Finished!

It's all done - my first ever knitted tee-shirt, just in time for the cold weather... Never mind though; my next project is a jumper. I expect to get that done just in time for spring.

Anyone who's read my previous posts will know that I'm not entirely happy with this tee, and if I were to do it again I would most definitely change things. It started out badly, with the wrong tension given in the pattern. Having sorted that out by emailing the magazine, I found it's fine up and including the waist band, but from then on, not so much. It's wonderfully shaped into the waist band and then the tighter rib pulls the waist in even further. But then there's no bust shaping. So it's fine if you're a classic English pear, but not if you're big up top. Then the length isn't great. I added four rows and it still wasn't long enough so I had to crochet a hem.

The pattern says it's great for girls who want to show of their curves and will fit 12-16. And this isn't really true. It is very stretchy but I still don't think it would fit a size 16, unless it was extremely stretched and who wants that in a new tee-shirt? The arm holes aren't huge and I think would be very tight on anyone with biggish upper arms. And as for being ideal for curvy ladies, I assume it only means those with curvy hips, because the lack of bust shaping means it's not that great for busty girls, like me.

So what would I do differently? I'd many more stitches after the waist band, giving the ladies more room, bringing the band itself down to my actual waist and making a better length. I'd incorporate bust shaping to give me a bit more room up top. Just these two things would have turned an OK tee-shirt into a fantastic tee-shirt.

In my last post, I promised pictures. So here they are.


Don't worry, my head isn't really blurry, it's because I'm in disguise. Front view of the tee. I think you can see it's kinda stretched over my lady lumps and could do with being a bit longer.


Side view: looking a little bit busty there ... It could have been worse though.


The tee in all its glory. You can easily see here the fantastic waist shaping, which is totally lacking round the bust!


Close up to show the beading and crochet hem. Also, the fabulous colour and fabric. The silk is gorgeous and the colour amazing.

Lessons learned

My First Big Project, a tee-shirt, is done all bar the weaving. And I have learned some important things along the way. I shall blog about the actual tee later, but here I'm going to list some of the things I wish I'd known before hand.

1. A knitting pattern isn't gospel
Just because it says something in the pattern doesn't mean I have to do it. People are different shapes and sizes and look better in different things. A pattern that claims to fit a size 12 might not actually look right on a real size 10 lady (i.e. me), and one that says it fits size 12-16 is frankly lying. Which leads me to...


2. I need to know my own measurements
Every single one of us is different, and just because I buy size 10 clothes doesn't mean that I measure the same as a size 10 dummy. In fact I already knew this: I have to wear a belt because my waist is smaller than size 10; I can't get skinny jeans because they don't fit my hips and thighs; I often have to get size 12 tops because otherwise my lady lumps don't fit comfortably. Now I just need to apply that to my knitting. In fact, I've already begun. Last night I sat down (well, stripped off and stood up actually) with my tape measure and some of my favourite clothes and measured myself and my tops to give me a better idea of what I want.

Because, of course, the other thing that's important here is finding out what I actually like to wear. I'm over 30 so tend to avoid crop tops, so it's no good slavishly following a pattern that stops a few inches short of my waist band. I'll need to lengthen any pattern that does. Do I prefer long sleeves or short? I guess that depends on the weather, but it's something to keep in mind.

All of this means keeping a note of my measurements in my knitting bag at all times and then working out the maths to ensure that everything fits perfectly and to my taste. I should probably get a calculator too.

3. Working your first big pattern in silk isn't the best idea
And that's exactly what I did. Pure silk. It cost nearly £45. And I made mistakes, there was much of the pattern I didn't properly understand, I did the decreases wrong, it turned out too short so I had to add a crochet hem. As it turns out, it looks pretty good, especially for a first attempt. But an acrylic jumper would have cost about £10 so any mistakes wouldn't have mattered. My next project is an acrylic jumper and it did cost about £10. I feel much more confident playing about with this because even if I do mess it up, I can just buy more yarn without doing a Lehman Brothers (too soon?).


4. There is still much I need to know
This semi-magical process that is known as 'blocking' - do I have to do it with all knitted garments? Or just those that say so in the pattern? How exactly do I it? Especially with delicate fabrics such as silk - I can't steam that so do I just pin it out and leave it or use cold water? Do I need to block synthetics? I'm sure I read somewhere I don't, but now I can't be sure. I need more info. More books. More magazines.

But I'm about ready to move on to my next project now. I'm already making tension squares for it. And my next post will be about the finished tee that I've learnt so much from. And there'll be pictures. So far my blogs have been far too wordy.

In the beginning

I wasn't going to do a knitting blog; I really wasn't. There are plenty out there without me adding to the millions of words dedicated to the art of knitting. But as I near the end of my first big knitted project I find I want to record my thoughts on it. I want to note down what I did, what I learned and what I still need to learn. There may well be other people out there who read this blog and are entertained by it, but mostly it's written for an audience of one: me. Or possibly two, because my mum might want to read it. Three if you count my boyfriend. But yeah, mostly me.

My First Big Project is currently on the hook, waiting for me to finish. I should be done tonight and then I'm going to pin it out on the ironing board. I learnt a lot doing this project, mainly that I shouldn't believe knitting patterns and that a project in pure silk isn't really the best one to start out with. But there you go. My blog, which will come as soon as I've got a completed item in my hands, will explain these lessons and others. Stay tuned...