When I came across the fun “mystery daisy cardigan” posts by Krochet by Kris on Instagram, I was immediately drawn in. I love flowers, particularly daisies, and I love making crochet garments for myself.
So, I bought her pattern, and got to work.
Measuring for size
After crocheting and blocking the first granny square, the next task was to measure and compare against existing garments I own, to get a sense of how many I needed to make.
This was pretty difficult, because you don’t have much control over sizing with granny squares. You can either make a whole square or a half square, so everything needs to be in multiples of those. I thought I was going to go for a different layout of squares to the pattern, but in the end it was easier to use the same layout.
Crocheting the squares
Once I had sketched it out, I got to work making eleventy thousand (OK, 24.5) squares. I crocheted in front of the TV, while listening to podcasts, and while chatting to my family. I crocheted until my hand cramped up and then crocheted some more.
As I finished each square, I blocked it on my homemade blocking board (galvanised nails hammered into a block of wood) using a hand steamer. This step ensures that all the squares are a uniform size and shape, which makes them easier to stitch together.
The pile of squares grew and grew…
And then I stitched them all together, which was looking so pretty…
… and finally, added ribbing for the cuffs and edges.
Like most craft projects I embark on, I grew tired of it well before I was done. I persevered (what other choice did I have?), and 14 skeins of yarn — and countless hours — later, I have a new cardigan!
Apart from the obvious colour choices, I made a few alterations to the pattern to suit me better, most notably the style of ribbing. I’ve never crocheted ribbing before, but it was pretty easy once I got the hang of it. But it’s so time-consuming, and uses up a lot of yarn. I had to go back to the store twice for more yarn!
I’m really happy with the outcome, but my hands will be happy to hear that I won’t be crocheting again anytime soon. On to the next project!
Leave a Reply