FO: Summer Chevron Top

I pretty much fell in love with Debbie Bliss' Striped Chevron Top the moment I clapped eyes on the pattern in This is Knit earlier this year. 

Unusually, I not only bought the pattern but also the yarn used in the pattern - Debbie Bliss Rialto Lace. When it comes to knitting yarn I tend to be a substituter - I very rarely buy the yarn specified in the pattern, tending to swap it out for another option of the saw weight. Sometimes, this is to use up something already in my stash, sometimes it is s a question of the specified wool not being available and, sometimes it is a question of price. My knitting bff T is very much on the other side; she nearly always buys the wool used in the pattern, something I have been know to tease her about. I'm slowly bringing her over to the dark side of yarn substitution :)

Anyway, back to this pattern. I had a couple of problems with the pattern, but these were all my own fault and not that of the pattern.

On the plus side; I love the finished top, which is the main thing. The wool is beautiful, soft and lovely to knit, and I love the colours.

On the negative side; I started this knit when we went on holiday in May. It was last minute holiday, and I had less than 12 hours to do my packing, and pick my vacation knitting. I really wanted to start this top but I didn't have the correct size needles, so I went up size. This caused my tension to be a little off, and I tried to compensate for this by going down a size on the pattern. Result? I had to cast this on three times before I got the size right - Argh! Also, because of the chevrons you have to knit quite away before you get an accurate impression of the size the final piece will be - double Argh!

Having finally sorted out the sizing issues I hit a bit of a snag with what is a very simple pattern. The first band of colour at the bottom of the top is 12 rows of the pattern in garter stitch (all knit rows) - no problem there. Then the pattern switches to 8 rows of the pattern in stocking stitch (alternate knit and purl rows) in each colour - hum - seems I missed that instruction. I was still happily garter stitching when I reached the instructions for shaping the arms and was instructed to finish with a purl row - ah, what? I did have any purl rows!?! As this was my third attempt at the top and I had knitted nearly half of it I decided to keep going with the garter stitch. It produced a different texture to the fabric and I probably had to knit more rows to get the same length, but I do love the result.

My final hurdle with this pattern came with sewing it up, my least favorite part of any project. The pattern is knitted flat and has to be sewn together at the end, and because of the colour changes there are so many freaking ends to sew it. I have to confess that I finished knitting this three weeks ago but only summoned up the energy to sew it together this weekend.

Aside from the problems I created for myself and if you read it properly, the pattern is very easy and the result it great. I made the top the length given in the pattern and possibly it could do with being a little bit longer - or I need to get some higher waist jeans

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