Knitting Lingerie Style-Along

FO

Hi all,

I recently finished the shaped lace tee, my first item from the book, though there are so many I like! There are a few more pics on my blog at The knittin' kitten .  I followed the pattern as written. 

Happy knitting!

A Finished Shaped Lace Tee!

Ahhh, just how happy am I that I have managed to finish this?!  After the Friday night, glass of wine theme of my earlier posts - I thought that I had better post a picture of my project, complete with a glass of suitable celebratory alcohol!

Rather than post a picture heavy post here, I have just posted a full update about my shaped lace tee on my blog (for anyone who is interested), together with my slight sizing/does this suit me quandry - oh, to boil or not to boil wash my cotton cashmere top?! 

I knitted the 38" size and followed the errata for the t-shirt length sleeves, lengthening them to 3/4 length as it is now Autumn and chilly in the UK - I cast on with the 4.5mm needles for the first stitch pattern, then swapped to smaller needles (3.75 and then 4mm) to work the sleeves up to the bicep, in order to try to achieve some sleeve shaping in the way that the waist shaping is done. 

I need to confess that I do not think that my modifications were 100% successful but it is the first time that I have attempted to modify a pattern, so I think that it was worth doing for the experience!

I need to say that I really enjoyed this knit.  Challenging in all of the right places, for my first ever 'all over' lace attempt and coolly enough, this is the first knit that I have ever managed to complete for myself. 

I usually knit presents for other people - projects for me tend to get put aside or abandoned.  With any luck, this knit has got me past my 'if it is for me, it'll never get finished' knitted garment problem!

Finally Got a Picture

I finished the shaped lace tee a couple of weeks ago, and finally got a picture of it at my dad's surprise birthday party.  Here's the picture.

I really enjoyed working on this sweater and the pattern was easy to follow.  I would definitely make another one.  I love how sexy it is.  It's revealing but not revealing at the same time.  I wore it to work last week, and one of the girls at work came up to me and said "at first I thought you weren't wearing a bra, but I know you and you wouldn't do that".  I just smiled and winked at her then walked away with my top and fleshed colored bra in all it's glory. lol!!!!

New Member of KAL

I am happy to be part of this KAL! I have been working on the Shaped Lace Tee. Although I’ve had the book and been admiring it for awhile now, this is my first project from it. Here is a progress picture showing the back done to about 1.5 inches below the armhole shaping.  I'm using the Cascade sierra yarn in ivory as shown in the book.

It is so fun to see all the items everyone has made! I like so many of the patterns in the book, but the next ones I hope to try are the Racerback Tank and Lacy Summer Socks.

Sarah http://knitting-kitten.blogspot.com/

Another week...

...another 12" or so and I have cast off the back!  This Friday evening I find myself toasting my week's knitting progress with a glass of water as I am competing this weekend - so this post may be shorter and more to the point than my last one...maybe.

I knitted for 3.5 round commutes (approx 3.5 hours of knitting), which is about 3.4" inches an hour?  (That sounds better to me than I thought it would!)

I have felt more in the groove with this pattern this week, so things have been very peaceful in my train carriage - that is, with the exception of the commute sat next to a very fidgety lady in a big padded puffa coat, who overspilled her seat, had a bad cold and a tendency to throw her newspaper pages back with a loud, exaggerated gesture, usually just as I was 'ssk'ing...

...so I kind of 'leaned' a bit in her direction.  With the result that my knitting action caused my arm to 'shloop-shloop' gently but insistently against her plastic, padded coat until she retreated further into her seat to avoid it.  Didn't I realise that might be deliberately irritating...? 

Pardon - deliberately irritating?  As if I would conscience doing anything of the sort... 

...otherwise, I spent one commute fiddling with the armhole decreases as they cut across the lace pattern on the 38" size.  I wasn't sure whether to incorporate the lace pattern, including YOs during the cast bind offs.  I found myself wondering the same thing during the neck bind cast off too.  I did them - I ended up with the right number of stitches.  It looks okay?

See - it's all good. I feel like I am making steady progress.  Now, adding a real boost to my confidence, it is starting to look like a real garment, not that far removed from the photo in the book albeit slightly Armadillo in weight. So Joan, I think that you are keeping a quiet eye on this knitalong?  Thank you, I am really enjoying this knit.

Actually, I am enjoying it so much that I am warring with my conscience.  Right now, I should put this project aside and concentrate on my deadline knit - my skeins of yarn have arrived, so I need to wind balls and cast on for a wrap this weekend. Hmm.  let's see what 'knit inchage' I have to report next week!   

