Ribbed Tank Top

Having discovered "Ravelry," I have been posting over there, rather than keeping up here, so these projects are going to be post-dated a bit. 

METHOD:
I started this on 4-23-07 and finished 8-18-07. 

This was a LionBrand pattern, from the website, and I had it in my head I would make a bunch of these, to fit the new "reduced" body I have now :) (20 pounds lost! and 5 inches gone from my waistline!)  It's done on LionBrand MicroSpun in color Turquoise. I purchased four skeins and had a lot left over. The piece was worked on #6 circulars and modified from the 2-piece pattern, so I wouldn't have to seam it and the sides would be even. 

AND WHAT DID WE LEARN?
1. I had issues with the ribbing and the decreasing. The count looks off and decreasing by one means you have an off-rib pattern.  
2. It didn't end up quite long enough, but that's my fault as I had tons of yarn and I need to remember I'm not a teenager. 

3. I liked this enough I bought fabric for a matching skirt I hope I can finish in the near future!

4. For something that only cost $6.64 I'm pretty happy with it!

Lace-Edged T-Shirt

Finally finished this one last night, after leaving off for a while because of

A. Christmas
and
B. The pattern is TOTALLY screwed up.

METHOD:
The yarn is from KnitPicks, a cotton frise yarn called "Crayon." I used color "periwinkle." I had to use a little larger needle than recommended -- #s 6 and 7 circular.

AND WHAT DID WE LEARN?:
The pattern is royally screwed up. That's the last time I'm buying a pattern from them, but the yarn is very nice and I may buy more of it. Someone on one of the knitting forums also had issues with the pattern.

Something went wrong when setting in the sleeves. One side of the lace is not connected properly, I think. That armhole is also a little smaller than it probably should be.

I enjoyed knitting in the round, and would have enjoyed it more IF the pattern instructions hadn't been off on the decreasing. I had a couple of questions about reverse shaping, which the local knitting group helped me to figure out. This was definitely a harder thing to knit, but I do feel like I learned a lot.

First Abandoned Project

I started this tank top at the monthly knit day at Borders, and was all excited about it for a week, until I started wearing the other one and realized I don't like the way it fits.

This is the same yarn, Caron's Jewel Box, only I thought I'd actually try to knit it to gauge this time. I'm just not keen on having no shaping around the waistline and under the ribs. I mean, I HAVE a waist, and I'd like to see it! The white version looks dumpy. The pattern is not flattering.

I took the jump. I frogged it and rewound the yarn back into a ball.


AND WHAT DID WE LEARN?:
It actually feels good to rip out and abandon something hideous. Now I can devote my time and energy to something that looks better.

Fuzzy Purple Tank Top

Another purple garment, 'cause you just can't have too many. I bought the yarn for this ages ago, and only just got around to making it. I started it, did a few rows, and then put it off for something else. I ended up finishing it yesterday in the car on the way to St. Louis.

METHOD:
This is Moda Dea's "Tutu" yarn, in grape, and using #8 needles instead of the recommended from their free pattern. The pattern stitch is K1P1 ribbing, all throughout, which got a bit messed up at times, but the nature of the confetti ribbons in the yarn hides that.

AND WHAT DID WE LEARN?
The three-needle bind off! That made seaming the shoulders togther a lot easier. And the seams on this are ugly (I blame the yarn) but they're still SOOOO much better than before.

Shaping on the ribbing, or rather keeping the continuity of it, was hard. I'm not sure how exactly I was supposed to do it. I also learned, after the fact, how to seam ribbing so it looks seamless. This garment has lines up the side where the ribs don't meet, but once again the fuzzy nature of the yarn hides it.

This yarn is a bear to work with! The little fuzzies get caught in everything, and you can't really see your work very well. Still, it's soft and cute, and I MIGHT actually make another one.

One other thing: this is supposed to be form fitting. I need to remember to start making "form fitting" garments to fit a 38-inch bust, not a 40-inch. I guess you never really are as fat as you think you are :)

2020 update: I'm probably just giving this away. It is SO not me. And kind of ugly to boot.

Tank Top: my first real garment

This turned out not too terribly horrible. I wore it to work today and everyone thought it was pretty. It's a little big. I know I didn't have the gauge right, but I'm also thinking I might have measured my body wrong. But at least it's not too small! My first garment, and it lay around the house in two pieces for two weeks before I got up the courage to actually block it. The blocking went pretty well -- I shaped it exactly how I wanted it, and it looked good, stuck with 100 pins. The only problem was the cat, who seemed to think she had to walk, literally, ALL over the pieces. I had to smooth out cat footyprints three times! Next time I'm going to stick some pins in the towel with their points up. Then maybe she'll get the message. METHOD: Made from Caron's "Jewel Box" yarn on #9 needles, I didn't actually get the gauge right, so I'm making another one in the proper gauge to see how it fits. AND WHAT DID WE LEARN? This fabric is a little too thick, but it still feels okay. I should have put some kind of band at the bottom, because it really wants to curl up. The shoulder parts curl in too, and look more narrow than they should. I think if I make another one, I'll do it in seed stitch, and see how that looks. The chenille got kind of wormy. I'm wondering if I wash it and dry it again if that will help the chenille even out. Finishing this piece, sewing it together, was a NIGHTMARE! I ended up taking out the bound-off stitches in the shoulders to graft them together, which doesn't look too bad. But the side seams are uneven, and I think I really need practice on sewing seams. Or maybe I can just pay someone else to do it! Edited to add -- I wonder if you can just thread the yarn through the edges, in mattress stitch, and then wait until the end to pull the thread tight? Hmm ... that would make everything MUCH easier.