Pros and Cons .. Do I like it?

I'm sitting there trying to think of a quick quip regarding my Lace Tank Project and I'm drawing a blank,  This project covered the gamut of experience; frustration, tribulation and creative thinking.  LOL  I'm not even sure I feel relief - I'm just numb - I think.  But .. it is FINALLY done - I thought it would have been finished 1 or 2 days ago - but yet again, it mocked me

The last issue I had was the neck and arm hole edgings,  The pattern called for picking up then binding off the next row - gave a neat look cause you bind off knitwise on a purl row - the pattern called for this to be done on smaller needles, but it was to tight  - so i tried a crochet border - that didn't work so well, so bumped up to my original needles, added a row then bind (bound?  binded off??) off normal.

All the gnashing of teeth and pulling of hair did pay off :)  It fits well, a wee bit short, but not so bad I won't wear it.  I am pleased with it - not sure bout the yarn but that could be just cause I'm tired of it now - but I did use all of it, had to dig into my stash for a few filler bits :)

I'm glad I didn't do the ribbed bodice as I think it would be binding / snug - and looked more like a little girls dress, than a top for an adult woman LOL

I was spot on with casting on the front as my sides match and with invisible seaming you can't tell it wasn't done in the round.

Okay sitting here and listing off the good things about this top and seeing how it actually fits in the picture (which I had to contort a bit to take), I've decided I'm pleased, but won't be doing this top again LOL  it was a true PITA

I am looking at making another tank / but more likely a tunic.  I just have to decide what one to do and what colour.  I've some Mary Maxim Mellowspun4 in teal and some Bernant Baby Sport in white - and can't forget all the socks I keep eyeballing to look at - lace patterns are speaking to me, but I really want to do one that spells out each step and bloody well makes sense LOL  I'm due for an easy pattern 

Yay - Improvement bound!

With the decision made to do stockinette stitch, the bodice went much faster.  It actually looks like a top now, instead of a dress for a little girl.  LOL  All I have to do for the back piece is binding off the neckline and the left strap - not sure it's long enough, but I can adapt on the front.  I know - famous last words.  The thought that's been on my mind is hoping to God that I can start the front piece in the same relative place so my stripes aren't totally wonky.  I'm hoping that I can line up the colours on the yarn - From my lips to God's ear I can only hope it works out close enough.  This top has enough character as it is.  What with the modifications I've made and all - and the bit of different yarn that I had to use. On a good note, I do like it now - well so far I do - but that can change real quick with this project.

If you look, you can see that this yarn is shot with through with a metallic thread - makes the yarn stiffer and am hoping it's not going to itch like mad - not worked with metallic yarn before so I'm not sure of what to expect - the advantages of this is that it was in my stash and is the same weight and WPI as the yarn I'm using.  Maybe with washing it'll soften up.  While it's obvious it's not the same yarn, with it being at the top of the strap, my hair will cover it up for the most part - I hope

And speaking of hair - on a totally unrelated topic - I had 8" cut off today.  It feels so much better now and will be way easier to take care of!  I got some excellent girl time with my hair goddess too - so that was an added bonus as far as I'm concerned.  Another great added bonus is that i don't have to worry bout mussing with my hair for my license and Health Card renewal pictures as that's already been done :)  Yeah me!

My hair goddess has the sweetest St. Bernard on the planet and it's just not a complete visit if I don't get love from her  which includes dog hair, wet nose bumps and an attention hog.  I don't have an issue with it one bit.  My hound Zeppy had to give me a total, complete sniff over when I got home LOL  As you can see by the picture blur, he was sniffing at mach one - from the time I walked in the door, walked up the stairs and sat down - his nose was glued to some part of me!   LOL  Gotta love the pups.

Awful .. Just Awful

The tunic part of this tank top is just adorable! I truly do love it. The bodice on the other hand .. it's AWFUL and I hate it.  This is supposed to be for a finished bust size of 43.5" I'm not to sure about that.  The fact it's all in ribbing prolly has a lot to do with it, although I honestly thought that it would fit better.

The straps are to short, that is likely due to me not trusting the measurements the pattern gave - I misjudged just how long the strap instructions were for - even might have read them wrong too.  The one thing that truly troubles me is how narrow the neck opening is  I think that I could've adapted for just about anything other than that itty bitty opening.  So a bit of work / rethinking needs to go into that.

