I'm FO-mad!

Yes, that's right, I finished another project. Coachella this time, in black Lion Brand Microspun. Sadly, the pictures I tried to take of it suck. I'll get more. And while I'm at it, I'll sew on the buttons I bought for the Anne Elliot and take pictures of that, too.

By the way, I love both of these tops. I've already worn Anne Elliot three times (including yesterday), even without buttons. I just threaded ribbon through the buttonholes and some of the stitches on the other side of the buttonband, laced it up and tied a small bow at the bottom. I think I mentioned that in the last post, but I can't remember for sure. It looks good like that, and there's always a possibility that I'll prefer that look to the buttons...I'll take pictures of both. I made major modifications to the pattern, because it wouldn't even come close to fitting me as it was written. I didn't have too much trouble modifying it though. I wouldn't call it easy, because increasing and decreasing in lace is never easy, but I didn't have much trouble...except that I made a dumb mistake and got off on the lace pattern. I was too lazy to fix it, but that's okay. Since it's an allover lace pattern, even I don't notice the mistake unless I'm actively looking for it. I think Anne Elliot just might be the knitting project I'm most pleased with, over my, what, 6 years of knitting? High praise. It looks great with a tank top underneath. I've been wearing it over pink, but it also looks good with anything else that isn't too pale. By the way, my Anne Elliot is made from cream-colored Bernat Baby fingering-weight acrylic.

Coachella was really easy to follow. I believe I followed the pattern exactly, knowing that my gauge was slightly off and that the top would come out just slightly smaller than the pattern said, which is what I wanted. It fits me really well. I probably should've knit a little longer before the waist shaping, but it works okay as it is, it's just an inch or so higher than it really needed to be. My two complaints are that the neck/shoulders are a little wide (probably because I have narrow shoulders and forgot to compensate for that) and the armholes are HUGE. I can deal with the wide neckline. It makes the front of the top stick out farther than it should, but I'm going to tack the sides up a little to fix it. It's hard to explain, but it's kind of like a dart on the neckline. I've pinned it in place and it looks fine that way, so that's no problem. The armholes on the other hand...there's not really a fix for those. I only have one bra that I can wear with it without the back strap showing, and that's the low-back convertible bra I bought for my wedding. Even that one comes close: I have to tuck the strap down a little lower than normal so it doesn't peek out. But other than that, it's a great top, and the yarn works well with the pattern. It's smooth and kind of silky/slinky feeling. Cheap, too, which is always good. I want to make another Coachella (this one with smaller armholes) with some handspun silk I bought on Ebay a while back. It's mostly red, with orange and green and purple slubs in it...I think it would look great in this pattern. But I was dumb when I wound it into balls. I wound it double-stranded. It's not terribly thick yarn, probably dk, but double-stranded...well, it's a little bulkier than I want for a summer top like Coachella. So I'll have to go back and unwind it, then rewind single-stranded, then knit. And the knitting will take longer as well, since it's finer yarn. I might still do it though. I think it'd make an absolutely gorgeous top.

I still have to weave in the ends on Coachella, and I'm debating whether or not to crochet around the armholes. It would help with the hugeness, but not enough to really make a difference, since it'd just be one row of single crochet. I wouldn't want anything thicker than that as a border. The main benefit would be a smoother edge. But with the way the top's constructed, I don't know. I like the idea of crocheting around the front and shoulders and under the arm, but I think the racerback part looks good without a border. Unfortunately, it's all one big edge. So we'll see.

My current project is a knitted goomba (from Nintendo's Super Mario Bros.) for a friend's birthday. It's going to have a stress ball-like thing inside, so you can set him up somewhere and squish him down flat repeatedly. Once I finish Jacob's, I'm making one for my own desk at work. I also have to make Cigar gloves for my husband to wear while on the computer and a Legend of Zelda-themed scarf and mitt set.

Okay, gotta go, the husband's singing to me to get my attention. Pictures of all these projects will come later! I promise!

-Amie