Cotton Shrug

I was going to talk about the vintage style throw that I’m making but I’m having problems taking some decent pictures of the squares. I really could do with a new camera and the camera on my Blackberry phone is a little bit hit and miss at the moment. Maybe it’s me, I’m starting to get a bit of a plonker using some gadgets, must be something to do with my age …. )

Instead, I’d thought I’d share my first proper crochet garment. It’s a shrug that I finished about a couple of months ago.  The pattern was in The Art of Crochet using Louisa Harding Grace. This is a luxury yarn of 50% silk and 50% merino wool, but at around £5.95 for a 50g ball it’s a little bit pricey   In fact, most of the patterns in the part work use the more luxury, designer yarn like Debbie Bliss, Sublime and Rowan. So, I went through my stash and found some really nice 100% cotton DK yarn.

As you can see, it has a shiny strand running through it, which gives the yarn a bit of a sheen to it.

Here is the finished item

It’s worked in one piece in a large shell pattern that forms a pretty, undulating lower edge. Here’s a close up of the stitch pattern.

I’m really quite proud of it seeing as I’ve only been crocheting since Feb/March. The only problem I had was with the tension. Using a substitute yarn meant I should have double checked the tension and changed to a different hook size. I used a regular 4mm hook but halfway through I realized that maybe I should have used a 4.5mm. I didn’t fancy the idea of unpicking it. Consequently it came out a little bit on the small side for me, but perfect for my 18 year-old daughter who’s a size 8. In fact, her eyes lit up when I mentioned it was turning out a tad too small for me. I’m going to have to watch that

We’ve actually come to some sort of arrangement. I make every third project for her, but I’m half expecting a long list to be thrust at me once she starts Uni. In fact, the next project is a rug to brighten up her room and make it feel a bit more like home.