Oh hey, remember how I was knitting a top? Yeah, that seems like forever ago. Battleship and I had a few setbacks along the way, but he's finally ready now and I love him so hard. (Please tell me you all gender your knits, too. I feel like most of the time I default to female, but Battleship is definitely a he.)
To refresh your memory, Battleship and I had a bit of a rocky start to our relationship. I didn't check gauge, and we had to start over from Point A again. After that, things went pretty well, except I was playing chicken with my yarn (Pro Tip: discontinued yarn gotten from a swap might not be the best choice for a yardage-risky project such as, say, a heavily modified blouse). I forged on, knitting to the end of my yarn, bound off, blocked it, and realized that recovering from skin surgery meant I couldn't wear pretty new shirts for a while.
So he sat, sadly, in my bedroom for a few weeks. Once my back was all healed, I tried him on quick, and was so unimpressed. He made me look a little barrel-shaped. Like a dumpy, short-torsoed barrel. If you have any hesitations about the importance of necklines, let this serve you. That neckline is not flattering on me. To reinforce the neckline, I'd picked up stitches all around the neck, knit one round, and then bound off. It certainly made it stronger, but it tightened up the neckline so much that it seriously compromised the drape of the fabric-and the drape was what I really wanted. So I picked out the reinforcing rounds, gave Battleship another bath to coax all the picked-up stitches back into place, and tried again.
Ah. Well, that certainly won't do. At this point I was starting to get nervous-with the neckline undone, the length of the top was perfect, you can see the curve of my underbust and waist, and the way the skirt of the top skims my lower belly is incredibly flattering. The neckline is a little, er, low, however. I'm not really anti-bosom-but that is an awful lot of bosom going on up there. And you know how I always say clothes ought to first and foremost be comfortable? Having a particularly acrobatic breast escape the confines of one's bodice is not comfortable.
I couldn't give up. So...I turned the tank around and tried it on backwards.
Guys, I love Battleship so much. Look at that new neckline! And it scoops so elegantly in back! And it's the length I like! Oh my goodness, he's just absolutely perfect, and I'm so glad I put him on backwards before just throwing him in a bin to forget about. I'm having so much fun coming up with different ways of incorporating this top into my wardrobe, and while I was nervous about the color during the knitting, I am so pleased with how it looks on me. Me and my Battleship-we had our issues getting here, but I think we're pretty good from here on out.
Ravelry Page: Battelship
Pattern: Battleship by Allison Hendrix
Yarn: Universal Yarn Summer Linen, "337 Steel Blue"
Battleship looks AWESOME on you!! Love the fit, love the look- I bet you'll wear this all summer long. It was worth the effort!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I'm so pleased with it-definitely worth the hassles!
DeleteI love that you put it on backwards!!! It looks so nice! And I'm so happy you like it too. There's nothing worse than being disappointed at the end of a project.... :) :)
ReplyDeleteThanks! I'm so pleased it worked out too-fit can be so subjective, and sometimes there's not really a way to know for certain if something will work out until the very end.
DeleteOh my gosh, it looks FANTASTIC! Seriously, love love LOVE IT, especially with the scooped back and that really flattering front (well, current back/front)! You're a smart cookie!
ReplyDeleteI'm knitting a tank top right now too, and I'm terrified of the neckline. So hard to judge these things with a larger bust, eh? Yikes!
Thanks! Yes, especially with larger busts, necklines are so important-they really can make or break a top! Good luck with yours-I'm sure it will come out great!
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