Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Garment Construction Blues

Sometimes you be-bop through life without realizing that you're falling into deeply entrenched habits.
I was recently de-be-bopped by the actual garment construction that is the Arisaig wrap-top.
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I've loved this pattern ever since I saw it on the cover of Knitty, lo those three years ago. With my anxious little hands clacking them needles away, it came as a shock to my knitting-system that this is going to be made in *gasp* pieces! Back, 2 fronts, and sleeves. Gracious.
Not top-down? Not minimal seaming? And I didn't even mod out these extra steps!
I ran (almost) blindly into this knit, without fore-thought (which never, ever consists of swatching...)
Modding certainly is being done. Not sure I can knit-exist without it. Making the body longer, and sleeves shorter. Also, I'm certainly not making "my size" on this pattern. Mine should be a medium, but instead I maketh the XS. I fear the stretchiness of cotton.
I'm also "modding" it, in the sense that my "extra design elements" (read: lace mistakes) have already cropped up with reliably regularity. Suspiciously, these mistakes persistently coincide with Adam Savage being on my t.v.

It remains to be seen how I feel about oh-so-pale baby pink. This yarn was a "grab-and-stuff" purchase from the Needle Emporium tent sale in July. Colour, which is normally at the top of my importance-list, took a back seat to "DUDE! Eight balls of Rowan 4 ply - all the same dye lot! yes, please."

As you may have noticed, this is yet another in a long line of procrasti-knits. My tres sketchy schedule for getting things done is not working. Perhaps the lack of solid reprecussions has created a slacker in me. Methinks this is the case. I need late-assignment percentile deductions to get my ass in gear.

4 comments:

Hilary said...

You're fast! That's almost an entire back right there! The back is the hardest part to finish, and since you're almost done, you MUST persevere. The pink is pretty -- it doesn't look "baby" pink to me -- and it will look nice with black, I think. Definitely keep going! (Though I'm not gonna lie, the seaming on that thing is a $#%*).

Team Knit said...

I wouldn't have passed over 8 skiens of Rowan 4 ply either. Pink is all in how you wear it- sometimes it can be sexy! I can't wait to see your mods, whether they be on purpose or not! : )

- Julie

erngrn said...

i'm terrified for hte first time i run head first into a pattern where i have to seam everything together. it seems i really enjoy taking the easy route and knitting top down.

kudos to you.

fishsknitty said...

Love this pattern -it's also on my to-do list from Knitty, which is getting infinitely long - hurray to pink, lace, and yarn from Rowan! I look forward to seeing how it looks when you're finished.