Simple Knitted Bodice

Success!



I finished my SKB on Sunday morning, giving me oodles of time to weave in the ends and give it a stern and proper blocking.

Pattern: Simple Knitted Bodice by Stephanie Japel
Yarn: Misti Alpaca Worsted (100% baby alpaca; 109 yards, 50 grams per skein). Color MC1040 ("Peacock Melange"), 6.5 skeins
Needles: Size 7 for the stockinette sections, size 3 for the lace on the waist and for the neckline, size 2 for the lace on the sleeves.
Started: September 7, 2006
Finished: March 18, 2007

Pattern mods...

1) Basically, any time I can add some additional waist shaping to make a sweater more form-fitting, I usually do... I added a wee bit of what I'm calling "staged ribbing" on the sides beneath the lace section. It's 5 ribs on each side, with the middle one going from the bottom hem all the way to the lace section, the two ribs on either side of that going from the bottom hem to about 10 rows before the lace, and the two outer ribs going from the bottom hem to about 15 total rows in. In visual terms, picture this flipped 90 degrees counterclockwise:

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2) The sleeves have half the number of increases that the pattern called for. The pattern calls for 4 even rounds and then an increase round, repeated 11x total... I did 8 even rounds and then an increase round, 5x total. I am VERY happy with the sleeve width like this. Much wider wouldn't have been practical for me; I don't need any additional help getting my clothes snagged on delivery bins and book carts every day.

3) I changed the cuffs and the neckline from purl ridges to seed stitch. The bottom hem is lying flat for the moment (see above, re: stern blocking), so I haven't ripped it out, and may not need to.



I'm thrilled with how it came out! A coworker today told me that I should wear it again tomorrow, and maybe wear a button that says, "I made this!" She was so funny; we have the same meal breaks almost every day, and I usually spend half my hour eating and the other half knitting, so she's seen me work on this thing since I started working there. When I went into the kitchen today and she saw the finished product, she said, "The last time I saw that [i.e., Friday], it was in a bag, and it was still on needles... and now you're wearing it! That's so cool!" :D

Much love for the Misti Alpaca yarn, by the way. I got this stuff on a whim at Springwater Fiber last year, having no idea what I was going to do with it. The pattern calls for Tilli Tomas 100% silk yarn. It's pretty yarn, to be sure, but I was uncomfortable dropping that much money to begin with... and then the whole "consumer friendly" brouhaha started, and it was revolving squarely around Tilli Tomas. That sealed the deal, and I started stash-digging for a substitute yarn. I lucked out when I got gauge with the alpaca on the first try. The yarn for this ran me $40 total, plus another $7 for the beads. The finished sweater is warm, cushy, soft, fuzzy, luxurious, but still WEARABLE. Yay!

If you can't tell, I may have found a favorite fiber. The Interweave website has a nifty little guide to all you ever wanted to know about alpaca yarn, which came in very handy as I was finishing and blocking this.