I do have a finished object photo for you:
This is from the book Candy Babies by Candi Jensen. This is the project which prompted my epic search for a 4mm hook. Not that the pattern calls for one, mind you, but the F hook (3.75mm) was too small for the gauge & the G hook (4.25mm) was way too big. So I actually willingly spent $8 for a crochet hook. Crystal brand hooks make a 4mm hook that they label F. Susan Bates makes a 4mm hook they label G. The Susan Bates hook was $2. I was twitching internally when I bought the more expensive hook, but the Crystal hook is a "comfort grip" (it is, by the way, singularly uncomfortable, though I've a sneaking suspicion the story would be different for a right-hander), and so immediately obvious as unusual. This saves me from grabbing a 4mm hook when I want a 4.25mm one instead.The yarn used in the project is Red Heart BabySoft. I love, love, love this shade of green. I think it's labelled lime green, but it's more of a celery color to me. It's not harsh like you tend to expect LIME green to be. It's just...crisp. The trim is soft yellow. I am currently making the matching dress from the book in yellow trimmed with green. No plan for this outfit so far. I certainly don't expect to need it, so perhaps it will wind up as a gift. I was going to debut both pieces together, but after my fiasco last night, I felt the need to get SOMETHING up here. And so, you get the sweater early. I have some pretty butterfly buttons I'll be using (I forgot to put in the buttonholes, so they'll only be for show; the actual closure will be snaps), but I need to make sure I have the correct color thread for the snaps too.
One thing about this pattern...This drives me crazy. The standard for crochet patterns is that, when your first row will be HDC, you have a foundation chain of one extra stitch, and then the first two chains that you skip count as the first HDC. For some reason, the back of the sweater has an extra two chains, but the front has the standard one extra. My memory isn't too clear on the sleeves, but I think they go back to the two extra chains. The directions for sewing up the seams are also kind of screwy; for some reason the pattern stops in the middle of telling you how to sew it up to tell you how to trim the front. It's insane, and confusing. I sewed the seams up in my own fashion, and I'm pretty sure my way was simpler than what was described in the book. The clothes in this book are really great, but I'm thinking whomever the editor was didn't have a clue one about crocheting or pattern writing conventions. A lot of the patterns are only slightly less confusing than the ones you'll find posted by amateurs online for free. I can't help but think that I could do a better job of writing some of these patterns, and I'm far from a pro.
Oh well, at least I have achieved my long-held desire of a wrap-front garment. Yes, I am that pathetic.
On a side note, my crocheting will be slowed down somewhat, as I'm taking time now to teach my older daughter her alphabet. She's only 3.5, but she tries to read almost as often as she tries to crochet, so I'm starting at the very bottom. I have a very nice workbook to help me teach her the alphabet, but I noticed today with some fear that it has an answer key in the back. Really, if I cannot tell that my child has correctly drawn a line from one capital A to the other one, I need to not be homeschooling!
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