Update on my first sentro cardigan, it’s looking pretty cute. The vibe is strawberry matcha! I’m currently working on a lace trim for the front two panels.   This is layer 1, but will be adding an extra element to make it fuller, but we'll see if I change my mind haha. 😂 I can still be a bit clumsy when it comes to removing the waste yarn at the edges of each panel, sometimes a stitch can be dropped. TOP TIP: Use a darning needle to catch the dropped stitch and reattach to the panel, weaving in a new strand of yarn to keep it secure. Then weave the ends into the panel and snip.     

I’ve been upskilling my Sentro skills whilst doomscrolling on Pinterest for new projects to work on. I’ve finally gotten the hang of decreasing panels, which I need for my next cosplay plan for Megacon Manchester. Decided to create my first sentro cardigan prototype, using some random yarn I had lying around. Unfortunately, I made a big boo-boo with the front panels………starting my decrease in the same direction I totally forgot that the panels are not reversible and therefore need to be mirrored. Additionally, when working on a decrease panel you cannot just unravel it to reuse the yarn. A decrease involves creating knots at the end of each row, therefore if you’ve made a mistake, you’ll just have to start a fresh. Even if you’ve run out of the correct yarn colour like I did 💀💀💀 I now have a functioning cardigan in a different colour scheme as a prototype. Here's a sneak peak!

These were my first lcrochet leg warmer design!  My Neighbour Totoro is actually my 3 rd favourite Studio Ghibli movie. Princess Mononoke and Pom Poko (severely underrated) narrowly top it 💫 But the character of Totoro himself is iconic and memorable, so putting this pattern together was easy enough. It did include some maths to make sure the cream belly could come out correctly within a made to measure setting (to be inclusive for my fellow large calf peoples, I know the struggles). Was definitely worth it! It’s a lovely autumn-y pattern that can be made for adults or kids, for cosplay or everyday wear. A cute lil grey/white co-ord outfit would fit perfectly. This pattern is available on my  Ko-Fi  and Ravelry ! Would like to maybe make more Studio Ghibli themed crochet outifts/accessories.

  This is a summary post after my initial 3 Sentro experiments. The data scientist within me decided to put the results into a table. Pin number Results 35 Too small even with stretch, additional side panels had to be created to fit body. 40 Perfect sizing, with some blocking 43 Not terrible but enough bunching of material when wearing to warrant decreasing pin size   I’ve also been trying to understand the DK vs Aran yarn machine preference.  Some people swear that you should only be using DK yarn the Sentro but imo, I feel like for clothing it can be quite thin and see through. This is fine for a coverup at the beach but not for day-to-day wear.  I mainly own DK yarn, so I purchased some cheap acrylic Aran yarn to see how it went. It didn’t glide as easily on the machine as the DK yarn, but it created denser panel which I’d feel more confident wearing. You could als...

 For my third and last Sentro experimental top, I used 40 pins to create my two panels. No crochet bra cups though this time. 50 rows instead this time, it fit pretty great once I blocked it to be 14” by 13”. I did stretch it to the max👯, so probably to make the panel denser I’d add an extra 5 rows next time for the ideal cropped length top. The yarn I used this time was an acrylic Aran yarn, instead of DK. Less see-through , so yay!💫 Photos of all makes to come, but next up will be a lil summary of my experiments and general thoughts.

For my second Sentro experiment, I used 43 pins to create my panels but I also crocheted horizontal bra cups for a fusion piece.   I made the panels 70 rows long, which in hindsight was a bit long for a top that has crocheted bra cups already.   I’d say the pin size is okay but there is some bunching so it could be better with a slightly smaller pin number.