I must have looked at dozens of sleeveless tops, tunic and tank top patterns to find a pattern I could easily blend into this one without doing a ton of math or restructuring my entire life LOL  There was this one I found called the Lillian Tank Top   The hardest part for converting it, is it's done in the round, and I'm knitting this one flat.  Stitches where different too, but I'm thinking I can adjust a bit for it

Armhole shaping for pattern I'm working:

Keeping to pattern, cast off 7 sts at beg of next 2 rows -  97 sts.

Dec 1 st at each end of next 7 rows, then on foll  6 alt rows -  71 sts.

Arm Shaping Row 

Bind off 25 stitches, knit 66 stitches cast off 25 stitches, knit 66 stitches.

Back

With right ride facing you k8, bind off across until there are 7 sts on your left hand needle, knit those 7 sts. Work 7 rows of stockinet stitch on these 8 stitches. Bind off.Join a new ball of yarn and work 7 rows of stockinet stitch on the other 8 stitches. Bind off.

Armhole shaping for Lillian Tank:

On the last 66 stitches that you just knit, work 54 rows of stockinet stitch.

The Lillian Tank is worked over 132 stitches, whereas mine is 121; done in the round where I'm working flat - but I'm thinking that if I take into account the extra 11 stitches then split the difference - It just might work - This also puts the neckline at the armhole shaping - which just might make a larger neck opening.  I'm going to have to think about it - I'm inclined just to do stockinette and go from there.  I'll do a bit of ribbing on the front section just above the lace to create the empire waist definition - or I can just let it drape in the front like a tunic.  There's a bit I need to think about it,, but for now - I'm going to go with the stockinette and see how that goes.

New Math or I've lost my mind

Oh kay then .. Either I've lost my understanding of basic math or the designer is on crack.  The pattern reads as such with the stitches / measurements I'm following:

Next row (RS): Rib 6 3, yo, K2tog, *rib 6, yo, K2tog; rep from * to last 2 sts, rib to end.
Cont in rib patt until Back meas 15.25", ending with RS facing for next row.
Shape armholes
Keeping to pattern, cast off 7sts at beg of next 2 rows -  97 sts.

Dec 1 st at each end of next 7 rows, then on foll 6 alt rows - 71) sts.
Work even until armhole meas  6.75" , ending with RS facing for next row.

Now at this point I've already knitted up 12" for the tnic part of the top - this has a finished length of 24"  Excuse me for just a minute here - but doesn't 12 + 15.25 equal more than 24"????

What's made me pause as I just started the bodice section and of course I read ahead and noticed the 15.25" and I'm thinking that .. whoa wait a minute . from the top of the empire waist (just under my breasts) that puts that measure to the top of my ear.

 It has just occurred to me .. "until Back meas 15.25"" means from the start of the work . ARGH .. I swear I thought I was losing my freaken noodle!!  I really wish that designers would be a bit more clear and say something like ribbing measures 3.25"  FECK    Here I was, getting out the tape measure and ready to measure armholes, neckline strap length and drafting the rest - I'll be doing that anyways to an extent to be sure it fits right, but not the extent I was going to

Oh kay then . rant over LOL.  Sometimes sharing / writing out my thoughts is what makes things clear - thank you for letting me share LOL  I'm such a twit sometimes.

Oh and on a side note - the ball of green that I found in my stash will be what I use a filler if I run out of this skein for the back and front :)  oh and also for the edging that I'll be doing later - it's a fairly close match to the lighter green through out the yarn.  I've 2 balls just like that one so I've plenty.


Update on the 'math' for this pattern:  

I feel vindicated. I was telling the kid (who is a math person whereas I'm not) about my experience with the instructions - he thought the same thing that I did!  So, I'm not a total twit then LOL

Definitely happy with the lace look

So far so good. It's nice to be able to say that :)

My 'columns' are a bit off kilter, but that's okay - mistakes build character in a piece and it's own level of perfection!  The striped sections are about 1 1/₂" for each colour as it goes with bits of white shot through it.  The yarn is soft and feel good to knit and is easy to knit as well.

As you can see the columns aren't quite lining up, but again, that's okay  I do know this is likely from when I had to many stitches on my needles and the pattern shifted.  I refuse to stress over this - yes I notice it, but I won't stress.  I'm going to accept that it is what it is and that it adds character :D  This is near the bottom on the back piece which measures 9" - so I'll do another blue then a green before I do the bodice area in 3 - 31/_2" before I need to make any decisions about the bodice.

