Crocheted Cotton Sweater Vest with Hood

My first finished piece of clothing!  I crocheted this cotton sweater vest with hood as a gift for my mother. 

I’d found the pattern at Craftsy and it was very easy to follow.  There’s an option to do it with sleeves but I decided to go with the sleeveless design to make things easier on myself.

I also didn’t use the recommended yarn but went with Lily Sugar’n Cream 100% cotton in white.  I love working with that yarn – at times – and I happened to have several cones sitting around with no idea what I was going to do with them.  

That yarn required some size adjustments.  The swatch was much larger than what was recommended in the pattern.  There are instructions for a range of sizes.  I started with what I thought might work and then ended up having to go down a couple of sizes in order to get the right proportions.

The stitches are very simple and the cotton yarn really makes them stand out but it also makes the sweater vest pretty bulky and heavy.  I would probably go with a different yarn next time.

Where the stiffness of this yarn really had an impact was with the draping hood in the back.

It doesn’t really “drape”.  I think it may loosen over time after it’s been washed a few times.  In the photo above it’s been fully wet-blocked and dried to shape but that’s all.  I’m afraid until it softens the grandkids are going to have too much fun pranking my mother by putting little toys in that hood.

The benefit of the stiffer yarn, though, is that this vest doesn’t show bulky belt or pant lines.  It smooths right over them and holds its shape which, if you have wider hips and hate the lumps you get from jean waistbands and belts, is a big plus.

Instead of going with shank style buttons, I went with large, wooden buttons in a pretty floral print.  I positioned them so they fall at the waistline so they’ll emphasize the thinner part of my mother’s shape and then the vest is looser over the hips.  She’s not a large woman, by any means, nor very tall and this style – I think! – will look really cute on her.

The only challenges I ran into with the pattern was getting the size right and that was simply because of my choice of yarn.  The instructions were very easy to follow and worked up pretty quickly.  I had a lot of fun!

Other than scarves, I’d never before crocheted a piece of clothing that someone might wear and I was a little intimidated – but determined.  When I was done, I was thrilled that this was something I would actually wear!

One thing crocheters want is to make things that will actually get used.  Since my mother lives in a climate that has very cold winters (and even snow in the early Spring) I think the bulkier weight of the cotton yarn will make this something she can use for several months of the year but it might be too warm for summer weather.

I do want to try this again but in a lighter weight yarn to see how the hood flows but – for a first clothing project – I’m very pleased!

Now, the big challenge will be actually getting it in the mail.  I’m horrible that way but – worst case – I’ll be visiting them this summer and could bring it with me if I procrastinate on getting it sent off.