For eight or nine years (I cringe as I type this), I have had incomplete a "summer sweater." The summer sweater is made of a lightweight raw silk and cotton yarn, and a failed effort to downsize the pattern resulted in a clown-like (or maybe just weird) garment. I decided to salvage the project though, and have had sitting on a pair of poor cast-off needles, the bottom parts of both the front and back of the sweater with "only" the upper body and sleeves to be re-knit. Every spring since I decided to reclaim this project, I have put on my to-do list to start work on the summer sweater. The first several years after I originally mis-knit the summer sweater, I actually made some progress -- some years I would work in earnest on the math of resizing the upper body and sleeves, and others I would actually do a bit of knitting. The past three years (at least) though, while I have faithfully added the summer sweater to my early spring/summer knitting list, I have made absolutely no progress on it. I have even avoided trying other summer knits so that I can remain focused on this long-delayed project.
This summer, I declared enough was enough. No, I did not unravel my unfinished summer sweater to retain the yarn, nor did I just burn it. But I did free myself in a sense by finally taking on another summer knit that would be for me -- not a gift (of course, I had a gift exception to the ban on summer knits). The pattern I chose was the lovely Coral blouse by Helga Isager. The pattern seemed to produce a perfect flowy and summery top, and I could not wait to start knitting it.
Unfortunately, at the time I was looking for the pattern, the individual pattern as well as the original pattern book were no longer being sold by the designer. I could also not find the pattern for sale on Ravelry, searches of the Internet, and by calling some of the Isager stockists in the U.S. Finally, I saw a comment on Ravelry that one could receive the pattern from Websters, a yarn shop in OR, if you ordered the Isager yarn that accompanies the original design. I contacted Websters, and they quickly confirmed that the comment was true and provided me guidance on how much yarn to buy for the different pattern sizes. I ordered the yarn, and Websters quickly processed the order so within days, I was really to move forward on the project.
I had a few other projects on the needles, but unlike my decaying summer sweater of years ago, I was determined enough to actually immediately start knitting the top so that I could wear it before the summer ended. I completed the pattern in mid-August, and unfortunately have some mixed feelings about it. First, the yarn itself is lovely after blocking but too easily split and wasn't that soft to knit with. Second, I knew that the yarn would "grow" during blocking, so I shortened the top by 4 inches but it still ended up being around the same length as the original pattern, which calls for a quite long top. Third, as some other Coral-knitters have experienced, the top has a "maternity"-like quality to it, and I just don't think it's that flattering on me. In addition, the neckline significantly dropped while I wore it the first time (despite using much smaller needles to knit it -- size 1 US -- and knitting it in two pieces for added stability), so I will definitely need to wear a tank top or shell under it when I wear it in the future. If I make another Coral, I will probably make a few other alterations as well, including starting the body of the top earlier so that the armholes are not as low as well.
All in all though, I am pleased to have broken out of my summer knitting rut and I will certainly be wearing the tunic a few more times before the cold weather sets in! Project details follow the picture of the completed Coral.
Coral for Madhu!
Pattern: Coral by Helga Isager, size S/M. I modified the pattern by knitting the main part of the body for only 29cm instead of the 38 called for in the pattern.
Yarn: Isager Strik Viscolin, approx. 2.2 balls in color 1000, and Isager Strik Bomuld, approx. .2 ball in color 0015.
Needles: US 1 circular for neckband, US 6 circular for body, US 4 circular for bottom border.
Post-Blocking Measurements: 18 3/4 inches from bottom of the armhole opening to the bottom of the tunic, 34 inches around the bottom of the tunic, 26 inches around the bust, and 13 inches from the shoulder to the tip of the v-neck. The back is 20 1/4 inches long.
too cute! you should be wearing a happier face to go with your nice summer knitwear
Posted by: deirdre | September 12, 2011 at 22:49