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Everyday Crochet: Wearable Designs Just for You - Softcover

Chan, Doris

 
9780307353733: Everyday Crochet: Wearable Designs Just for You
Softcover
ISBN 10: 0307353737 ISBN 13: 9780307353733
Verlag: Potter Craft, 2007

Inhaltsangabe

Everyday Crochet is your new must-have collection of crochet designs. Doris Chan, the author of Amazing Crochet Lace, presents 25 patterns for fresh and fashion-forward attire, this time with a variety of customizable options.

With basic crochet skills, you can crochet tops, dresses, jackets, layering pieces, and accessories—a wardrobe of versatile garments that can be mixed, matched, and layered with the clothes women already have in the closet.

Also included are techniques for shaping stitches in pattern and a special focus on shells of all kinds. Using a variety of closed and open stitches, yarns, and colorways, you can make wearable ensembles for any season and any mood. Many patterns offer simple fitting tips and options for adjusting length, sleeve, and neckline, as well as sizing for ample figures up to 3XL—52” bust or 54” hip—to help achieve a signature look.
Whether you’re a crochet newbie seeking inspiration or an old pro looking for a new take on this fun craft, Everyday Crochet is packed full of innovative designs for stylish, up-to-the-minute crochet clothing and accessories.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Doris Chan’s crochet garments and accessories have appeared in publications such as Family Circle Easy Knitting and Michael’s Arts and Crafts magazines, and in several books, including the Lion Brand “Just” series. She lives in Pennsylvania.

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1

Everyday Garments

Made it? Flaunt it! Crocheted clothes are not just for special occasions. If you crochet, then you can make garments to wear every day using the yarns you love. "Who would want to?" you ask. Well, think about it. You can't deny there's a great deal of pride and satisfaction in crocheting something, anything. To some extent we all seek the admiration, approval, and dumbstruck awe that skillfully crocheted objects inspire. But how many admirers can there be for pretty afghans and decorative items that stay at home? Or for those gorgeous but frivolous accessories you adore wearing, but that only come out during the holidays?

I see many possible reasons for not putting your yarn stash on your back more often. Never crocheted a garment before? We will fix that. Haven't met the right crochet design? Maybe we can fix that. Can't find patterns in your size? Ditto. Think you can't wear or don't look good in crochet? It's not you, it's the crocheted garment that's either too clunky and thick, isn't your size, or has no shape. We can fix that, too. Aren't sure how to mix crochet with your own clothes? I can't give you a makeover, but I hope the photos of crochet plus wardrobe staples will give you some ideas.

Extra Sizing Spoken Here

Nobody, no body is perfect. To be human-especially to be a human woman-is to have bulges. From birth we are told that some bulges are sexy and desirable, worthy of flaunting, while some other bulges are unsightly, best kept disguised. Who made those rules? How are we supposed to maintain any kind of self-esteem when our fashion icons are size 4 and the average American woman is size 14?

I am ashamed to admit that I totally bought into this worship of the slender. Until very recently I hadn't even considered sizing my designs larger than XL, with a finished bust around 44" (112cm). And for the most part, the editors and publishers for whom I designed were not much concerned about it. Today I am acutely aware of the need for good crochet design for other than tiny model figures. But, be assured, this book isn't for large sizes only. Every garment here is offered from small (to fit busts sized 32-34" [81-84cm]) through extra sizing (to fit busts up to 50" [127cm]), and some larger still. Many designs are Petite-able and Tall-able. If we aren't encouraged to rejoice in our various bulges, at least we can dress them in crochet.

This book is about options. Each of the following design chapters offers a basic clothing item, then runs through a gang of variations on the theme. Your perfect sweater probably won't be like any of the samples I have crocheted, because you are going to shop for the bits to do for yourself, sort of one from column A, one from column B. Add up the parts you want for the silhouette that works best for your body, whatever your size.

The Dreaded Raglan

Understand that I design garments from the neck down with raglan-type increases in pattern to shape the shoulders and arms. Many readers will appreciate my MO for the technical crochet aspects but will immediately dismiss the thought of raglans as intrinsically unattractive. And normally that'd be correct. Most real figures will look best in a shoulder that's more structured, with a defined shoulder line and set-in sleeves. But in order to hang properly and look good, structured garments require precise calculation of various slopes, perfect placement of the shoulder seam, and skillful seaming.

