Zeme (Earth) Sweater

A little while ago I shower you my personal project, the Zeme (Earth) Sweater by Linda Skuja, and I feel like it;s time for an update! I’m sorry it’s taking me so long, I haven’t had as much time at night to focus on it and my progress has been slower. By the way, it;s not the pattern, it’s me, if you’ve got time you should make your way through it easily, I just needed to get new glasses and a bit more sunlight!

Mods

I’ve made some modifications as I’ve gone along, and I included everything in my Ravelry notes for both of us.

• I’m using a smaller hook than the pattern calls for because the finished sweater is pretty oversized (and make it harder for myself) – so CAVEAT, my tension is NOT matching the pattern and I’m screwing around with the pattern a little (see my Ravelry notes). I’m using Berroco Remix Light, which is super light and delicate, and it’s working up beautifully with a little bit of texture. I’ll only use 3 balls for the smallest size. If you DO NOT want to jump through the hoops of screwing with around with the tension I suggest using the 5mm crochet hook recommended in the pattern. You can also use a slightly thicker yarn like Sandnes Garn Line.
• I’m using a thinner yarn and hook, so my size has come out smaller. This is fine through the body since the style is oversized, but the arms were a bit too tight for me. I’m following the Size 1 instructions for the body, but I adapted the sleeve instructions for Size 2.
• I made the body shorter to a slightly cropped length since I’ll be wearing it with my little summer pants and skirts. I skipped a few rows on the bottom section and went straight to the ribbing. It is VERY easy to make it longer or shorter, there are instructions in the pattern and you can try it on as you go.

Observations

I’m learning to count my stitches at the end of each round. When the count is off it make a big difference moving forward, and I’d rather rip out one round than several. Locking stitch markers have always been my friend, but we have become especially close on this project. I use them to count my stitches and the two colours help me keep track of which stitches are which.

Before I started the the sleeves I tried it on and I gotta say, if you like knit or crochet tees it works perfectly without the sleeves, you could skip them completely.

When I started I was feeling a little overwhelmed by the techniques in the pattern, but they really haven’t been a problem. I initially made a youtube playlist for the skills I was a bit iffy on, but the pattern has good written instructions and the only video I’ve ended up using was the first, the foundation single crochet (which I’ve honestly always needed a video to do, I can never remember how to do it without instructions). If you feel like you want to make something similar it but need more video support, the designer has a different sweater she teaches in her online Madara Domestika Sweater course.