The Pirate Vest

OK, well... one of the biggest lessons I still haven't learned about crocheting? Gauge swatch! I don't know why I never do this. Most projects have turned out good though... and I guess I'm always so excited to start a new project that I don't want to "waste" my time or yarn on silly little gauge swatches...

The other lesson that I still need to learn? Every 4-ply yarn just isn't the same size. You would think that if a project calls for a specific 4-ply yarn that you could replace it with any old (cheaper) 4-ply yarn. And that's just not the case... and I still struggle with that lesson. Maybe they need to come up with a different system for stating the size of the yarn? Because really, that Lily's Sugar 'N Cream cotton yarn is much bigger than the Red Heart Super Saver, and they are both 4-ply. I'm guessing that the yarn this pattern was written with was a lighter weight 4-ply than Red Heart....

So the pirate vest that I worked on for 2 or 3 weeks? Ginormous. Way too big. The funny thing was that I was worried it was going to be too small... I should have guessed it was going to be too big when I finished the back of it... but I thought that by the time I sewed it together... grrr.Oh well. Now on to trying to sew a pirate vest before tomorrow... Sewing is much quicker, so if I manage to mess this one up I will at least know right away :)