Now we’ve made it to the end!  This week if finishing up the Open Canyon Tunic Crochet-Along by adding single crochet stitches along the sides and sewing both panels together.  It’s been a lot of fun to watch everyone get excited about this project.  It’s very motivating to continue to design garments for the ELKies.

We had an ELKie, Esther May, that make a wonderful variation to the Open Canyon Tunic.  She decided to place a V-neck in her design instead of crocheting straight across.  Many of you have loved her version, so I will try to work on it over the next week or so before I attend the CGOA Conference.  Keep your fingers crossed because the Christmas Present CAL is starting soon too, so my fingers will be flying to get everything done! If you want to see her version, join the ELKies Facebook group!

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Supply List

1. Yarnspirations Cotton Cakes, #4 Worsted Weight, 211 yds/100 grams, 60% cotton, 40% acrylic, Colorway shown in photo:  Boho Floral
2. Sizing:  XS(SM, MED, XL,LG, 2X, 3X, 4X, 5X) Skeins Required:  4(4,5,5,6,6,7,7,8)  (If you are one that will want to “make your color change happen exactly the same for both pieces of the garment, you may want to purchase an extra skein).  I highly suggest ensuring you get the same dye lot number for all skeins needed for your project.
3. I Hook/5.5mm
4. Tapestry Needle

Gauge:  15 dc and  8 rows = 4″

Abbreviations:
ch – chain
dc – double crochet
rem – remaining
sc – single crochet
st(s) – stitch(es)

Notes:

• Ch 4 is considered the first dc and ch-1 in the row
• Ch 3 is considered the first st in the row.  You could try the alternative to the chain 3 for a cleaner look.
• Ch 1 is not considered the first st in the row/round
• There is a 4″ positive ease added into this garment as it is designed to be loose fitting.  For example, the XS is 28″ but the finished measurement will be 32″.  If you want a tighter fitting project, you will want to adjust your size accordingly.
• You will be making two of these pieces and sewing them together, so keep in mind that each piece is only half the size of your finished garment.
• Keep in mind when creating your sleeves that you have a single crocheting edging which will add close to 1/2″ to the width to the sleeve.

To Keep Up Each Week, You Can Click the MAIN PAGE

Schedule

June 16, 2018 – Supply List and Schedule
June 30, 2018 – Week 1
July 2, 2018 – Week 1 Stitch Diagram
July 7, 2018 – Week 2
July 11, 2018 Week 2 Stitch Diagram
July 14, 2018 – Week 3 (Current Week)

Measurement Sizing Chart

Size	Chest	Chain Count	Full Length	Sleeve Width
XS	28″	55	22″	6″
SM	32″	63	22″	6″
MED	36″	69	22 1/2″	6.5″
LG	40″	77	23 1/2″	7.5″
XL	44″	85	23 1/2″	7.5″
2X	48″	91	24 “	8″
3X	52″	99	24 1/2″	8.5″
4X	56″	107	25 “	9″
5X	60″	115	26″	10″

Don’t forget that all Open Canyon Information can be found on the MAIN PAGE. 

Finishing

NOTE:  Under normal circumstances, you place 2 single crochet stitches along the side of a double crochet row. To make sure the success of the garment, it will be crucial that your stitch count of single crochet stitches match on each panel.  I suggest once you finish a side, sleeve, and the top that you should write down the number of stitches for each side.  Don’t write the total.  Break it down so you know each part individually.

For Each Panel, you will now be crocheting the single crochet edging by following the instructions below.

• With the RS facing, join by sl st, start at the left bottom (for right-handed) and right bottom (for left-handed), place a 3 single crochet in the last stitch of the row.
• Crochet evenly across up the side until you reach the corner of the sleeve
• Only place one single crochet stitch in the last side of the row before turning to the underside of the sleeve
• Place single crochet stitches evenly along the underside of the sleeve
• Place 3 single crochet stitches in the last st of the underside of the sleeve
• Crochet evenly up the side of the sleeve
• Place 3 single crochet stitches in the first st at the top
• Single crochet in each dc across until the last stitch, 3 single crochet in the last st
• Crochet evenly down the side of the sleeve, 3 single crochet in the first stitch on the underside of the sleeve
• Crochet evenly across the sleeve until you reach the corner of the sleeve
• Only place one sc in the first side of the row working down the panel of the garment
• Continue crocheting evenly down the side of the garment until you reach the first st
• Place 3 single in the first st
• Crochet evenly across in each double crochet, join by sl st to first st.

Now it’s time to join your panels.  My favorite stitch to join this project was using the mattress stitch by picking up the inside stitches only or you may have heard inside loops only.  Since this is a long seam, you may need to use more than one strand of yarn to cover the entire project.

TIP:  I tried using the lighter color of the yarn (white) for to sew my panels together and found it to be too much of a contrast against the other colors of my panels.  I decided to use the tan color of the yarn which I found to blend in nicely against the other colors.

You will place the WS of the panels together, using the mattress stitch, sew your panels together (inside loops only) by starting at the bottom and working your way up.  Remember that if you want to leave a seam, don’t start at the very bottom of your project.  You can move up 3-4″ to leave a slit on the side of the body if desired.

Don’t forget when you get to the end of your sleeve on your first side, don’t move up the sleeve and sew them together.  You’ll fasten off once you sew the last 2 stitches together on the underside of the sleeve.  Wanna know why I’m telling you this???  Because I was in such the zone…..I continued to crochet the hole of my sleeve together and didn’t realize it until I reached the top of my garment.  Yes, you can laugh now.

Before you sew the seams across the top of your sleeves.  You need to decide how big you want your neck opening.  Try the project on to see how it fits and mark off with stitch markers where you feel comfortable with the width (ensuring you have the same stitch count on each side to make sure it’s even).  I would sew both sides without fastening off so you can try it on to get a good idea of what is best.  Typically neck openings are 7″, 8″, 9″ or 10″ depending on your size of the garment and comfort..  The wider the opening, the more it shows the shoulders.  For this project, I would at least sew it to where the shoulder straps of your bra would be covered.  In the project as seen above, I used a 7″ opening.

Once you have sewn your entire project together, weave in those ends, fasten them off, put on your Open Canyon Tunic, take a selfie and show it off in the ELKies Facebook group!!!

You’ll see from the above photo that I decided to leave a slit in the side of my project.  It’s a personal choice really, but I felt like it set better on my hips and wanted to try something different.

Don’t forget all the information is kept in once place on the MAIN PAGE of the Open Canyon CAL!

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