Inordinately pleased

Yes indeed!  The Vogue Leaf Yoke Top is done, and I love it!

And I'm going to enjoy wearing it.  My next task is to finish the jacket which I think it will look good with, and figure out how to slot it into my wardrobe.

But for the moment, let me share with you why I'm pleased with these edges.  The neckline and arm openings are finished with i-cord.  It's devilishly clever (although I followed Vogue's instructions which are slightly different from those illustrated in the video).

I changed the hem, thanks to the very generously shared ideas of others who had made this and posted about it on Ravelry.  Vogue wanted a turned back hem which I thought would be bulky.

10 rows of simple lace & i-cord at the hem

Things I learned:

• Trust the math.  The pattern called for a gauge of 19 stitches and 26 rows in a 10cm square; my yarn swatch showed 24 stitches and 30 rows in the same space.  I realized that if I knit according to the size large, the finished garment would be the right circumference.  
• If it's not right, rip it back and re-knit.  It doesn't actually take very long, and the not-quite-right feature would really bug me.  I think I knit the front just below the lace yoke 3 times before I was satisfied.  I knit the lace and i-cord hem twice. 

Knitting work in progress

One can try on a WIP if it's being knitted from the top down.  All I had to do was transfer about 25% of the stitches to a separate circular needle so I could put it over my head.

This will fit looser than the Vogue version but I think it will be just fine.

Miscellaneous Creating

Sewing first.  I have muslins!  The dress is basically fine.  Well, it will be once I remove 1cm in length from the bodice (where marked).  It looks OK on my form, but definitely feels too low on my body.

I briefly considered removing the pleats from the right front skirt and replacing them with a princess seam, but changed my mind when I couldn't immediately see how to reshape the piece.  I want this to be a relatively quick project!

This is a pattern I would never have considered until recently, but I feel I can wear this slim-skirted style after losing 5cm (2") of circumference from my hips/thighs due to an aggressive exercise regime (Spartacus workout, if anyone is interested; it's brutal but I can attest to its effectiveness).

 Here is the jacket.  I needed to make more changes to this pattern.  Maybe I've also gained inches through my rib cage but this jacket is way too snug above the waist for a lined jacket in my fabric, a fairly substantial wool bouclé.  At the same time as the rib/waist is too tight, the hem is too flared and the back bodice darts add too much shaping.  I got rid of some of the excess shaping and added width by reducing the dart take-up in the back, and smoothing out the curves in the seams of the lower part of the jacket.


As usual I had to shorten the sleeves, but by more than usual - a total of 5cm.  I do have short arms but is it only me that thinks Burda are designing for Ms. Gorilla?




The other feature of this jacket which left  me cold is that the back is about 3cm shorter than the front.  Maybe you can see this in the picture with sleeve raised.  I levelled the hem.

The jacket is cut out.  Single layer to match the plaid.  Here is a quick snap of my fabric combination.  Colourful, no?

And I've also been knitting.  My new project is this top, from the spring/summer 2009 edition of Vogue Knitting.  Vogue makes their older patterns available for download for $6 through Ravelry.  I fell for this in a big way and purchased yarn for it when I was in Toronto last week.  I got to visit Americo Original and Romni Wools.  All I can say is "Oh my!"  Between the two stores I think one could purchase yarn in any combination of natural fibre.

I'm making the Leaf Yoke Top from Americo "Baby Suri" (80% suri, 20% wool).  I know what you're thinking.  But she was apparently named after the silkiest, smoothest kind of Alpaca there is.




Baby Suri is sport weight which gives the wrong gauge so I'm knitting the large size.  The calculator says it should work.  My fingers are crossed.