Summer is only 3 days away... really??

It seems like not too long ago when I was flipping through my stash of knitting magazines, trying to pick out Spring patterns to knit. Fast forward to the present, and Summer is just around the corner! And Spring knits? Well, only if you count the projects I've already talked about in past posts. One of them was a tabbard-style top - the knitting's completed, but it's still waiting for the 12 large buttons (yes, that's right, TWELVE!) to be bought and attached to fully finish it off. I'd like to think that the addition of the buttons will be enough to make the top more fitting, so that there is more shape to it (coz tabbard style really = 2 rectangles sewn together at the edges); but I don't know... I don't even know if it's worth spending the money on the buttons for a project that I probably won't end up wearing. Plain big black buttons are about $5 for 3 buttons or so, so it's not cheap. But I guess I spent a lot on the yarn already (Debbie Bliss Donegal Luxury Tweed: 15% angora/85% wool), and as they say, if you're gonna get your hair wet, you might as well go swimming. It's not high on my list of priorities at the moment though.

You might recall that I was also working on a 3/4 sleeve V-neck top with Sublime Bamboo and Pearls. I have actually been trying to finish that one lately, and have gotten as far as finishing knitting all the pieces, bar the bow feature, which I am knitting at the moment, and which can wait until everything is assembled anyway, and even finished the neck edging. I stopped working on it after that though, because to my horror, I found that picking up the stitches at the very edge led to unsightly little holes along the neck edging, where the stitches were picked up. This is the first time something like this has happened, (but do note that I haven't done too many full garments in the past) so I'm not sure if it's just because of the drapey nature of the slick yarn, the thinness of the yarn, or whatever else. I could go through sewing the holes up with the same yarn, but that's so much effort, and I guess I'm just too disheartened by it to be honest, to go on. Oh well, since Summer is fast approaching, I probably won't be able to wear it anyway. So I think I'll leave it until the end of Summer, to prepare it for Autumn wear.

One of the projects that had been fully completed and had worked out nicely was the bell-sleeved cropped cardigan by Jenny Watson, pictured below:

Project: Short-sleeeved cropped cardigan
Source: Noro Flowers Book 4 by Jenny Watson

Yarn: Noro Silk Garden Lite

Overall, I quite like the look of the cardy - it's different, it's funky.. I was rather pleasantly surprised that it fit quite well too. But - there is always a but, isn't there? - I don't like how the edges flick up a bit. I'm not sure if blocking would have helped, but, not being the most patient person in the world, I couldn't be bothered. Also, I don't like how the flaring of the lower bodice is so pronounced on the sides. Maybe it would look nicer if less stitches were cast on, and if there were no decreases made at both the end sections, so that the sides would sit flatter and not puff out so much. If you keep your arms down, it looks fine, but once you lift them up, poof! When I took the cardy into a haberdashery store to find buttons to match, the shop assistants asked, "Is it for a boy or a girl?". HA! They liked it, but were very surprised when I told them it was a woman's fit. In my quest for buttons to magically transform the garment into a 'younger-looking piece' (I was told by some people that the colour of the yarn made the garment look 'old'!) I ended up finding bright coloured 'gelato' yellow-orange-green buttons to use. I think they fit the bill, don't you think?