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Stick-to-it-tivness

I have overcome one of my previously mentioned afflictions, or at least have suppressed it long enough to complete the Silky Wool piece.
The lighting in the "model" shots is a little cruddy, but I'm happy to say that shooting myself in front of a dark brown wall appears to make me look slightly less fish-belly white. Not a bad trade off.


I'm modeling here with a pair of dark brown cargo pants, which, oddly enough, suit the top. I'm thinking the top needs some sort of lacy cami underneath, in order to be truly practical, but as a garment, am happy with the end product.

Pattern Notes
Design: My own
Yarn: Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool
Method: Knit with crochet
Will I write up this pattern? I'm thinking not. It's a rather involved pattern and I can't fathom having the time to size it and write up the whole thing. Who knows, maybe someday.

Some bits and details:


The sleeve has a button to keep the pleat from flaring too much. It made a huge difference in the finished appearance. The Silky Wool is so light and able to hold it's shape that the sleeves tended to fly out a bit too much for my taste. An alternative solution would have been to start the pleat halfway down the sleeve, but I like how the button pulls the design together.
The sleeves were knit in the round, from the top down, using Barbara Walker's method, though I had to make some serious modifications to the technique in order to leave the opening for the pleat. In fact, saying it was knit in the round is really a misnomer since the sleeve was worked back and forth with short rows, leaving a wide opening where the pleat went.
The inset was worked by picking up the stitches from the top of the armsceye and working down, then the edges of the inset and the edges of the sleeve, were seamed via crochet.



Here you can see the princess shaping. I have about a 10" difference between my waist and my chest, and hips. When I've knit a piece to correctly match my dimensions, by only decreasing at the side seams, the garment has tended to fit oddly with a funny little peplum effect at the sides and too much excess fabric at my lower back. These princess seams allowed me to distribute the shaping over more points and where they are most needed. I removed the side seams altogether, working it all in one piece. I faked the seams up the princess line by working a slipped stitch, every other row, where the seam would be. The project could just as easily have been worked in separate pieces which would have made the piece easier to block, but it would have probably made the seams less apparent because mattress stitch tends to be so invisible. I really wanted the "seams" to be a design feature.


The buttons are just from my local craft store, nothing fancy shmancy, though I like them. They are metal, maybe pewter, and have a relatively ornate engraved design. I thought for a while about what sort of button would best set off the piece and while I thought wood would be a nice color compliment, it seemed too rustic for the design, while shell or pearl was too dressy. The metal seamed to blend more with the look of the piece, so that they complimented while not overpowering the piece. Even better, the holes in the button were big enough to accommodate a small Chibi. This meant there was no need to find matching embroidery floss or thread to finish the piece. Life is good.

So that's that, another FO.

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Comments (28)

Fantastic top! It's gorgeous and the colors are so wonderful together.

I really like how this turned out. The fit is very flattering and I get a real Renaissance vibe from it.

nancy:

Hey, somehow I did not realize I could add comments to your work. It is beautiful and I am so proud of you. The proportions, colors and model certainly make all of this exciting. More soon. nmc

the details, the stitch pattern, the shaping...when will you quit your day job and devote all time to creating more of this? it is really flattering and beautiful, and wearable. lovely work!

Jus gawjus!

jody:

i love love love it! the details are so great and the fit is superb. between the silhouette and the colors the piece has a medievil feel. it's really great.

Gorgeous! It looks beautiful, and fits you so well. I especially love the neckline and the sleeves. Very cute.

*
Marni, my darling, the sight of you and your fabulous creation is stunning - unforgettable - precious.
Please endure the endearments of an older woman. I cannot help but love you - and no, I am not gay, just enamored of your youth and beauty and marvelous knitting talents.
Forever yours,
Dhyana
*

Brilliant!

Oh Marnie, you're so fine. You're so fine, you blow my mind! Simply beutiful.

AmyP:

Stunning work - and it suits you so well.

Marnie, a lovely finished piece! I can just imagine that it's lovely to wear. It'll definitely brighten some dreary days.

I'm curious about the princess seams: How did you decide where they went and how did you manage to make them curve to follow the body so well? Was it just "very carefully" or is there a secret dressmaking rule?

Kat:

PRETTY PRETTY. I love the stitch work and I bet it feels really nice. I love it!
AND, Thank you sooooo much for the HUG. You are too sweet :)

gorgeous. absolutely gorgeous. and there are sweaters with only one size (wendyknits is doing cromarty (or something like that, lol)) and it only comes in one size.

i love the metal buttons. i had a dress with metal buttons, and my biggest problem was that they kept slicing the thread that attached them to the dress!

Anne:

I love it! I can just picture it in blue and emerald green... mmm.

You're right about the background in the photos too, you definitely have more color. I wonder if that trick would help me or if I'm beyond saving? hehe

Oh it's beautiful! Of course everything you do is wonderful.

I love the colors you chose and the subtle difference between the bodice and the sleeve colors. The "cut" is really flattering to you and you look great in it.

It really looks wonderful on you - the color, the design, the details - it's all so well done!

Beautiful! I love all the detail and the colors you chose. Very pretty!

Beautiful sweater! And it looks great on you. Love those princess seams.

Judy:

Delurking to say I'm a little heartbroken that you're not writing a pattern - it's beautiful, I'd knit it in a second. Congrats!

That is really a gorgeous knitted garment. I love the diamond stitch pattern across the bodice. The openness of the body really shows off your beautiful collarbone as well. It's a very unique item and I probably wouldn't be interested in creating a pattern for it. Let it stand as it is. Gorgeous.

June:

I loved the sleeve detail - zoomed in on it before I realized you had a better picture below. LOL.

A friend recently bemoaned the lack of couture (or couture-inspired) details in knitwear, particularly with regard to shaping and custom fit, but I would say you have done both well.

It's gorgeous!! I would love to make one for myself, but I can understand why the pattern would be too tricky to write up. I have a similar problem with fitting garments to my body shape - my waist is much smaller than my bust, but most of the difference comes from a large curve in my back, so I have problems with fabric bunching back there. Princess seams do seem (hah) to help.

I love it! It's just gorgeous. All of the details are fantastic and just look so elegant. If you ever did write up the pattern, I would definitely knit this.

It looks absolutely gorgeous, and so do you.

Happy Valentine's Day!

pam:

Why you saucy little thing...

Gorgeous!

Va voom! I love it. And it's so very "Marnie" to boot.

Marnie, I love it! It's so flattering, and the details make it extra special. It really came together beautifully!

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This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on February 14, 2007 12:00 PM.

The previous post in this blog was Stick-to-it-tivness.

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