It's finally finished.
For my niece's 9th birthday I knit her a tank top. I let her look through one of my knitting magazines, and she chose the one she wanted. Of course, she didn't choose one of the kid tops. No, she picked an adult model. But I have the math skills to size a pattern down, so that was no big deal.
(The best I can do to show which top it is: go here, and it's the top marked "cover top".)
At least, I thought I had the math skills.
Since I was sizing the top down, I thought that I should also make it a bit shorter. I was nervous the whole time. Was I making it too short?
She's smaller than a size small, but she's also tall for her age. I debated what to do. In the end, laziness won out. It would take me less time to knit fewer rows. 17 inches should be long enough, right?
Wrong. When she tried it on, it was almost long enough for her. If she held her arms up over her head, the top showed her belly. (It was the right size to fit, so I shouldn't denigrate my math skills too much.)
Because of the way the top is constructed, there is no way to just add length. I would have to knit the whole thing over again. So, on Sunday the 13th, I cast on again.
On Wednesday of that week, I had a blinding revelation. I was about half way through the skirt portion on the back. I was on track to finish the back in a couple days. But, I used the wrong size needles. Oops.
The pattern calls for size 7 needles. I used size 6. (I had both in my knitting bag, and I didn't double check the pattern for that detail. Stupid mistake.) When I held up what I had knit to my first version, I found that it was considerably smaller. There was no help for it. I had to rip it all out and start again.
I finished the top for the second time on Sunday. (Knitting for kids goes that much quicker. I got the first version done in about two weeks as well.) It's all ready to go. I just need to get it to her.
It should be long enough this time (22 inches). I know it'll fit around as the first one fit around, and the only difference this time is in the length. But I'm still a bit nervous.
I'll post pictures when I get them. Hopefully, they'll be pictures of success.
Monday, June 28, 2010
1 comment:
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You are a dedicated aunt. I just buy gifts for my nephews from the store.
ReplyDeleteI've had relatives who were good knitters and crocheters. I was always intimidated because I'm a lefty, and trying to reverse just messed me up. Did I mention I'm uncoordinated?
I can't wait to see pictures of the final tank top.