FO: Finished Knitted Summer Top

My summer top is now finished and I can't wait to get the weather to wear it ☺.

Knitted Summer Top Waiting for Warm Weather

I am pretty happy with how it turned out, especially since as usual I wasn't strictly following the exact knitting pattern: Since my gauge was smaller than the pattern instructions for the width only, I was following the instructions for a size larger than my own, but sticking to my own size for the height measurements. 

In my last post I explained how I was a bit tight on the turquoise yarn so I was thinking of maybe having to add a different colour stripe: well I chickened out as I was too close to finishing it by the time I ran out! Luckily I found a store that still had the same yarn (Amazon was going to charge me over £10.00 for shipping only, probably blaming Brexit for that even though I found it elsewhere still in the UK at a similar price for the yarn but only about £5.00 for shipping).

Of course now I have more leftover of my 4-ply bamboo cotton yarn, I now have a nearly full ball in 4 different colours so I'll try and find a stripy knitting or crochet top pattern, or maybe a few pairs of summer socks...😔

Back to my top: when I put it on it feels great, I had never knitted with 4-ply bamboo cotton before (I usually knit using DK or worsted yarn), I am very happy with the drape and how it feels warm and cool at the same time. I could knit myself another one, maybe with short sleeves and stripes to use up more of that amazing bamboo cotton leftover yarn 😁.

Currents W.I.P @ 30th April 2021

I'm a long way off my unofficial original plan of releasing 1 knitting pattern per month but not stressing too much about that; after all, I need to remember that knitting is a hobby, so no need to stress over deadlines as I already have a full time job that puts bread (and sometimes cake too 😉) on the table!

I started designing a pair of mittens with a lace hearts design (to change from the cable hearts 😅), but I got a bit sidetracked as the sun came out while I was at the boring stage (i.e. writing 2 more sizes and putting everything down on Word before testing the knitting pattern), so this will have to wait for a while.

As the sun came out I decided to knit myself a light summer top using some leftover bamboo/cotton yard from my stash (I'm hoping I will have enough of the turquoise yarn as I only have 2 balls of this colour, if I run out I will have to frog some and add a white band in the middle using the ball of yarn of the same type that I also have in my stash: I don't want to do the upper part in white as that may be a bit see through 😅).

The pattern for this top is called Strawberry Summer; it's a free knitting pattern from Drops and I am using 2 balls (maybe 3 depending on how this progresses) of King Cole Bamboo Cotton 4 Ply in Turquoise. This yarn is very soft and has good drape, I hope my top turns out as lovely as it feels knitting with this yarn 🤗

The bottom of my top 🤪.

Also, not really a Work In Progress as it's finished, but since it was made in less than a week I didn't get the chance to show it here yet. This is a hat I made for my son, as since I was guilty of botching his hair (his sister gave him a nearly bowl cut and I was trying to rectify it, I should have left it as it was: damn these YouTube videos that give you the confidence to try something you should never go near 😖).

So now my son is proudly wearing the 2 hats I made him, I needed to wash the one I made last winter so made him another one made of cotton for Spring, as he claims these are the only hats that will cover his hair and hide my awful haircut 😳.

The pattern for the hat is the Crochet Easy Ripple Hat, free crochet pattern from The Crochet Crowd, using 2 balls of Rico Cotton Aran in navy.

My son loves his new hat but wouldn't model for me 👀

My next project will be the Wild Bees Socks, the 3rd pattern from the Handmade Sock Society 4 by Helen Stewart, which I am planning to knit in the lovely looking Unicorn yarn I ordered especially for this and that came in the post earlier this week, but I will try and finish my mittens knitting pattern first, I am nearly hoping for bad weather so that I can get more time to focus on that rather than the sunny weather 😅

My yummy new sock yarn

I Think My Top Is Finally Finished

This has taken me about 4 weeks to do, which is why I'm not too keen on knitting any more adult size clothes; I'd rather knit some accessories or baby clothes (I'll have to borrow a nipper from one of my neighbours to make sure I have the correct sizes, which is not very practical).

The yarn I have used is Ice Yarn lycra/cotton which feels a bit strange to knit, slightly elastic, which must be coming from the lycra content, and I find it easier to use bamboo knitting needles for this, as it tends to get stuck on metal needles. This yarn slides more easily on bamboo needles.

I am not sure what to do about the neck; should I add something to make it look a bit less like an unfinished item? I was thinking of crocheting a border because I don't have the energy to knit and sew a collar.

The sewing bit is what is stopping me and another issue is that I have no crochet experience, but as always when I want to learn something new, there's always YouTube!

So, what do you think? Should I add some kind of border to the neck or not?

I am aware that the way I'm standing in this picture is making me look like a granny (no offense to grannies); I really need to start doing something about my posture!

My Current Project - Sleeveless Cotton Top

Because I am very fussy with clothes in shops, I am very lucky to be able to knit.

The only thing is that knitting for an adult takes time. I started this top 2 weeks ago and it took me a week and a half to finish the first side. I am trying to knit for about 2 hours every night, and sometimes I can manage a bit more on week-ends and on days when I am not working.

I am not following any pattern, as, being very fussy, I thought I might as well make my own. Hopefully I will be able to wear this soon, more than likely over a long-sleeved T-shirt if we get an other Irish summer!