I never enjoyed crocheting garments this way because of the sewing. It's not that I dislike or disapprove of sewing or seaming in crochet; it's more that I've always been so lousy at it. And as for sewn raglan seams in crochet, they're the most horrible, unyielding, bulky, constricting, and restricting style imaginable. This raglan's different. This raglan is a gentle, almost invisible (or very pretty where perceptible) line of increasing stitch pattern. It creates a smooth, flexible, shapely shoulder that allows the fabric to stretch, drape, and mold to the wearer in ways a more structured garment could never hope to do.

Of course, there's no guarantee that it will look good on everyone. But I know for a fact that it is flattering on many who have worn my garments, and I hope you will at least give it a try.

What's Up with All the Shells?

Crocheted shells possess many unique qualities. The nature of a shell, consisting of multiple tall stitches all made in one spot, is that it wants to expand. I exploit this tendency by crocheting shell fabric from the top down. If allowed, the shells across any row tend toward maximum entropy by spilling out horizontally. Normally, each successive row or round of shell stitch pattern keeps this tendency in check, resulting in a straight, in-line piece of fabric.

However, if crocheted in a relaxed enough gauge, that room for expansion is always present-lurking. So, for instance, the shell may stay quietly in place, flat and perfect, going down the middle of the back. It may stretch out long and lean at the waistline, at the middle of your sleeve, or at the diagonal of a raglan shaping. Or it may give up its full potential for width around the top of the arm, across the bust and hip. Left unchecked, shells will make beautiful flares at the lower edges of your garment. Without much ado, you're creating a gentle bell at the bottom of your sleeve, a bit of room over the top of your hip where your sweater stops, and a bit of an A- line at the hem of your skirt or dress. This self-molding aspect of shells cannot truly manifest when you work from the bottom up.

Shaping shells is at times complex. There are the problems of how to fit them in, how to pick the pattern back up when the work has changed, and how to achieve the most elegant shaping within the amount of space available. Agonizingly, there is no magic formula-no brilliant algorithm that will give you the perfect number of increases and rows for every application. The more you mess around with your own pattern shaping, the more you come to realize how much variation there can be from stitch pattern to stitch pattern, from yarn to yarn, even from a yarn worked firmly to the same yarn worked loosely. No worries! Enabled by years of trial and error and a tiny bit of math, I have crunched the numbers for the designs in this book. Once you get the hang of increasing one flavor of shell, you should find shaping the shell variation in the next project much easier.

Substituting Yarns? Just Do It

Criticism of crocheted garments stems from outdated perceptions. It is true that once upon a time we were offered only pot holder fabric to wear-heavy, lifeless synthetic yarns worked with undersized hooks into clunky, frumpy garments. It is still assumed crocheters do not, will not, or cannot work with good yarns or luxury fibers, even when we can afford the cost. I was shocked and dismayed in a local yarn shop when I overheard a customer inquiring if she could crochet with a particularly lovely yarn labeled for knitting and being told no.

That customer should have been assured that any yarn that can be knitted can be crocheted. Anything you can wrap around your hook can be crocheted, including string, fabric, trash bags, wire, fishing line, or Twizzlers (don't ask!). Modern science has removed the stigma from synthetics. There are high-quality polyester and acrylic microfibers available. In a blend, microfiber adds strength, durability, softness, and sheen and takes away excess weight. The trendiest new yarns come from the fields, made from bamboo, soy, corn, and Tencel (derived from trees). The fineness, hand, and color properties of these alternative fibers rival those of silk, and can be found at a fraction of the cost.

Personally, I love messing with all kinds of yarns and fibers. I have my favorites as, I imagine, do you....

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Verlag
Potter Craft
Erscheinungsdatum
2007
Sprache
Englisch
ISBN 10 
0307353737
ISBN 13 
9780307353733
Einband
Taschenbuch
Anzahl der Seiten
144
Kontakt zum Hersteller
CROWN
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