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Rusty Elegance

This beauty definitely had me scrabbling to the last minute. Granted I got to crochet more on our new rocking chair, so all was not lost in my mind at all. It was the one I had to rip out and re-do that I posted about previously.

The issue was in drape. It has incredible drape, almost too much drape. So when I went and crocheted the edging, I figured out the number of stitches I needed when the project was laying down instead of hanging up. So instead of getting a nice edge, mine was 2" too short and made the front bunch funny. It's all fixed now and looks lovely.

The drape was a bit of a surprise to be honest. I have used this yarn (Alpaca and Silk by Blue Sky Alpaca) a bunch , but in combination with the stitch pattern and my blocking (wet blocked) it acted much more like silk then alpaca. Totally interesting. The overall effect changed my design from a 50's sweater set look to a modern Ann Taylor Loft coordinate. I'm happy with it, although I think the sweater would look good with less drapy yarns too. I like projects like these that are only starting off points for ideas, and I can imagine how crocheters will put each of their twists on it and come up with unique projects.

It will be out in a winter magazine, and I'll let you know more as soon as I do.

Oh and a special thanks to Chie, for helping me tag team this project. She crocheted the front and back while I was crocheting the sleeves. I couldn't have done it without you!