FO: Gil Ain't No Holla Back Girl

I have been knitting garments with some measure of success for about two years.  For a while everything I made was amazing, but then I found myself in a bit of a hit-or-miss patch where nothing seemed to turn out quite as planned.  So when I decided to make some changes in needle size and stitch count on the Holla Back Tank I was really nervous.

I went down to a size US 4 needle and knit the front per the size 36 directions.  This gave me a fabric with a density that I liked.  Not too tight, but not see-through either.

After I finished the front I looked at it for quite some time, trying to decide if it was too big.  It wasn't but when paired with a similar size back it would be more sack-like than sexy.  And for once I wanted to knit something that would turn out the way I imagined.  So I took a deep breath and cast on for the size 32 back.

It took me several times to get the first few inches of chart correct, but I finally vowed that I would not rip back again and stopped second guessing myself.  Emma Welford wrote up excellent directions and even though I found myself yelling "Is this what you mean by stretched?  That's going to be too tight to be anything other than a medieval binding!" it worked out perfectly.

Some designers you have to second guess, but Emma is not one of them.  She does not hand-hold through the pattern, but she does give you all the information you need and trust you the knitter to be intelligent enough to put it into practice.  The pattern, like all of the Holla Knits collections, is absolutely lovely.  Even without the KAL the support is superb.  When I was first deliberating over what size and needles word somehow got back to Emma, who left a comment on the blog offering her assistance if needed.  I highly recommend it and am really looking forward to wearing it to celebrate my birthday tonight.

For more FOs, check out Tami's Amis!

More Holla Swatching

Thank you to everyone who left such kind comments about my Umbre Lovre.  I have not had an occasion to actually wear it out yet, but it is sitting in the closet anxiously awaiting its turn about the town.

Now that I have that off the needles, it is time to turn to the other sweater I have planned for this summer, also from Holla Knits -- the Holla Back Tank by Emma Welford.

I am using Knit Picks Gloss Fingering in Bordeaux, which knit up beautifully in the swatch.  I once again ran into the problem of falling between sizes, but my stitch gauge on the recommended needles was a little small, so I am hoping to achieve the preferred amount of ease on the size 36.  I'm excited to see how it turns out as I have not knit a seamed garment in a long time.  Hopefully my skills have progressed enough to avoid some of my early sweater failures.

I was planning to have this to wear for the honeymoon as well, but now it is starting to look like it will be something I actually knit on the honeymoon as I keep adding more and more secret wedding crafting to my plate.  Hopefully someone will stop me soon.  It is becoming insane!

Side note -- everytime I read Holla Back Tank I think of this (starts at 1:50)



Hep Alien is the greatest.

FO: Umbre Lovre

Hi, all!  Did you miss me?  I had to take an impromptu break from the blog for my own sanity and yours.  The stress level around here has just been skyrocketing, and not just because the wedding is in *glup* five weeks.  I did not tell you when it happened because it all happened so fast, but I got a promotion at work.  I have been a full time employee in one department for a few weeks and I've got to say that I have not gotten nearly as much knitting done as I did when I was a part-time employee for three.  But I did finish something this week, and so I have scurried back to give you all pictures and the gory gory details.

Right up front I want to say that Allyson Dykhuizen is an excellent pattern writer and that Umbre Lovre was a joy to knit.  Any temper-tantrum that I threw during the knitting of this sweater was completely due to user error -- I can say that now that I know it is still wearable.

If you know of this pattern then you have seen the beautifully stylized photos from Holla Knits.  The model looks smashing in her white pants and tastefully oversized top.  In reality, this is how it looks on me:

I knew going in to this that I'm not a big fan of positive ease.  I like sweater dresses and tunics, but they are usually zero ease or have some waist shaping to them.  When I first finished knitting, I threw on the top in a fit of enthusiasm only to realize that I looked like I was wearing a nicely knitted potato sack.  At this point I may have had a slight explosion.  Ok, maybe not so slight.  I ended up yelling at Chris about something completely ridiculous and then sat mournfully staring at my knitting, trying not to cry.  I actually tweeted Allyson who reminded me that blocking makes fabric look so much better, and she, of course, was totally right.

I am actually surprised that this ended up such a lovely garment.  See, I knit the size 36, which is 6 inches of positive ease on top of that 36 inch bust.  Well, and this might not be ladylike to divulge, when last I measured I am a 35.  And it seems like that one extra inch may have made a significant difference.  Now that I know this, if I was to ever knit this again I would knit the size 32 and just have less blousy top.

Another mistake I made was to start the armholes way too early.  Like halfway through the garment early.  This may have accounted for most of the yelling and crying about how I was going to wear this on my honeymoon and I spent so much time knitting it and why doesn't anything turn out right anymore?  But after blocking I took some yarn and seamed them up to a more suitable depth.  This created some interesting pleats on the side, but with a belt you can barely even tell.

On the whole I am really proud of this top.  It is the first striped garment I have ever knit and I did enjoy pulling out multiple balls of yarn to shock the guys at work.  I am still planning to take it on the honeymoon, but it has also become top contender for rehearsal dinner outfit.  I think belted with a black skirt and flats it will look really nice.  The jeans obviously did not work out so well, but I also think it would make a great hippy-esque outfit with some leggings for days when I just cannot bear to wear another tshirt.

For more FOs, go check out the group over at Tami's Amis!

Indecisions

Alright folks, we have survived what I call the "week of crazy".  The Avengers opened with great success -- a new box office record and an absolutely incredible film.  If you have not seen it yet, you must go check it out.  My love of Jeremy Renner has only grown (really, who's surprised by that)  Just have some patience with the staff of the theater -- we've been run ragged by the huge crowds.  I don't know about elsewhere, but my theater was sold out all weekend.

So today, as a respite from work, I have the urge to do some swatching.  Over the weekend I received a box from Knit Picks with some yarn for two patterns from the new Holla Knits collection -- the Holla Back Tank and Umbre Lovre.  Both of these are gorgeous patterns and I would like to knit up both of them to take on my honeymoon in *gulp* three months.  But I can't decide which to knit first!

The thing I love about the Holla Knits collection is that there is a Knit Picks sample for everything.  Allyson seems to really want an affordable product, and Knit Picks is a great option for affordable without that summer camp arts and crafts feeling.  To that end, I bought a fantastic quantity of yarn for very little.

First up, Gloss in the Bordeaux colorway for the Holla Back Tank.  I love the interest of this piece and the purpley-wine color is one I know will work on my very pale skin (I've decided not to go the traditional route and am not bothering to try to get a tan for the wedding.  Too much work).

Door number two is the Comfy Sport for Umbre Lovre.  I wrote about this during Knitting and Crochet Blog Week and it really is a pattern that appeals to my fantasy wardrobe aesthetic (the one where all my geeky tshirts are paired with flattering shorts or skirts and everyone admires my fashion forward style).  And yes, I bought the exact yarn in the pattern sample. The colors are perfect and since I've never done a colorwork sweater it's great to just let someone else do the work.

So here's my question, dear readers -- Which one do I knit first?  I have a bucket of yarn and am overwhelmed by my choices.  Help a girl out?