avameow3

Hi!!!

I’ve been on my Pinterest grind lately – genuinely spending hours scrolling and curating my feed. Partly because I just like to look at pretty pictures, but I’ve also had a hard week so it’s easy to go on there to put together hopeful boards for my future. You know, fun crafts I want to make, clothes I wish I had, and so on.

Well, as I was scrolling, I came across this top:

I suddenly decided I could SO make that. Or at least something like it. It was linked to a pattern on Etsy, by the user miascrochetpatterns:

Now, $4.21 isn’t bad at all for a pattern, but to be transparent money is tight right now, and I decided I could just figure it out myself – I’ve made a sweater before that was similar, with this type of loose-knit style. I also don’t officially know how to read crochet patterns… or at least I’ve never tried. I know what sc and dc mean and so on, I’ve just never given them a chance. I’d much rather watch a YouTube video and see someone do it with their hands than try to read a pattern. Maybe I’ll try to strictly follow a pattern one day, and that can be a post on here. 🙂

Anyways, this is where I started. I already had some pretty cotton yarn I had gotten from Amazon a while ago and was saving for a fun project. It’s this Caron “All Day Cotton” Yarn – I think the price is a pretty good deal, and I bought the colors “Red Lip” and “Eyes Blue.” I used red for this project. I only used one skien, but I definitely would have needed two if I made this top full length or made size adjustments. It’s currently on sale as I’m writing this post.

P.S., I have an affiliate link for this product! This just means if you use my link I may earn a small commission from Amazon, at no extra cost to you: https://amzn.to/439GS9K

So, as I began my project, I thought it would go smoothly. I figured I would sit down, watch a show on my laptop and get this done in about 4-5 hours – no biggie. This didn’t exactly happen. Not because I was struggling with the project, life just happened. See, I meant to start earlier in the day, but I honestly forgot I had planned to do this for a while and kept starting other tasks. I listed a bunch of stuff on Depop, made myself lunch, etc. I finally picked up my yarn and hook around 3:00pm on Tuesday. I tried to document my progress, but only took like two progress pictures and then forgot so I just have two from the beginning then the completed top. Oopsies.

It was moving along pretty well! I used an I(5.5mm) sized hook for a few rows. I’ll try to explain my process: I did a loose chain, and made it where it fit around just under my armpits, with some room to spare. Make sure the amount of chains you make is a multiple of 3! Once it was long enough, I connected it back to the beginning of the chain and made a loop (I actually didn’t in my photo, tbh I forgot so I just connected it after this point). From there, I turned my work, and crocheted 3. Then, I skipped two stitches and double crocheted into the third stitch. My pattern was to do one loose chain, skip two stitches, then double crochet into the third. I know I should have done two chains, but I wanted it to not be so bulky and I thought this would work if I made it loose enough (it did I think). This is most annoying for the first row, going into the original chain. When you get to the end you just slip stitch into the loop from the beginning.

Once you finish this row, you kind of keep doing the same thing. Turn your work, crochet three, skip two, double crochet into the third. One loose chain, skip two, double crochet into the third. Slip stitch at the end, and repeat for as many rows as you want.

Once I got to about 6 or 7 rows, I switched to a G(4.0mm) hook. By using a smaller hook, I create smaller stitches, and this created kind of a cinched effect at my waist. It’s not an astronomical difference, just keeps it from looking completely boxy and straight. I didn’t count how many rows I did this for… looking at my top now, I’m counting 8.

I started loosing stamina around 5:00. Partly because I just needed a break, but also because my roommate came home and I was talking to her. We also had plans to go see a movie, which I needed to get ready for. Might be talking about this movie in a future post, by the way…

Anyways, after I got home from the movie, I thought I would do more but I genuinely just didn’t. I watched some TV, showered, and went to bed.

I picked it back up in the morning before I went to work, around 8:15ish. I switched back to my I(5.5mm) hook and did 5 or 6 more rows, to make it wider as it went down my waist. If you do follow my instructions (which are terrible and I don’t know why you would), keep in mind I’m not making a full length top here. It’s a little cropped, which you will see later. You can make as many rows as you want to fit your desired length.

Once I finished my last row I just did my normal slip stitch, cut my yarn, and weaved the ends in. Then I had to leave for work around 9, so there was another pause. Then began the straps (sleeves?) when I got home at 3.

This part is much harder to describe, and probably impossible to follow from my explanation! If you really want to do this I suggest a YouTube video! First, I folded the top in half – make sure the “seam” (where you start/end each row) is one of the creases. This “seam” will be the middle, of the back, going down your spine. To decide where I put my straps, I marked the crease/middle on both the front and back and made sure to count an equal amount of spaces on either side of these marks to decide where my straps would go.

To make my straps, I single crocheted into one of the marking spots, and single crocheted my way around to the other marking. I did two single crochets into the gaps, and one into the tops of the double crochets. Once I got to the back marking I made a chain long enough to go over my shoulder like a proper strap – I think mine was 38 chains long. I slip stitched this chain back to the front where I began, and then turned my work. I did a single crochet back into the 38 stitches to thicken the straps and make them sturdier. Finally, once I got to the end, I did a slip stitch, cut my yarn and weaved in the ends. I repeated this process for the other strap.

Here is a really bad drawing from my notes app of the front view:

And the side view:

And that was pretty much it! I will say, I think I could have done the top of it a little differently. There is a little gapping around the armpit area. This isn’t a huge deal, because the top is meant to be loose and slouchy, and when I pull it down like it’s meant to be you can’t tell. I think it still looks pretty good! Here’s the final thing:

It looks better over a bikini or smaller top but I don’t want to post that here lol. Anyways, after all of this work… I’m not keeping it! I know I probably won’t wear it and I make these more for the fun of it. I’m selling this top on my Depop if anyone is interested, linked in the sidebar of my page!

Or here: My Depop

Anyways, I hope anyone who read this enjoyed! I had fun making it and writing out my process – I like having a place like this to keep track of things.

Bye be good!

avameow3