Ack! Why do I even keep trying?

[pragmatica]

I really, really, really need to vent.

 

Clearly, I am just not meant to make wearables from magazines.

 

A few weeks ago, 'Villers were kind enough to encourage me to complete the Mango Mesh Pullover, even though it turned out way too big on me. (Eventually I'll post a picture and try to find it a new home.) Then, I decided to make the Simply Spring top in this month's Crochet!. I swatched. The gauge was right. I made it for a small. It was WAY too small and tight because it's a very fitted pattern and even though my bust is in the 33.5" range, I have a potbelly (thanks, kids and spinal surgery!) that I'm awfully good at dressing around with empire waists and flowy/unclingy tops and this thing was way too tight.

 

So I frogged, and I made it the next size up for 36.5" bust, thinking fine, I'll have a three-inch clearance all the way around, that won't be a problem, and omigosh, this thing is huge and shapeless on me.

 

I don't know if the fault is my weird size/shape or just bad luck with these patterns, but I am feeling CURSED. The last wearable I tried to make before these was a pretty little-girl sweater from Interweave Crochet (don't remember the name of the pattern) with flowers embroidered on it in ribbon and the sleeve pattern was so horribly incorrect that I couldn't figure out how to make it fit. Some other more advanced folks did manage to finish theirs (and confirmed that the pattern was hosed) but I'm not good enough to figure out how to completely rewrite the sleeve pattern to work.

 

Sorry to be rambling but I am JUST SO FRUSTRATED that I can't make anything come out right. The last wearable wearable I made was the sundress I finished last fall and every single piece of crocheted clothing I have tried since then has been a great big failure.

 

Right now I'm knitting up a big pile of Lion Trellis into scarves because I am certainly qualified to make rectangles, even if I can't make much of anything else these days.

 

AAAAAAUUUUUGGGGHHHH.

 

Whew. Good to get that out of my system.

 

--Elissa

[carovan]

I'm so sorry to hear about all your troubles with the wearables. Up until this past week the only wearables I had made were for babies. This week I finally made my first to fit me. (I'll post pictures later today?) I found that by trying it on me at different stages during the making process really helped me get the right fit without having to frog it too much.

 

I hope that you will try again someday. Maybe somebody will start a CAL and you can get more help that way.

 

Happy Easter!

[cgd]

I'm right there with you on wearables! A few months back I made a couple of modular sweaters which made me look like the Michelin man. I too have the pot belly that I have to dress around. I even tried the sweaters on as I went, but they somehow look way better on the 5'10" skinny models with 24-inch waists than on me, hmmm . . .

 

Anyhow, I've started a shell summer top using Luster Sheen, so hopefully a lighter-weight yarn will help, but it's on hold due to other projects right now. If that turns out crappy, I don't know what I'll do. Maybe I'll just try a shrug or poncho or just conclude that wearables (other than hats) are NOT my thing!

[Sbg4evr]

Don't feel bad. I made the unseamingly sweater from HH book and it looks horrible. I can not even give it away. My gauge was correct and I look like I am wearing a padded sack.

 

I also made a mesh sweater from Crochet fantasy and it was too tight on the sleeves and the body of the sweater felt like an iron shield. I used the wrong type of yarn but had the right gauge.

 

Even though my sweaters were disasters, I have no problems making skirts and sweaters for my son. I knew how to crochet for about 30 years but the last 3 years, I learned so much and used many different types of yarns. I have become a yarn snob and know what type of yarns work for wearables and what don't. I am going to attempt sweaters again soon.

I am going to beat the sweater monster and will make beautiful sweaters.

[fuzzy ferret]

I've seem to be having the same woes myself. It does get very frustrating and discouraging, but hang in there! Its gotta get better soon! As they always say, practice makes perfect!

 

....or atleast I try to keep telling MYSELF that!

 

Good luck!

 

Krystal

[slicer]

I just recently started my first clothing project, and if I followed the pattern it would have been WAY to big. I completely changed the back of the pattern so it ties closed in the back instead of having it completely closed. The pattern is the Apricot Camisole in Easy Crochet (I think). It's not done yet, but I know if I had completely followed the pattern, I would have hated it!

[lene]

I'm actually finding that the modular technique is working out well for me, but it may help that I'm using a fingering weight yard, so the fabric has less bulk (which is nice, since *I* have more bulk than needed as it is.) I like being able to adapt as I go, and I keep having all these cool ideas for future sweaters, playing with this technique and yarns/colours, etc... I will undoubtedly try my hand at some actual patterns again soon enough, but for now, i'm so relieved to be able to muck about without having to follow a pattern. Lots less stress for me, and the designs are simpler to conceive in my head, although there's the freedom to add detailing and little changes to make it more unusual as I go.

 

Good luck to you in finding something that will work for you! I know how frustrating it is, believe me. I wear a size 20, and have trouble finding plus sized patterns or clothing in my price range that I actaully like and feel good in.

 

Lene'

[karin4christ]

I understand your frustration. I too have a pot belly which makes it difficult to find flattering tops to wear. It seems like all the crochet magazines feature shrugs or boleros that would just expose my round belly. I'm currently making the cardigan that Roli made (the vintage cardigan CAL). I've been holding my breath while making it. It will just kill me to put so much time into making it and then not have it fit right/look flattering. I usually crochet afghans. No worry about fit there. The sweaters that I do make are for children and I donate them to charities. It sort of takes the pressure off of me of trying to have them fit. Because I'm not making them for a specific size and I figure that the sweater will fit someone. I also think that it is harder to make a crochet garment look good as opposed to a knit one. Knitting just drapes better than crochet. Also I think the yarn choice has alot to do with it. You can knit a sweater out of regular worsted weight yarn and it will be okay. But if you crochet with worsted weight it tends to be too bulky and stiff.

[Tiga]

First, don't make the patterns from Interweave Crochet until a few months after they come out; they ALWAYS have tons of corrections. Check the site for errata about two months after the magazine comes out and of course, ask here for help. For how much that magazine costs, there are a ridiculous number of errors. I'm hopeful that now that it'll be subscription, they'll have more staff for error checking...

 

As for Crochet!, I've found that their sizes are all over the place; they seem to leave it up to the designers.

 

What I'd do, if I were you, is make your tops to size, with the correct size hook, and then go up a hook size for the waist area, so it's just a big bigger - no math involved, and it should be just enough larger that you'll be comfy. That is, of course, when you're gauge is correct.

 

I don't think the gauge they publish with the patterns is always correct, though.

[monael]

It can be very discouraging. I just recently finished a top from Crochet! magazine, and I had to redo the first part of it 3x!!!! My gauge swatch matched up perfectly but the measurements they listed were completely bogus. I started out making the medium size. That is what I normally wear and the measurements they listed sounded right. It was too big. So I had to frog and then made the small. Well it was too big AGAIN. I ended up doing the EXTRA SMALL and I haven't worn an extra small since I was in middle school! I don't know where they get their measurements from. But I would have been so MAD if I had done the whole thing and it was too big. But it looked so big that I fit it around the part it was supposed to cover and realized that it wouldn't do. I look at clothing patterns as suggestions and not gospel, which is the only way I can look at it or I will