Love, Peace, and Happiness
I’m still industriously knitting away. Really, I have been and still am. Rusted Root designed by Sarah Moore aka ZephrStyle is one of my proof, finished nearly a month ago. (Scroll down towards end of the post for helpful tips in greater details.)
The close-fitting–with 2″ negative ease in lace–sweater top is knitted entirely in the round, from top down. Kid you not. The top was done over two-night seating!
My favorite detail about this piece are the puffed sleeves…not very noticeable, but, it’s there. The poof tends to vanish due to the tiered increases–for example, XS and S have same number of increases–thus sleeves in XS will be puffier than that of the Small in proportion to rest of the top. Same is applicable to M/L, and XL/XXL. No matter. They are adorable, don’t you agree? If this wasn’t a shop sample, I would definitely make a few, easy changes to give ‘em more poof.
Tahki Cotton Classic (#3841) is a joy to work with, perfect for all kinds of projects–from baby to adult–accessories to sweaters to blankets. No need to wind up the DK mercerized cotton in balls. You will need five full hanks for a size small top, 250 grams or 540 yards. Both pattern and yarn are available at Twisted.
The color is femininely beautiful (more accurate hues shown in-progress pictures above.) It is a universal natural color with several attributes associated with it…a calm, cool, and a soothing color. It symbolizes distance, love, spirituality, peace, and happiness. Rusted Root is a perfect summer knitting and comfy wear with a camisole underneath it. Or, sew a fabric backing onto the lace panel to cover the see-through. Rusted Root makes a good-stable…comfortable and stylish…with room to customize to your liking. I would make this again.
HELPFUL TIPS:
- Gauge obtained with Size 6 needles; ribbing in Size 4 needles.
- No schematics provided. As sample, I knit as instructed. No problem there. For me–more on the larger scale of the Small range , I would add stitches and try on as I go for a looser fit.
- Reason to pick-up neck ribbing (P.3) and not do provisional cast-on or just start knitting ribbing neck is to “frame” the neckline so it doesn’t stretch out of shape over wear and time–especially in the lace section, losing shape and definition.
- Made ribbing proper by using k1fb to increase one on each sleeve.
- No stitch put on hold or cast on at underarms. I’d add 8% of sleeve stitches for comfort. Not a gripe…more a personal preference.
- For shaping decreases, I prefer symmetrical–SSK/K2tog on either side of a seam–over asymmetrical (k2tog on one side or center of a seam.)
- No shaping increase. Again, it’s a personal choice. I’d want mine with some gradual increases to properly accommodate my pear-shape figure.
- Would put in Elizabeth Zimmermann’s faux seams on the sides before starting the ribbing which prevents it from twisting with wear. Knit every stitch in sight and forget about the side seam until you make it up to the armhole. Then while the stitches are still on the needle, drop that one column of stitches. Ladder it all the way to the bottom. Now grab a crochet hook and hook every stitch back together in a column of knits up the back. It goes fast, really. EZ did this with two-rows-knit-together…same effect as remembering every other row to knit one into the stitch below.
- Bind-off loosely on sleeves are critical as the fabric here is very tight fitting. Sewn bind-off for the sleeves to make them stretchy and a suspended bind-off in rib for the hip. I’d definitely add more increases to ACCENTUATE the puff element thus gives the sleeve circumference more room for comfort and eliminate extra stretchy bind-off.
- I like my lace charted so I just created one for periodic check. I would change K3tog on Row 1 to p3tog and P3tog on Row 9 to P3togtbl. Replace sl1-k1-psso with ssk.
- Suggest to add a few stitches for armhole and sleeve gussets. Start shaping 4” (instead of 3.5”) down from armhole.
- Instead of 2, do 3 knit-rounds between shaping.
- Not a lot of information about the techniques used such as M1, cast-on…best to read through the pattern for your size at least once before jumping in.
I really love the puffed sleeves on this classic-cut top. I like my clothes fairly simple, but, with little details that make them slightly out of the ordinary. The sleeve is a perfect touch. A successful sweater top on all counts. Thank you, Shannon, for another pleasing assignment!
Happy crafting and keep those creative juices running!
(still doesn’t do texting, MySpace, Twitter, StumbleUpon, DiggIt…but caved into Facebook!)
