Eleanor's Pattern of the Weeeeeeeeeeeek - 3899

This is a good pattern. This is so good I've made it twice. And I don't do that. I get bored. But there's so much to this that I just had to do it. Let me tell you. I'm talking about pattern 3899. And it is beautiful.

The first time I made it I actually followed the pattern and came up with this.

 

Do you remember?

I've got glorious memories of making this pattern and wearing this jumper so it's not so surprising that I made it again really but it is genuinely an unusual thing.

So, the setup with this thing is different to usual. You start by making a few fancy granny squares:

 

And then you make the body of the piece with holes ready for these squares to go into:

 

 I think every size has four squares across and the 'columns' are just less wide. In fact, I'm sure of this because the orange version that I made was the second smallest size. Once again, my strange crochet tension comes to the forefront. I'm glad I went smaller rather than my natural size which would have been the second largest and the one that I made the first time I made the jumper. The jumper has held out but it is too big - it really doesn't matter for the jumper because I wear it coming off the shoulder and it's slouchy and lovely. But the orange one doesn't - although you wouldn't be able to tell that from the photos. Brilliant model.

 

  Now, the thing that I want to talk about today is the 'rib' at the bottom. You can't make a 'rib' with crochet. Fact. You can make something that looks like a rib in a few different ways. Most people naturally go for trebles in the front and back post like I did on my Bouncy Hat:

It certainly looks, at least from a distance, like a rib. But it doesn't act like one. It doesn't pull in and create a seal which is what a rib actually is.

Now. In knitting, you know how stocking stitch curls in no matter what you do? If you haven't already, you literally have to read this Techknitter post because it is the most informative thing you'll ever read on knitting. Quick. Read. I'll be waiting when you come back. So. Stocking stitch curls and ribbing doesn't and now we know why. But why does ribbing pull in? IT'S BECAUSE STOCKING STITCH CURLS! Who knew?!?!?!

Way back when, I didn't know the different between knits and purls and I had to work out a way of knowing whether I was supposed to be knitting or purling in a rib without going back and counting or I would have gone mad and I worked out that I should knit when I saw stitches that look like the front of stocking stitch and purl when I saw the back of it. I worked out all by myself that ribbing is just columns of stocking stitch. One set facing the front, one set facing the back and so on and so forth. If we know that, and we know that stocking stitch curls then it makes sense that each section of stocking stitch in a rib will be pulling itself inwards trying to curl but it can't because it's attached to another bit of stocking stitch trying to curl the other way and that's attached to another bit trying to curl and so on and so forth forever more. They pull each other in by fighting against themselves to curl 'their' way rather than their neighbours.

Now. Sorry crocheters, for infiltrating your crochet post with knitting, but I know that there are a lot of you that do both so hopefully it was helpful. In crochet, the stitches are much more balanced in terms of yarn consumption for the 'front' and 'back' of the stitches. Knits and purls are one and the same - one is the backwards version of the other - and the front of stitch, the knit, takes more yarn than the back of the stitch, the purl, and this is what makes stocking stitch curl. In crochet we don't have that. If we're doing doubles, half trebles, trebles or whatever - we're doing just that, there is no 'front' of the stitch and 'back' of the stitch to do depending on which side you're knitting on which means that the crochet material is much more balanced and therefore doesn't curl. On a related note, if you find that your crochet curls, it's most likely going to be to do with the chain and once you've passed that point, after say five rows, it should settle down and not curl any longer. It tends also to happen in double crochet more and I think that's because the material is more dense, the yarn has less chance to move and settle itself down but that's just my opinion.

So back to the pattern. All you can do in crochet is make something that looks like a rib and at the bottom of this pattern, the welt, there is just that. It's not the same as the Bouncy Hat, that hat looks much more ribbed but you tend to find that that kind of rib - front post treble and back post treble - ends up kind of bulky which you might like but this is a delicate little number. It doesn't need a big old bulky welt, just something that looks right without adding any weight and they have done just that. Lovely.

Can you see? At the bottom there? So it's made by chaining a few, and working back and forth into the back leg of the stitch each time. Once you've got a strip like that that fits around your hips or waist or wherever you fancy you then start working into the long side of strip and from then on upwards and onwards. Working into the back leg of the stitch like that makes a concertina like effect in the strip and then working into the side of that when you do the main body makes that concertina vertical which makes us, at a glance, believe that there is a rib! But because it's only a half a stitch concertina, you're only pushing half a stitch outwards by going into the back leg, rather than pushing a full stitch out like you to with back or front post treble it's an awful lot less bulky. Which is perfect for this pattern.

I guess that's today's top tip. Less of a top tip and more of a rant about knits and purls and crochets and daintyness but I think that'll suffice.

Now, in terms of making the pattern. A few people have made it bish bash bosh without changing anything but me and Toni both found that it came bigger than it should. So I am totally recommending a a gauge swatch. Especially now that I've made it both in the Masham DK, a wool, and the Patons Washed Cotton DK, a cotton, and each time it came up bigger. Luckily, I was aware with the second one and made it much smaller before I even started and got disappointed and I'm thrilled with the final fit.

Also, note that I made the second one much shorter For some reason, and I blame Tess Munster, I've become obsessed about crop tops. Not necessarily to wear so that my belly shows (maybe one day, probably on holiday) but perhaps with high waisted skirts more like how I'm wearing it here.

 

All I did as make one row of the granny squares and then basically start the pattern from half way up the front. It was dead easy to work out and I suggest you do the same, especially if you're fat and you feel like you shouldn't wear crop tops because you totally should. Everybody should have the chance to look at your beautiful bum unencumbered by layers and layers of clothing. Summer. Is. Coming.

Right, once last linky to the pattern. It really is a good one. Get yer hooks out. King Cole 3899.

Love Eleanor. xxxxxxxxxxx

P.s. Here's the yoga pose. It's the half pigeon or maybe just pigeon or something but it didn't work because my legs don't slide right on Chris's driveway and I ended up with scrapes. Haha that's life. .