

 

 

Nov24

FO: Upscale Slouchy Hat

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This slouchy hat is finished. This was supposed to be a one skein project but because I changed the brim from a slipstitch to a ‘single crochet in back loop’ type rib, which resulted in the body of the hat having more V stitches than the original pattern, I ran out of yarn three quarters of the way through.

I took it in to my supervisor, who had started on the slipstitch brim and given up in disgust, and she gave me another ball of yarn to complete it.

This is Red Heart Unforgettable Waves, a thick and thin version of the Unforgettable. The colourway is Riverbank, which is quite pretty in a neutral sort of way. However it does NOT like to be unravelled, so whilst I would have liked to frog it back and make it a bit smaller, that wasn’t an option.

The brim is very stretchy and may be a bit loose when wearing. Hopefully the recipient has a big head, or a lot of hair, or doesn’t mind using a bobby pin (aka hairgrip) to keep the hat on.

I would make this pattern again in the same way, but with perhaps 50 rows of sc-blo instead of 60. That would give me about 25 V stitches which is what the pattern called for.

The 62 squares for the Coatigan are this close to being finished. I am making the last four at the same time, but they won’t get done tonight. I have to get a good night’s sleep. Another big sale at work the next three days so we will undoubtedly be busy. It’s a sociable week, what with a DoTerra essential oils evening, a group healing evening AND a girls’ dinner out.

I may not get the chance to lay out the Coatigan squares until Saturday evening but I will be sure to get a photo.

I hope your weekend is wonderful!

 

 

Nov12

Just checking in…

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Hi all

It’s been a few days since my last blurb about the next project in my queue. The new yarn is still tucked away with the book and pattern and I have been diligently crocheting away on the squares for the Coatigan. After all, Winter Is Coming and I will definitely appreciate a snuggly yarny coat/mega cardigan. Best to get that done and then start on the baby stuff.

Want to see how many squares I have now?

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48!

Only 14 more to go and I can lay them out ready for joining. In the above photo, they are randomly placed but when crunch time comes I will want to try and avoid overly similar squares being placed next to each other. Taking a photo is actually a good way to see whether the colours are balanced.

My bag of yarn is getting quite skinny and I’m burning through the black. What a great stashbuster!

It was a really busy day at the store today and I was on cash. I realised some time ago that being on cash means that you deal with every customer who comes into the store (unless we’re so busy that we have  a second till open). This means that you interact with more people and have to do a fair amount of brainwork (because all items are entered manually, no barcode scanning) so it is more mentally tiring. Working at a cutting table means you interact with fewer people, but have more physical work in the way of lifting bolts of fabric and putting them away.

Either way, working under artificial lights (even  if we do have a whole wall of windows) and standing on a concrete floor for hours is pretty taxing and when I get home I just want to veg out. Thank God for crochet, is all I can say!

So, what are you making?

Nov6

WIP: Coatigan

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Well, good morning, Sunday people. I hope you’re having a wonderful day. I’m enjoying the fact that the clocks went back so even though I had a lie-in I had a bonus hour which makes it feel like I got up earlier than I actually did.

It’s sunny with a bit of cloud and a chilly wind, though our temperatures so far this fall have been mild. We had a lot of grey days and rain this week, except for two sunny days, during which my car thermometer hit 18. Awesome! And no frost yet.

I know the wind is chilly because I ventured out onto the deck in my pyjamas to lay out my Coatigan granny squares and get a daylight photo of the progress.

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Last night, while I was “knitflixing” (OK, I was crocheting, but “knitflix” has kind of a ring to it) and watching the very first few episodes of The X Files on Netflix, I laid out my squares and decided to make it so I had three of each centre colour. I need to make more to coordinate with the squares at bottom right, and then I need to keep going until I have 62. Or more. I guess if there are any squares I particular dislike, I can use them under the arms!

I’m a bit disappointed with the ball of black that I’m using right now as it feels thinner and splittier than the other colours, but by the time I get to the collar and cuffs I will be using a different batch which will hopefully be plumper.

I have to work this afternoon, just 12 to 5pm, but there’s a big sale on this weekend and it will probably be busy. For now, it’s time to check on my rising bread dough. Have a light-filled day, peeps!

 

Oct31

Happy Hallowe’en?

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I’m sitting here in my favourite spot tonight; in my living room at my end of the couch (the other end belongs to Tai Chi Man but he’s out this evening). I don’t expect anyone to ring the doorbell because we have only ever given out candy once or twice in the 20 years we’ve lived here. We are the Scrooges of Hallowe’en. Keep the door shut, maybe even dim the lights and pretend to be out or deaf!

Being vegan, and raising vegan kids, meant that going out trick or treating never really appealed that much. The one time we did it, we had to pull out a lot of the candy and give it away. And I am not going to buy crap that I wouldn’t feed to my own children just to hand it out at the door.

When the boys were younger, we did carve pumpkins, but to be honest that has lost its appeal too. So much effort and mess for such a short-lived result, not to mention that my conscience is pricked when I think of our culture using food purely as decoration when they are so many people who are lacking enough to eat.

Well, that’s enough of my whining, now for some crochet. I have links! The coat that I mentioned in my last post is a free pattern based on one worn by some celeb or other who I probably have never heard of (did I say I don’t watch TV and that the celeb magazines at the store leave me cold)? The original cost over $1,000. Well, mine is going to be less than $50.

Coatigan in Grannies is the name, and here is the Ravelry link, and here is the Red Heart link. I’m not sure how realistic the gauge is, when you consider that I am using Stylecraft Special Aran, which is thinner than Super Saver, and a 5mm hook rather than the suggested 6mm for the size of square I need. I am aiming for the middle size and my squares should be 6.5″ but there are closer to 6.75″. And I usually go UP a hook size to meet gauge.

Here are the first nine squares:

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The pattern uses a smaller, more coordinated, range of colours but I have a lot of this yarn to use up. I rejected lemon yellow, white, cream and fondant pink as I felt they would stand out too much. The lightest colours in these squares are parchment, camel, silver grey, and I am using them in the second round of each square. The centres can be brighter, but from the third round out I’m trying to keep things fairly sober. The last two rounds of each are black.

I’m not going to stress too much about how they look at this point. I am just going to crochet a bunch of them (I need 62 for the coat) and lay them out and if one just looks like a glaring mistake I’ll make a different one to replace it.

And now to pick up my hook. I found Leonardo di Caprio’s film, Before the Flood, available for free on You Tube today, so assuming it is still available I am going to watch it while I crochet.

Happy crocheting! Boo!!