Tivoli is finished! Yippeee...but wait a minute...who is that strange lady wearing it..that's not me! Oh, it's my mother. Hmmmm....how did that happen???? Well let me tell you.
I knitted diligently for days, hours, weeks! Ok..not quite that long but it did seem to take forever. I carefully altered the pattern to fit my bust, I added a of couple rows to make it long enough and hide the belly pouch! I tried it on, I handled it with care, I finally finished it, it looked good, I went to block it and then all hell broke loose. I'm not sure if it was user error or the yarn but the Shine is a bitch to block. I'm not brave enough to do the whole "heat thing" and I wasn't sure how the modal would react with heat anyway so I decided to wet block it. It really stretched out horizonatlly and shrunk up vertically. I mean seriously, it looked like it was knit for a butterball turkey. I poked, prodded, stretches, pushed, pulled and I still couldn't get it into shape, it was still like 9 inches too wide(sounds like I'm talking about my ass.) So I did what any self respecting knitter would do with cotton machine washable yarn, I threw it in the dryer. It washed and dried beatifully but the damn thing was not the shape it needed to before figure. I wore it for a couple hours, kept tugging here and there and couldn't take it anymore. On a whim, I told my mother to try in on (she's visiting for a few weeks) she scoffed and said no way but I was persistent, she finally gave in and it was a match made in heaven. It couldn't have fit her better and the color looks dynamite on her. I'm disappointed that Tivoli was not for me but I'm happy that I found a good home for her and my mother finally has a handknit sweater!
Tivoli T-Shirt - modeled by my Mama
Yarn - 6 skeins of Knitpicks Shine in Sand.
Needle - Size 6 circular
Modifications - I increased the bust by 10 stitches to accomodate my larger chest size, in hind sight, I didn't need to do that with this particular yarn, it has quite a bit of horizontal stretch when it's knitted up. It was a beatiful yarn to work with but it's kind of a pain to block, I don't think I'll use it again but who knows.
I knit the 37" size for my 46" bust. It fits perfectly and I used the shine twist. I pseudo steam blocked it with a steam iron and it didn't harm it at all.
Posted by: Corrina | August 07, 2005 at 06:46 PM
Oh, it looks lovely on your Mom. You knit beautifully. It is great advice you have given about this type of yarn, I wonder if you can send it in to Knit Picks for them so write it up on their catalog next to the yarn--it would be very helpful to know :).
Posted by: Isela | August 07, 2005 at 08:15 PM
Your mom makes for a beautiful model! Pity that it didn't work out for you - but it looks as if it was knit with her in mind!
Posted by: monkee | August 07, 2005 at 09:06 PM
I am sorry you didn't get to keep it for you. But at least someone can wear it.
:)
Posted by: Micky | August 08, 2005 at 07:14 AM
Beautiful sweater and it looks great on your mom. Good job!
Posted by: Heather | August 08, 2005 at 09:41 AM
It looks great on your mom. Hope she doesn't take the whole "butterball turkey" thing too personally :)
Posted by: ck | August 08, 2005 at 12:05 PM
I'm sorry it didn't work out for you, but you're right that it is just perfect for your mom! It looks fab on her!
Posted by: wendy | August 09, 2005 at 09:14 AM
Awesome Job! Your mom looks so happy. :-)
Posted by: Elisabeth | August 09, 2005 at 10:23 PM
Looks great on your Mom!
Posted by: Gaile | August 10, 2005 at 12:15 AM
The Tivoli came out lovely! You should be proud! Your Mom looks fantastic in it!
Sometimes the yarn has a mind of it's own. I made this great tank which ended up fitting my sister to a tee instead of me.
Ruinwen
:)
Posted by: Ruinwen | August 10, 2005 at 06:26 AM
Tivoli looks fantastic on your mom. Now I hope you'll get more Shine and knit according to what you've learned about it and that pattern! You deserve something yummy for yourself. :)
Posted by: Karma | August 10, 2005 at 09:05 PM