Oh, the trials of travel!  I've had several projects finished for quite a while, in fact, one is a hoodie that is a bit out of season now.  Would you believe that our travel schedule has made it difficult for me to photograph, edit, and re-do my website?  We've finally settled into Dan Diego for a month and, for a change, the WiFi signal is strong.  So, no more excuses.  Here are my new finished projects for the summer.

Easygoing Hoodie by Norah Gaughan
Published in Interweave Crochet January 2006

I made a trench coat designed by Melissa Leapman and the style never really suited me.  I had used Lion Brand Cotton-Ease and after a few months, decided to unravel it and try a new project.  Since we were headed for the Rocky Mountains, I thought a hoodie might come in handy for the high altitudes.  This pattern was easy to work and the result was a great-looking garment.

A word of caution:  Although the row count can sometimes be unimportant in a pattern, this is one time where you must be sure that the gauge hits.  The reason is that your two front panels will be turned sideways and if you have made them too short, your front will not be wide enough.  You can make additional rows of the open work to get to the correct row gauge.

This is my own design.  In keeping with my new resolution to use lighter-weight materials, I tried another thread top.  The thread is Department 71 Size 8 Perle Cotton.  It's a simple V-neck with a shaped waist.  The sleeves are slightly flared and all the edges have a scalloped finish.  I call it the Greenback Top because we were in Las Vegas when I made it.  The temperatures were 108-110 degrees and it was the only thing that kept me from thinking abut the heat!  I didn't write down the pattern but the whole thing is done in panels of double V stitches and double crochet.  The shaping is simply done by decreasing one stitch at a time at the waist and the neckline.

This pattern was published in Annie's Crochet Newsletter in the March-April edition of 1992.  I bought it on Ebay.  At the time I thought I would make it tunic-length and omit the cuff at the waist.  The pattern uses size 10 cotton thread.  For some reason, my gauge was off and the top ended up too short.  To compensate, I added a peplum around the bottom edge.  When I tried it on, it was a bit too loose in the waist .  The peplum had taken hours of work with my tiny C hook so I decided to make a drawstring.  In the end, I really liked the effect.  Judge for yourself.