Thursday, August 12, 2010

That Girl!

Cap Sleves! Buttons! Oh My!

Here's the finished product of my That Girl Knit Along. This pattern comes together really quickly and is a breeze to make. It was my first experience with top down sweater construction- which I loved because you can actually try it on as you go and gauge where you are and if you should make changes. It makes sizing a snap because you stop your increases when ever you've reached the length you desire. In addition Nikol Lohr made this so it's very easy to customize and modify to your preferences.

I choose the planetarium color in CotLin (again), a lovely light weight cotton linen blend- perfect for a summer or spring knit. The original version has a collar that I decide to nix and originally hangs open with one button up top. I instead put buttons all the way down so I can close it easily and instead of doing a three quarter large puffy sleeve I went with a condensed puff sleeve version. Very cute and light for summer.

I got this great blue fabric in a quilting square pack and decided to use it for fabric covered buttons. I love the way the white and lighter blue pop out against the dark blue of the yarn. I already have plans to make another That Girl, probably with a wool based yarn for a warmer winter wear. Although I like the breath ability of the CotLin it does knit up a little looser than I prefer, I really do like a little more structure to my knits so I'm hoping that a wool will give me a little more body. I also plan on decreasing under the arms for the cap sleeves and switching to a smaller needle size for the seed stitch band on the bottom of the arms. They are a little loose for my taste.

Over all this was a very quick knit, a great sweater for beginning or seasoned knitters alike, this would make a great first (or in my case- second) sweater and I would definitely recommend it. I love all the ways you can make it your own and fit it to your tastes. I predicit that I will be wearing it quite a bit, it's the perfect thing to toss on before you leave the house no matter if you're dressed up or down. A great idea for summer evenings or any where you know its going to be air conditioned.

5 comments:

  1. This is amazing! You look like an anthropology catalogue girl, but cooler, because you made it yourself.

    elisa

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  2. ha. thanks elisa. I like to think I knit mostly 'modern' looking things. it is really wonderful to be able to wear hand made things.

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  3. After seeing how cute your That Girl is I cast on for one last night... Seriously. haha. I'm knitting in wool and I'm going to try doing long sleeves (or at least 3/4). Fingers crossed it will turn out okay!

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  4. Lydia-
    legit. there is almost no way you could seriously screw up that sweater. It is such a breezy knit. I'm waiting for my wool yarn to come in the mail and then I'll be tearing through mine. I'm also brewing up some top down knit sweater in my brain but it hasn't quite come to fruition yet.

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  5. That sweater turned out amazingly! Super flattering and fun and I love that color with those buttons! Great job!

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