After all of the trials and tribulations I had with this project, Paloma (from the French Girl Knits book) is finally DONE!!
front
back
worn backwards
closer up
Vital Stats:
Pattern: Paloma, from French Girl Knits
Size: 33.5", but see modifications
Yarn: The recommended Louet MerLin sport in "Shamrock"
Needles: Every pair I own, it seemed like
Notes/Modifications:
Hooboy. This project should have been so easy - top down, seamless, no sleeves to speak of - but it made me just about crazy and it spent much of its life to date sitting in time out in a bag in my yarn closet.
I redid the yoke probably four times and still I can point out mistakes I made - the upper body stitch pattern(s) are really hard to get right for some reason. I had no problem knitting the underbust or bottom section from a stitch pattern perspective - the problem I had with the bottom was that as written, I didn't like the length - so I actually lengthened this (a first) to be more of a tunic length. I also did another set of increases as part of that lengthening.
I also used bigger needles (one size larger) to make the bottom, and then had to do the bindoff twice - once with the one-size-larger needles (too tight) and once with needles two sizes larger than those! Finally that was the charm.
On the sleeves, I had to reknit one of them twice, and bind that one off twice - again, had to go up a few needle sizes. I didn't bother with the "increase bindoff" as I couldn't figure out the instructions in the book, so maybe that would have helped with the tightness on the sleeve. But she does say in the book that if the bindoff is too tight, to redo it with larger needles. I mean, my shoulders and arms are decently well-developed, but I'm no Jillian Michaels or anything. So I think the sizing is goofy on this. I did make the smallest size (33.5") but this is usual for me. It could be the yarn, though, as it is a linen and wool blend.
The ribbon is from M&J Trimming and is the hand-dyed ribbon in "Green Apple". I used the 5/8" wide ribbon instead of the 2.5" wide recommended as I thought that would be way too wide. I think she also said you needed 2.5 yards of the ribbon, and as I could only buy by the yard, I took a chance and rounded down to 2 yards instead of "being safe" and getting three. I'm glad I did - as you can see, 2 is even a bit too much, and I need to trim some of it back and retie the bow more nicely.
Also, when they say on the M&J Trimming website that there will likely be seams in the ribbon, they really mean what they say. These were pretty messy, visible, uneven seams on this ribbon, and it was a bit of a struggle to make sure they were inside the top instead of outside. I couldn't trim them out as they are right in the heart of the ribbon. So, though the ribbon is beautiful in color and texture, I wasn't wowed by the "workmanship".
Overall, though, I like the end result (though it still is tight in the front part of the arm (not the bindoff, but just pulls a bit when my arms are forward, like when I'm typing at my desk.) I thought maybe if I tried it backwards it might fit better, but it was even tighter. In retrospect, I probably should have made the 35" size, especially as I ended up putting the ribbon in so that would have prevented it from falling off my shoulders. I do like this, and will wear it, but maybe it just needs more blocking. Come to think of it, I didn't re-block or wash it after I did the cap sleeves, and maybe that is the problem, as this yarn loosens up substantially when it's washed. We'll see when I wash it.
I am almost done with the orange leaf yoke top and just have the finishing to do on Broderie. Here's a sneak peek of the latter:
After adding the bottom section, the waistband pulled down to be at the actual waist, instead of the underbust where it was before. I actually think this will be a better look for me, so I'm happy about it. Lottttss of finishing to do on it though. Hopefully by the end of the weekend!
