Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Soleil is done!

Yes, that's right, I have an FO! Soleil is done!

Pattern: Soleil by Knitty
Yarn: Elann Sonata
Needles: size 4 circs
Time: about a month
Thoughts: It was a really easy knit. The lace at the beginning as fun, and went quickly, as did everything else. (A month for me on something like this is pretty good, I think).


When I saw a friend wearing Soleil in June, I got really excited to make it, because hers came out so well! Mine is, well, it's OK. Overall, it doesn't fit me like I'd like it to fit. The shoulders don't lie flat, and they're a bit too wide as well. Had I known that would happen, I would have adjusted them to be slightly narrower. Perhaps I should have knit the smaller size in order to get the suggested negative ease, but I thought it would be too small if I did that, so I didn't.

I had to do some steeking to get the shoulders and the seams under the arms to lie at all correctly. The pattern calls for some increases as one approaches the bust, but on me, it was just too much material. So out came the sewing machine, in went the steeks. You can see in the blocking photo (below, pre-sewing) how much it increased just before the armholes. With that fixed, I think it fits a lot better. I also steeked the upper left corner of that shoulder strap on the left below, which, when worn, stuck up like a space-age garment.

My exam is a week from this past morning. I'm reviewing my notes now, making outlines, etc. I alternate between thinking a week is plenty of time and wondering how, on earth, I will possibly be ready by then.

6 comments:

Sheepish Annie said...

Urrggg...I remember my final clinical exam before the blessed end of grad. school. (made even more ridiculous given that I wasn't taking a program that would end up with my needing a clinical license) Not fun. Hang in there. You'll do great. As is Soleil!

Anonymous said...

It looks great! How clever of you to fix it with the sewing machine. A week is plenty of time. You're probably ready right now. When you walk out of that exam, you'll probably feel like the actual exam itself was an anticlimax. You'll do just fine.

Zonda said...

Good luck w/your exam!

You did a nice job on Soleil! Love the color! :)

Anonymous said...

I am just amazed at how comfortable you are whipping out the sewing machine and adding steeks, that's great! I think Soleil looks nice on you, the color is very flattering.

Melissa said...

That's a nice pattern. It looks like a good (ie not scary/overwhelming) lace pattern. Nice job. And good luck on your comps.

Bonnie said...

The color and fit are perfect! I'm really impressed by your steeking and other adjustments to overcome problems in the pattern. Nice work!