MY HOOKY TREASURE

Katie Moore, aka The Queen Stitch, hooked up a bespoke jumper for her husband that led to a whole new collection

This treasured sweater was originally made in the fall of 2016, and published in January 2017. It was the first sweater I had made for my husband that was my own design. He vetted everything from the colour of the yarn, to the type, to the design, “Simple, but not too simple,” he specified. I wanted to make him a crocheted sweater that he actually liked and would definitely wear.

The very first sweater I made him was a free pattern I had found and it needed many custom edits to fit. It was also in a colour I chose, that I knew he looked good in – lavender. Apparently he did not care how good he looked in it, he wasn’t going to wear it – ha! – serves me right. So, this next time around, instead of heavily altering an existing pattern, I created one.

I named my bespoke design ‘The Ottershaw Sweater’, for him. It’s where he grew up and it’s where he’s photographed in most of these pictures. I still love this design, and he still wears it. It’s an intermediate sweater, and a great one for people trying crochet cables for the first time. It includes a step-by-step photo tutorial of FPdc/BPdc cables. I used an alpaca-blend yarn, which I think creates a really beautiful drape for crochet projects.

Originally, I was surprised at how positive the reaction was when I published the pattern, because I didn’t think many people would be interested in menswear. Since then, I’ve received really lovely messages and tags on projects on Instagram and Ravelry of people making it for significant others, brothers, fathers, and even themselves!

The wonderful feedback I received for this sweater design was really the start of an idea to make more crochet patterns specifically for men. In October, I released my first collection of designs for men with Paintbox Yarns. I wanted to produce classic designs, that would take some of the guesswork out of making. I released five designs, and one of them, The Pine Crew, has already sold more copies than any other pattern I’ve ever released!

I am so happy that this labour of love has now grown and created other designs that crocheters can make for the people they love, like a growing rosy (cosy?) aura.

The Ottershaw sweater is available in Katie’s shop http://thequeenstitch.com/the-shop/ottershawsweater on Ravelry, LoveCrochet and Etsy. Follow Katie on Instagram @thequeenstitch.