A Skinny Ribs - Fest

It's done! I present to you -- Skinny Ribs.

If Monday had not been a holiday, you would have had a bit of mirth. Monday morning I had yet to sew in the ends, sew on the buttons and figure out what to do with the excess fabric from my re-configured shoulders. Thanks to Queen Victoria, I was able to get this done before the next (today's) blog posting.

The 'Deets'
Pattern: Skinny Ribs from Wendy Bernard's book Custom Knits.
Yarn: Fanion by Phildar. Purchased last spring at Mad About Ewe in Nanaimo B.C. Just under
four balls used at 137 metres per ball.
Mods: - This sweater is knit top down. The pattern starts with the shoulders, giving instructions to knit them straight across. Me, though, I'm a fan of sloped shoulders and that is how I started mine. Then, you might remember, I got carried away with the mindless knitting and knit the armholes too long.

I repaired that mistake by machine sewing across the shoulders, following my slope line and removing an inch of fabric. The fix created a problem (like plumbing repairs in our house), making the back neck off by an inch. Just to see if it would work, when shortening the armhole, I machine stitched straight across the back from one shoulder to another. With just that one line of stitching, I could see that the extra fabric would turn quite nicely. So, I live-stitched that extra inch of back neck stitches to the back itself, creating a facing of sorts. Seems to be working. The extra inch of shoulder fabric I simply tacked down - built in shoulder pads sort of. They're back in style, aren't they?

What I Learned: Everything on this top is top-down, even the set-in sleeves. Wendy does a great job of leading you through this process. I had, once before, knit set-in sleeves, top-down with quite disastrous results. This time, the process was easy and they look great. Wendy's book is full of wonderful how-to tips on a great range of topics from designing to altering patterns. A wealth of information.

I also learned that I can't read. The pattern is titled SLINKY Ribs. Not Skinny Ribs as I've been describing.

What I'd Do Differently: The top appears a bit 'smallish' on me. (Maybe that's where the Skinny part came in) That could be because of what Marie calls the VNS (Visible Nipple Syndrome) requiring a camisole underneath. Mind you, the picture shows it with a cami, so I should have known. Next time, even though I am a great fan of 'negative ease', I would make a size bigger than my chest size, rather than a size smaller as I did this time. In the mean time, if I am ever so inclined, I could lengthen both the sleeves and the top itself - a benefit of top-down construction - to make it appear a bit less 'smallish'. Maybe some day.

I love the casualness of this top. A new, favourite, jeans top and great for summer wear.