Project Log: “Opera Sleeves”
The finished "Opera Sleeves". As you can see, the flowers really show. And the length is quite nice, too.
These opera gloves were one of the most frustrating things I’ve made in a long time! Here’s what happened: first I created all the little crochet flowers as specified by the pattern (there are 20). I wove in all the ends and then I started working the mesh. Man did I have trouble. I worked the thing 4 times before I finally contacted Lion Brand Yarn for some help with their pattern. To their credit, they responded pretty quickly. I told them I couldn’t get the pattern to work correctly and that I thought there was an error. They got more information from me and then, I suppose, worked the pattern for themselves. Only a few days later they responded – they couldn’t find anything wrong!
“I’m an experience crocheter”, I thought. “There must be something wrong with the pattern. I’ll just have to figure out what it is myself.”
I printed the pattern and I started picking it apart in detail. I even highlighted every other row in the chart for the mesh so I could see where the mistake was. And eventually, I figured it out. I couldn’t believe it. I had done every single one of my flowers WRONG! They were supposed to have 8 loops on the outside at the end (4 petals) and all of mine had 10 (5 petals). Sigh.
Worried I would run out of yarn, I didn’t think I could start over with the flowers again. So I found the woven in ends on every single flower, undid them, unraveled them to about row 2 of the pattern, worked them all again, and wove all the ends in again. Strangely enough, ONE was right – so I assume that I must have incorrectly done the pattern from memory after the I finished the first flower.
Here is the flower as I first did it - with 10 loops around the outside instead of 8.
Sorry Lion Brand Yarn for doubting you (and for any mental cussing I may have directed your way).
After I found my mistake with the flowers, these sleeves were difficult to work. They really mean it when they say its for experienced crocheters. The second one went pretty easily but the first one was a real bear. I ended up undoing and redoing some part of the work at least 10-12 times by the end of it. The pattern was complex, not terribly intuitive and it was also not very forgiving of mistakes. What I didn’t realize was that I was working from the elbow down to the wrist – knowing for the second one made things a lot easier. But I’m thrilled with the final product. And they are wonderfully stretchy, elegant and just one of my favorite things I’ve made.
Pattern: Opera Sleeves (requires log in to LionBrand.com to access)
Yarn: Lion Brand Vanna’s Glamour® in the Onyx colorway. The pattern calls for 2 skeins and, even with my mistakes, that was more than enough yarn. But one would not have been enough. The yarn is a little difficult to work with – the dark color and the texture of it make it hard to see your loops. But the results are beautiful and if I did this pattern again I’d use this yarn.
Lessons Learned:
- You can tell where the knot is on a piece of finished work in the round, even after you weave in the ends, by feel. Even if you can’t really see it, you can feel a spot on the edge that is more hardened that the rest of the edge.
- The best way to work out a knot from finishing off is with a small needle. Insert the needle into the knot to loose it up, then you can pull loose the end.
- When Lion Brand says that a pattern is for experienced crocheters, they really mean it. But when they say they will help if you find mistakes they mean that too. Well done to them.
- When you are making 20 of something, be extra darn sure that you are doing it right.
What was the most difficult project you have completed so far? Let me know in the comments!
Stasia Crafts 