Blanket Blue Gilet

Over a year ago I fell in love with a gilet designed by Sirdar to be knit using Peru. I love Peru yarn it is soft and warm and the colour shifts gently to form subtle waves through the knitting. I was distraught when Sirdar discontinued Peru, but was comforted when Kemps got a quantity in stock at a very reduced sum indeed. So of course I snapped up a packet and then went and bought the pattern. Then it proceeded to sit in my stash.

I finally dug out the wool around two months ago, all prepared to spend some time creating my treat to myself, when I realised that I couldn't find the pattern. The yarn went back in the stash, until a few weeks ago when I finally tracked down the instructions buried in amongst some knitting magazines.

As I am currently losing weight I decided to make a very snug fitting garment and add some short row shaping on the bust. The idea behind this was to allow for more weight loss, but to enable me too start wearing the gilet this Spring.

The short row calculations for this garment are what spurred the recent blog tutorial on this subject. I was really pleased with the way the short row shaping worked out. The top of the cabling is horizontal all the way round the garment which means my calculations were spot on!

I really enjoyed the whole knit and I was pretty pleased with the finish I achieved, however there is a slight problem with the garment. It is too short. I used a stupid tape measure from Weight Watchers as that is what I had to hand and I forgot that it has around 1.5" missing from the start of the tape measure as it clips into a slot that allows it to be wrapped around the body easily to measure your shrinking body. When it is laid out flat, it doesn't work properly. I forgot that and the whole garment is too short and looks boxy.

I am so cross with myself for this school girl error. Though it was a quick knit I am loath to dismantle it and start again. Because other than the length I am pleased with the garment.

The cables are lovely and the yarn looks great. I am pleased with the finish of the thing and I am particularly pleased with the buttons I chose. When you knock them together they clink like wind chimes (I am easily pleased).

But I can't get away from the fact the garment is NOT flattering in any shape or form. I can't decide if it would be better if it were longer, or if I were thinner. I'm not sure it would be as my proportions are unlikely to change as I lose weight (I know this from experience). I just hope as I shrink the garment will hang better, but until then I am reluctant to dismantle something that is so well knit to make another version that doesn't really look much better.

I know I will wear the garment as it is, even if it is just around the house and I can wait to see how my shape changes in the future and how those changes affect the way this garment looks. Until then I will leave it intact and enjoy how well knit it is and how lovely the yarn is.

Finished Tank

I have just cast off the last armhole of my Shapely Tank by Joan McGowan-Michael. I am so pleased with the finished product. The short row shaping on the bust is very neat and works a treat.

Over all, the shape of this tank is perfect. For once you can actually see I have a waist. Normally anything that fits my bust and hips, hides my waist.

Even the back looks ok, apart from in this picture because the back rode up when I was fiddling with the camera timer.

But you get the general idea. This project has done so much for my knitting/design confidence. I completely re-wrote the pattern according to my actual measurements and it paid off. I may try and write up the adjustments I made, along with all the measurements I took, so I can use the body shaping as a template for further pattern design.

This was also the first time I picked up the neckline stitches, and it was easier than I thought it would be. I am amazed at how neat it looks with all the finished edges. I may well knit this tank in an other yarn, but with a V-Neck, as that is a more flattering shape for a busty woman (like myself).

Now I have finished this tank I will probably wear it (on cooler days in the Autumn) even though it was only started as an exercise in short row shaping. I am actually very pleased with the finished product and I even find myself liking the yarn, which I used to hate. It's funny how your attitude about yarn and patterns can change when you marry them up in the right way. Maybe I will eventually knit that second tank in the same yarn after all, I probably have enough in the bottomless pit that is my stash. But, for now I have to get my socks finished and carry on with my blanket, but this was definitely a worthwhile side trip, off the planned route through my projects.

Changed my mind - as usual!

I am soooo fickle! I can't help myself. I have all these grand plans about what I am going to start next, then something bright and shiny catches my eye, and the next thing I know, the queue has grown and something totally new has been cast on. In my defence, the new thing I have cast on, does have a very definite and useful purpose.

I have cast on Joan McGowan-Michael's Shapely Tank. This is a very simple tank top, that helps you modify it, depending on your bust size. This has been my problem with clothes for most of my life - if it fits on my bust its baggy everywhere else, if it fits everywhere else it pulls on the bust. Knitting was always supposed to help me with getting clothes that fit. This Shapely Tank pattern is the start of that process.

The Bacall bolero I just finished, looks great from the front, but you will notice I did not show off the back. This because it is VERY baggy. Clare, my lovely LYSO has helped me solve the problem of the baggy back, which is to add buttons to the front of the bolero, which will pull in the back at the bottom and hopefully make everything look intentional. I have bought the buttons and as soon as they are attached I will take more photos. So, though this problem has been corrected, I became very aware that I didn't want this to happen again. I did not want to spend time and money making something I love, that doesn't fit right, so I never wear it.

I decided that before I cast on the lovely Sirdar Peru, I would use up some of my stash and do the Shapely Tank. I certainly do not want to waste that lovely wool. I want to be able to add short row shaping to the nice gilet pattern I have, to ensure I have a perfect fit. The stash yarn I have used is, Sirdar Click with Wool.



Sorry its not a great photo, it was one of my early ones, taken before I understood about close ups of yarn. The yarn is not gorgeous, but it was very cheap and I bought LOTS of it. I have heard that it washes and wears well and blocks out really nicely, so I have hope that it will be useable when I have finished my tank.

The tank is designed to be a close fit, but I have decided to give it a 1" ease all over, because I intend to wear it over blouses. The yarn is quite heavy and can't be worn next to the skin. I also decided that as I was going to use this as an exercise is making a garment fit, I was going to go the whole hog. I decided to mess around with all the measurements to ensure it was the right length and fit. My waist is much smaller than the standard bust, waist, hips ratio allows for, so I had to up the decreases and increases in the pattern, but I decided that though I basically had to re-write the pattern it was worth doing.

Here is what I have so far.



I have to say, the yarn is knitting up slightly better than I had estimated, so hopefully, if the fit works, I will get some wear out of this garment. Here is a close up of the short row increases.



I'm quite proud of how neat they are! They are much neater than when I did my short row socks. Obviously my first try was on 4-ply so double knit should be much easier ( I always did try to run before I could walk).

I think that making this project next, really was the right decision to make, and wasn't just because it was nice and pretty. It was decided upon for a very valid reason, and I am sure that in the long run, I will be glad I did it.

In order to help myself in the future with designing knits, which you may notice I seem to have started to do, I have treated myself to Debbie Abrahams', Design Your Own Knits in 5 Easy Steps. I have been coveting this book for months now, and as it is my birthday this week, I decided to treat myself to it. I have only just started reading it, but it seems very interesting so far, and I am sure it will be a big help, in future design work I do.

In other knit news, I have finally finished another blanket square. I bet you thought I'd forgotten all about that blanket didn't you? Well I haven't. I have been filled with guilt for ignoring it, so I finally finished another square.



It was another tricky one, as intarsia is NOT my friend. I am very jealous of Susan Crowe's flowers. She has been going all out on her blanket and it shows. I need to up my square rate if I ever hope to get this thing finished by the end of the year. Maybe I'll do some nice plain squares for a week to just up my square rate.

In the meantime I continue with my socks. They are going well and I am on the gusset decreases. I am now starting to panic about how wide I should make the calves and what pattern I should put around the back. I keep trying the socks on and hoping inspriration will strike before I decrease them to the size of a small child's ankles. I'm sure something will come to me soon, it has to!