Juliet

After finishing the Tangled Yoke Cardigan last night, I was inspired to drag some of my other unfinished pieces out of my knitting basket. This resulted in a second finished knit, Juliet. And I’m reporting on it first, mostly because I actually wore Juliet today and took pictures – it’s been way too hot for a wool cardigan!

Juliet by Zephyr Style knit from Elann Den-m-knit {More}

Modifications: Many. First of, I knit this with a DK/worsted weight yarn rather than a bulky yarn, resulting in a very different gauge. I knit the XL aiming for the size of the S, but probably ended up with something closer to the M or L. I continued the garter stitch for a few rows after joining under the arms and didn’t do as many increases for the lace section. I also made it much shorter, mostly because I ran out of yarn.

I finished knitting this weeks ago, but put it aside because I thought it was much too big. I wasn’t very careful with my yarn substitution and gauge and I ended up with a garment that was much bigger than I was planning for. I had been aiming for a bust measurement of about 34-35 inches because I’d read that this pattern looked best when knit slightly smaller than a traditional sweater pattern. My Juliet measured 40 inches across.

When I picked it up again yesterday I was planning on doing some surgery. But I tried it on and I realized that despite the 4 inches of positive ease, it fit well, which I’m going to chalk up to using a smaller yarn. It’s a little bit baggy under the arms, but I’m okay with that.

My other mods were to reduce the voluminous silhouette.While I like empire waists that are fitted below the bust, I’m not a big fan of the “sack” look that’s so popular lately. Since this is cut across the bust rather than under it, I decided to do less increases after the yoke. I think this was a good call since it looks much less like a tent, especially since the yoke itself was much bigger than I was expecting. I think the very cropped look also helps with this, even if that was mainly because I ran out of yarn. While I like it cropped, I don’t really like the proportions I ended up with. The lace and yoke sections are pretty much the same length and I feel that the lace panel should be longer than the garter stitch. But that’s just me being picky!

Altogether, I’m pretty happy with this knit, even if I really don’t know what to wear with it. The stripy top was the best thing in my wardrobe, even if it’s about 5 years old and not particularly flattering. Most of my plain tops are black, which doesn’t really work with the navy blue (even if I’m a big fan of throwing fashion rules about what colours not to wear together out the window). I’m not sure how flattering it is, but it’s very cute. I love garter stitch with the lace panel, the swingy-ness and asymmetrical buttons. And I love the buttons I chose. Pretty, no?

Finally, I have to say something about the yarn. I really liked it, even though it stained my hands terribly. It’s already started fading in places, which I think really adds to the character of the fabric, especially with something as simple as garter stitch. I think it worked really well in this pattern. It’s cotton, so it’s heavy and “swingy” which this garment really needs, but it doesn’t add alot of bulk – unlike some of the other Juliets I’ve seen.

And sorry about the headless shots! I was using the self-timer and I actually tried to include my face, but then the camera ran out of batteries!