Okay, so clearly length of my posts has nothing to do with alcohol...I am just a bit chatty.

Yet Another Shaped Lace Tee in Progress! Sort of.

Yarn:  Debbie Bliss Cotton Cashmere
Did I check gauge:  yes
Did I get gauge: hmm, sort of, not really?!

Initial reaction to tension square sample:  Ohgoodgrief - I've knitted an armadillo!  The honest truth?  It's looking more Joan of Arc battle armour plating than sexy lacy lingerie-like a la book model (see left).

But...you know how it is, I bought this yarn in a summer sale.  I had this specific project in mind for it.

So somehow, I felt committed.  However, I gave myself space, I pondered it over the whole of last weekend, I looked at other patterns (but knew deep down that I really wanted to make this), I looked through my stash (nothing else suitable), I sighed, I toyed with some swatches for another project (am awaiting my yarn - its not due to arrive until this coming Monday) and then I read this blog again.

It was my downfall - I read all of the posts on this project.  I read the joyful comments from those of you who completed your shaped lace tees in a week.  I looked at the yarn.  I looked at the pattern again.  I considered that I had nothing to work on during my commute to work this week.  That thought alone made me panic quietly inside:  no knitting?  On the train?  What on earth was I going to do?!

So Monday am, bolstered by the collective assurance that this was a quick knit that I could (conceivably) fit in before I start my next 'deadline driven project' next week, I jammed my needles, yarn and a hastily scribbled version of the initial cast on and lace chart into my bag and headed for the station.

"Y'know, I could bore you with the day by day detail," she drawled dryly, while sipping on a glass of Friday evening red wine, "but suffice it to say that if you listened very carefully while I was knitting on the train this week...

...you would have heard circus clown music playing in the background!  Oh yes, honestly. A veritable comedy of errors!"

On top of the speed that I knit at (clearly a lot slower than many others who knit here), it took a round commute to work out that I should read the text under the lace charts, not just rely on the graphic, then I left my 3.75mm needles at home...blahblahblah...from that point onwards, my knitting week disintegrated quietly.

So how far did I get in a week?

Well  this far, as it happens.  No, that is not the front, it is the back.  Just the back.  So 5 days, two 35 min commutes per day, I've knitted 8.5" and used 75m of yarn?  One ball - a single ball.  Good grief, I feel inadequate.  This is not going to be a shaped lace tee in a single week.

So, come on, please cheer me up - those of you who did finish your tees in a single week - please tell me that you get to knit for more than an hour a day....?!

She sits, sips wine and awaits the news that, with only 30 minutes of knitting per day, 11 people started (and finished) their lace shaped tees this week.

Oh bah humbug.  Well, I worked hard but this won't be - finished in a week, that is.

It's been awhile

but I'm back.   I got a chance to work on my shaped lace tee and here it is so far.  I'm hoping to get more work done on it this weekend.  We'll see.

Shaped Lace Tee Finished...

Last night I finished the Shaped Lace Tee from Knitting Lingerie Style.  I love it and know that I will wear it often.  I chose a moss green color for fall and plan to make another one in Ivory.  Cascade Sierra is a great yarn to work with.  The only adjustment made to the pattern is that I added 1 inch to the length so that it adequately covers the waitband of my jeans. This tee was truly a project that I could have completed in a week, but as usual, I experienced several interruptions that diverted my attention or left me too exhausted to keep the momentum.   However, I was anxious to finish this top this weekend so that I could move on to my next project.  I think I want to tackle the trumpet skirt next.

Shaped Lace Tee - Done!

Here's my first FO from Knitting Lingerie Style, sans model (it's for my sister-in-law, who's tiny, so there's no way I'm getting it on me). Really quick knit--only took about a week from start to finish, without knitting constantly.

More details on my blog.

Next up: the Bed Jacket (finally), which is blocking as I type.

Errata Posted at Yahoo Group

FYI, at Joan's Yahoo group for the book, there are errata for three patterns posted: the fishnet lace stockings, Retro Ribby Twinset, and the same tip I mentioned before here about the sleeve variation for the Shaped Lace Tee.  They are just text files, but I've attached them to this post and added a new category for Errata so they'll appear in the upper right sidebar.

Download fishnet_stockings.txt

Download ribby_retro_twinset.txt

Download sleeve_variation_for_shaped_lace_tee.txt