Friday, December 29, 2006

Getting ready for January 1

Hi knitalongers!

I've been enjoying this forum so much lately - it's great to see the progress and think about the ways that the design can be tweaked to make it even better!

So, I've got my yarn all set and I'm planning to cast on for a sleeve on January 1 because I'm still mulling over a couple of modifications - here's a short list and if you're thinking about these things too, I'd love some feedback and thoughts.

Steeks: Lizz's steeks look fabulous, but Lizz, did you have to do a lot of modifying to the hemlines to make this work out well? I was trying to decide if having a non-yielding front opening would be a problem and realized I was wearing a store bought sweater with a set in zipper - no stretch there and I don't mind at all. I'm planning some steek swatching very soon.

Neckline: Specifically the back neckline. Most tops have a higher back neckline to accommodate one's shoulders and neck - to make the garment sit comfortably and flatteringly, the back is about an inch and a half higher than the front. In knitted garments a lot of this time this is accomplished with short rows. On Enid, the logical place to do this would be after the colorwork and before the neckline bind off. This would throw off some of the symmetry of the neckline, but might be more comfortable. Has anyone else been mulling this over? Has anyone who has finished enough to try Enid on wished for a different neckline? I figure this is something easy enough to un-do if it looks horrid, so I might give it a go when I get to the actual knitting (and move beyond my current state of pattern picking).

Shaping: From what I've read, all signs point towards side decreases/increases for the waist and hips and short rows for the bust. However, I recently knit a cardigan that made use of paired increases straight up the front of the sweater along the vertical bustline. It fits beautifully and seems like a simple way to add some flattering shaping to the body without interfering with the colorwork. Any thoughts? (By the way, I have a few resources on bust shaping and I'd be happy to mail some copies out to anyone wanting really specific info on how to do this - just drop me an email if you're interested.)

Want to see my pretty yarn? I'm so excited!

2 comments:

Lizz said...

Hi! You wouldn't have to do any modifying to the hemlines if you don't want to. I did, but not because I needed to. I will admit that now that it is all cut down the front and being finished, I am very disappointed with the fit around the shoulders. I had a feeling about this early on but kept thinkig that I would make it work during finishing. I'm fooling with the button bands to try and take in a little of the excess. That makes no sense now that I'm typing it but I'll post later on this week with my steeking and such. Can't wait to see your progress!

PURLPOWER said...

I really like the sound of the increases along a vertical bustline. I am big of bust but small of waist so I'm a bit worried about how well this pattern will fit me, even though I love the design. I have never tried to accomodate my bust in this way though so am full of uncertainty about how best to do it! I'd really like to hear some more about how to tackle it, if you have time, my email add is: rovingriceyATyahooDOTcoDOTuk