Saturday, January 28, 2017

FO: Lace Tunic with Fancy Edge

I am pleased to say, I finished it up before a year was out... and with a day to spare
Sadly, you will not see modelled shots of it... at least not by me. As I suspected as I neared the end... it doesn't fit me. Well.. it does... but not the way it was suppose to. It's suppose to be over-sized, loose and flowy, but instead it clings to every curve... and not in a very flattering way. I should have knit a bigger size.
So, as pretty as it is, it's going into the gift box. Luckily, I have a few people on my "knit-worthy" list who it will suit, so the time and effort for not wasted.
The pattern is Lace Tunic with Fancy Edge, by Wendy D. Johnson. As complicated as it looks, it's a straight forward pattern and the lace is pretty simple. With the exception of the front neckline, it's all just rectangles with no shaping (though I did shaping on the sleeves to make them narrower).
For each piece, the lace edge is knit first.  I made some slight mods there too. In the original, it's all garter lace. But I prefer the look of stocknit lace, so I changed up the centre part.
From there you pick up the stitches and knit the main lace pattern - a simple 8-row repeat that's easily memorized
And then it's just miles and miles of lace. I used two skeins of our Twisted Slinky Cat (colourway is Bordeaux) and it has just enough silk to give this the perfect amount of drape.
The semi-solid colour allows the lacework to shine.

And even though I won't be the one to enjoy wearing it, I'm glad I finished it. Now... onto the next...

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is so sad that it doesn't fit you. Someone is going to get a VERY nice gift.

Delighted Hands said...

Slightly anti-climatic but still an excellent knit!
It's great you made your deadline; nice to set hurdles for ourselves!
This really is a piece of artwork, good job!

Cat Lover said...

Oh, what a lovely tunic! Such a pretty colour. Someone will be very happy when they receive that.
Have a good weekend.

The Well Fed Wheel said...

It's so pretty. What a bummer that it doesn't fit right! I hate when that happens.

RobinH said...

You do have the loveliest taste in patterns! It looks fantastic.

Araignee said...

It is one of the most gorgeous things I have ever seen knit. Someone is going to get really lucky!

pdxknitterati/MicheleLB said...

That is a beautiful tunic. I hope the eventual recipient is appropriately thrilled!

Minding My Own Stitches said...

Such pretty yarn and a pretty tunic. But this is exactly why I don't knit garments - I'm not great at getting a really good fit, and even then, I'm not a great judge of whether something will be flattering until I try them on. A very lucky someone is going to benefit with this gift!

Frieda said...

What a lovely tunic , what a shame that it doesn't fit you properly ! The colour is absolutely beautiful too . Well , someone will be very happy to receive this ...

Rachelle said...

It's gorgeous, shame it doesn't fit but then some lucky person is going to be very happy! I like negative ease in some things, but tunics do need some extra skim room.