Deciduous

Deciduous
Pattern: Deciduous by Marnie Maclean
Yarn: Rowan Calmer (75% cotton, 25% acrylic. 175 yards) Exactly 2 skeins in color Laurel (474). Size 7 Addi Turbo circulars (24").
Gauge: 22 sts/4" in st st.
Finished size: Length - 12", Width at bust - 12" relaxed and laid flat.

Started: July 19, 2006
Finished: July 23, 2006

Notes:
Followed pattern exactly except omitted last 4 rows of chart and used 3 st i-cord for straps.

Discussion:
As I mentioned before, I absolutely loved working with Calmer. It couldn't be nicer stuff... so soft, so springy and the color is just so... calming. Which is good because right about now I about want to tear somebody's head off I'm so miserable from the heat. Anyway, I highly recommend the yarn, but it can take some getting used to to get a consistent gauge and the yarn has a tendency to split.

As for the pattern, who couldn't resist a pattern that calls for a measley 2 balls of yarn? Especially when the requested yarn is more than I'd usually pay for yarn and it magically appeared on sale right when I wanted it? Anyway, I was superpsyched to make a whole top for about $17... the only problem was the yarn shortage.

I'm not sure if my gauge was a bit off or what, but I most certainly ran out of yarn here. I started to panic as I was ending the chart and watching my ball of yarn dwindle down to nothingness. So I aborted the pattern 4 rows early in hopes of managing to get the back to stay up. Thankfully, I got to about here and weighed the remainder of my yarn. I decided to plow ahead and add straps using an i-cord instead and I even had a whole 1g of yarn leftover! If the i-cord straps didn't work out, I was planning on using a length of wide ribbon to hold the thing up. Honestly, the lacing appears to be what's holding the top up - not the straps - but I figured it'd look pretty dumb without any straps at all. I do absolutely love the back of this top. The pattern also gives alternate instructions for making a straight across high back. But the combination of the heat, my cheapness (I'd have to buy an extra ball for the high back), and DF's fondness for seeing my back made me give the low back a go.

All in all, I'd recommend the pattern for its simplicity, lightning quick finishing time, and super sexy (at least I think so) results. I might just warn those who are thinking of making the smallest size: buy 3 balls if you want wider straps or don't want to unravel your gauge swatch or want the last 4 rows of the chart I omitted. You could probably also omit a few rows at the beginning (I'd guess 5) to get away with 2 balls without making any other changes.

Next up: DF's zippered raglan is done!

Previous posts about this project:
Pictures galore! on July 21, 2006