Summer Cardigan: An attempt was made

I branched out of my comfort zone recently and made my first true wearable! I guess you can wear hats and scarves, but I actually set out to make a cardigan. And I did…sort of.

I followed the pattern….but it turned out too small. 🙃 It looks really cute…on the hanger. But on me, it looks too small - and that's kind of saying something 😂

I gained so much confidence in myself. From the construction perspective, the cardigan was three “rectangles” and I knew I could do that. But putting it all together and actually putting it on to wear worried me. But I did it!

From the aesthetic perspective, I also really loved the stitches on this one 🙂

I've seen and read about gauge swatches, but I've never needed to make one. But now I understand why they can be so useful! I also recently learned about blocking (and now I block almost all my projects); it’s especially useful for granny squares when I need them to all be the same size.

I also know that I tend to be a “tight crocheter” when it comes to my tension (simply put, my stitches tend to be tighter and smaller); and that affects a gauge. I thought about going up a hook size before I started, but I told myself I would follow the pattern/video as it was designed and I would learn for next time. Next time, I’ll go up a hook size and I bet that + a gauge swatch to understand how I may need to alter the pattern will hopefully result in a better cardigan next time.

I’ll probably stick with black again (because I like a black cardigan), but it is not easy to work with; dark yarns make it very difficult to see your stitches 🙃