Snake Stashbuster Crochet Sweater

 My son asked me to make him a sweater with a snake on it. He wanted it to fit quite well.I looked to cycling jerseys for inspiration. They are constructed with panels under the arms, which makes an interesting design feature. This one came about because I did not have enough of one colour for the whole thing, and I didn't want to spend any money. So I used mainly wool, some acrylic, DK and Aran weight yarns from my stash.

I used a 6mm hook. The snake design is very old, from a reference book on Pre-Hispanic, South American stamp designs.  He chose it- good choice, I think.

I remember the wonderful hand-made South American knits we used to get in the 1970s and 1980s. I hope to have captured some of that energy.

Here's my initial design.

Here's the completed garment.I got him to try it on before I'd finished the sleeves, but he said he liked them that length, so.

I varied the stitches, working rows of dc, htr, tr, and combinations of these for the stripes. Between each colour, I made 2 rows of dc in white.I might try a version substituting black for white.

Front and back were worked as straight panels from the bottom up- the edges were a bit uneven, so I surface crocheted a chain up each side, to create an anchor to work the side panels into.Neck, cuffs and hem were done with a 5mm hook.

30/05/21 Currently working on a more standardised version.