The Rose Cardigan Crochet Kit from Wool and the Gang is a beautiful set for making your own cotton crochet cardi. I was happy to receive a kit in the color Spearmint Green to play with.
Ordering The Kit
It was really simple to order the kit from the Wool and the Gang website, which didn’t surprise me since I’ve previously worked with their t-shirt yarn crochet kits. The first step is to choose your yarn color; the cotton yarn for this kit comes in more than two dozen different beautiful color options. Next you say whether or not you need the crochet hook that comes with the kit; the charge is the same either way but this is a nice option since some people don’t want an extra hook to keep track of and others do! Everything shipped quickly and arrived in a lovely package that doesn’t use a lot of extra packing material, something I always appreciate.
The Yarn
The yarn for this crochet project is called Shiny Happy Cotton and indeed it’s a smooth, bright cotton that shows some great shine and intense color. The color I got, spearmint green, is a light color but still vibrant in this cotton. It is 100% Pima Cotton that can be machine washed. Each ball is 155 yards; the kit comes with 8 balls of the yarn. I found the yarn easy to work with, sliding comfortably along my hooks without any squeaking or splitting.
The Crochet Pattern
This crochet pattern was comparable to other patterns that I’ve received when ordering kits, which is to say that it’s generally easy to read and is a fairly straightforward pattern although not quite as well written as the kind of crochet patterns you’d find in books. The language of the booklet is written in UK English so I had to double check before beginning whether the double crochet the pattern calls for referred to American or English dc; it referred to American crochet terms. A couple of times in the pattern I had to read a line a few times to make sure that I was clear about what it meant.
That said, there are some nice features of this pattern:
- Links to online video tutorials for stitches and more
- Drawings for stitches, finishing and assembly
- A ruler for both cm and inches on the back pages
- A page called “making memoirs” that serves as a mini crochet journal
These extras are one of the things that make it nicer to order crochet kits than to order yarn and patterns separately from yarn companies.
Crochet Cardi WIP
The Cardigan
The main complaint that I have about the crochet pattern is that it is written for one size only and doesn’t include any information at all about sizing up or down. I worked the crochet pattern as intended and the crochet cardigan is significantly too large for me. (I’m 4’11” so likely smaller than most adults it would be made for.) I actually don’t mind because I love oversize sweaters and adore the kimono-style sleeves that this resulted in for my cardigan. But it would be frustrating if I were trying to achieve the exact look that was shown on the pattern since mine differs dramatically from that much-more-fitted design. I had actually chosen not to use the included crochet hook and shifted down a size since I expected this but I would have had to go several hook sizes smaller to get a fitted design for my own frame.
That said, I really do like the crochet pattern, and anyone with sizing and shaping skills would be able to adapt the pattern to their own frame fairly easily. The pattern is worked in an interesting way so that the back is created first and then the two front panels are created next, separately but still seamlessly. There is just a little bit of seaming to add the sleeves and close up the sides of the cardigan. It’s a really simple design pattern and one that I will certainly use again.
