WIP Update: Elvira

Elvira has completely consumed me. I just can't stop thinking about her. All I want to do is sit down with her and knit. I am determine to finish this project before the month is over and I have a feeling that I'll be able to get it done sooner than planned.

Even though the pattern and the stitches are super easy, I was still managing to screw it up every 3rd row. And I discovered that the "extra stitch" that I would sometimes get at the end of some rows wasn't an extra stitch after all. It was actually me forgetting to either yarn over at some point, or I had knitted an extra 'k2tog'. This isn't a pattern in which you can forget it and just add an extra stitch here and there, cause the eyelet design can look severely demented. So I would always go back and fix it. It seriously feels like for every 3 rows I knit, I mess up on at least one of them. I think this top would have been completely knitted up already if I just paid more attention and not screw it up so much.

I finally figured out the joining of the back part too. I did what I thought was right, and at first I second guessed it cause the join looked very loose. But after a few more rows the join looked ok. I still might go over it with some scrap yarn at the end to tighten things up a bit. I might also have to do that with the eyelet pattern at the bottom of the armholes too. One of the sides look very loose, while the other looks fine.

At one point I somehow managed to drop the working needle and drop what I thought was one stitch. After some calculations and knitting a row, I discovered that I had actually dropped 2 stitches! Yeah, I did a lot of cursing. And of course those dropped stitches just happened to be in the eyelet part, and so I spent a good portion of time trying to fix it. It looks like crap, very noticeable...to me of course. I'm hoping that since it's in the back and where my hair would technically fall over it that maybe no one will notice it. I'm also hoping that by the time I finished knitting this that I will forget about it. I put a stitch marker on that part, don't ask why, especially if I want to forget about it. But so far, I have to say that it doesn't look that bad. And if I block that part a bit I'm sure it'll all work out. You can see in the photo above where I marked the botched up spot. Don't ask why I'm telling you this either.

At the moment the top looks a bit on the smaller size, which is weird considering that this is the medium. But when I tried it on it had fit perfectly. I think if the band was any wider it would fit funny on my petite shoulders. For a while there I had thought that the design in the top band wasn't that noticeable, not like in the photo of the pattern. But I think after I get some weight at the bottom of it, the top band will stretch out a bit and show more of the hole-y design.

I did a dance of joy 2 days ago when I finally got to the underarm part. I knew that once I got the front and back joined up that I would be on the home stretch. Like the Thermis project, I learned a new way of casting on stitches. On Thermis I learned how to do a backwards loop cast-on for 4 stitches, on Elvira I learned how to do the cable cast-on for the armholes. The latter is definitely a nicer looking and tighter, yet still stretchy, kind of cast-on. Yay for learning new things!

And so, all that is left is knitting up the rest of the body to the length I want, then finishing up the hem. I would like to say it's easy peasy from hereon in, but knowing my luck, I'll probably find a way to mess up royally somehow. Not to mention that I'm still working with teeny, tiny yarn here. Which means working up a few rows takes me a while. But that might change now that I'm working in the round and don't have to do anymore purling! Woot woot! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that by the time the weekend is over, I'll be able to say that I'm almost, if not completely, finished!!

Wish me luck! 'Til then, happy knitting!