According to the pattern I'm short for the required yarn - but like most patterns, there's always extra listed as we can't get skeins in custom sizes.  So I could actually get lucky.  I do have a DK in baby ish blue and a white that I can use  Would prefer not to use white me thinks - IDK I have to think about it.  Blue makes sense as it follows the pattern of the yarn striping - but green is a good colour - matches my eyes.  Or again white as it's totally neutral.  I'll have to head into a LYS when I figure out my needs and go from there - I'l know maybe in 3 or so inches LOL

Yup - definitely getting excited - love the way the stitches appear to flow.  Definitely giddy here hahahaha

Forth and Back - Repeat ... a LOT

This seems to be one of those patterns that little issues sneak in and bite ya - bout 10 rows later.

I'm having a hard time keeping 121 stitches on the needle for one - and two - stitches escape and are found 6 rows or so later.  This is just the type of project that back knitting  - ya not gonna happen - I tried, but after a row, I figured it was easier to pull everything off my needles and start again - that's happened three times already.

I'm not ready to give up because this is a really neat pattern and I love the look of the tank - good news is that this is the back near the bottom, so I have time to work it out and get a rhythm going.

There are a bunch of positives for this - The foundation row stopped the curling hem, got my YO going the right direction and am getting the look I want, the yarn is soft and the colours are soft and yummy, and once I get this going - it'll knit up pretty quick.  If I didn't rip it out so many times, I would likely have had the back done by now LOL

So, onward I go!!  Yeah me!  LOL

Ravelry link - Lace Tank

Easy Fix - For Once

Sometimes it's the easiest things that make the best fixes!

I wish I had thought of this sooner - I know I changed up the direction I was doing my yarn over, but it just didn't occur to me that that was the reason my holes were so much smaller.

At least it did occur to me to check it out and confirm my suspicions. Yeah me! Now I'm at 9 rows with a curling edge on my hem and as this is an acrylic yarn, it won't block out. Soooooooo - frog time again so I can do the 2 rows of garter stitch that will stabilize my bottom hem - last thing I want is for the hem to roll up .. that would just make my OCD twitch way to much - and I wouldn't wear it - which would be a horrible shame.

So I'm back to being excited about this piece :D

*knitterhappydance*

Ravelry Link -  Lace Tank

Falling down the Lace Hole ...

Adding another tier of blocks on my cloth did the trick perfectly. I had a bit of a problem with the top triangle tier as I think I added a stitch or didn't K2tog or PSSO somewhere and I wasn't able to find it, so I've a funky wave at the top.  I'm not going to worry about it so much as I'll figure it out eventually.  I want to try this with various weights - maybe do a scarf or shawl - maybe even a scrap blanket .. we'll have to see.

Ravelry link - Entrelac dishcloth The 2nd

I've been wanting to do a knitted tank to use up my stash.  So based on stash amounts I settled on this Lace Tank Top - not sure I'll have enough to complete it, but I can always do the bodice in a different colour. Pretty sure I've got a skein of white DK in my stash.  I like the fact it's got an empire waist so it'll be loose fitting and it'll be something I can wear at work :)

My first attempt, I had a devil of a time (for some stupid reason) with extra stitches and a badly curling hem - so after the 3 attempt of ripping after 8 - 9 rows, I opted to do 2 rows of garter stitch to give me a foundation  - I did find it way easier to work with the 2 added rows, but for some reason, I no longer seem to have the lacey type holes that I had in the first attempts with no foundation row.  I think I'll be taking it apart (yet AGAIN) and trying it with the foundation rows.  It truly is driving me batshit.

I didn't get a picture of the first attempts - even though the stitching looked great - it was all those added stitches that I couldn't live with.  You can see here where the lacey holes show up in just a few spots, but most of the piece doesn't have them and the product picture shows the lace in the work.  I can handle a few mistakes etc in the back piece near the bottom hem, but that's more than a few mistakes and nothing I seem to be doing is correcting it

I'll try another attempt with the foundation row and go from there - if it doesn't give me the lace look I want, them back to no foundation rows and a LOT of cursing!

Good thing I'm not in a rush for this.  I know I'm going to like it - once I can see more than 12 rows of the pattern LOL