Not A Shrug

There's a story behind the name of this sweater. I actually knit this as a shrug from a free pattern on Ravelry. It was knit from the top-down.  It had short sleeves and tied under the bust.  I think I wore it about 5 times.  It sat in my closet for over 5 years.  I would take it out and look at it, put it on, then take it off again.  If it`s hot enough for me to not be wearing sleeves it`s too hot to be wearing a shrug.

The yarn is Fleece Artist and I loved the colour so I decided to go on a mission to find a matching or coordinating yarn.  Last summer I went into Toronto to Romni Wool and I found this variegated yarn with the exact same colour blue in it!  I bought 2 skeins and ended up using 1 and half skeins.

I pulled out the edging with ties and and picked up the stitches. I did a few rows of alternating the 2 yarns then just used the variegated yarn.  At the bottom I used the lace pattern from the free Little Oaks shawl.

For the sleeves I ripped out the garter stitch cuff and then picked up the stitches and again alternated the 2 yarns for a few rows and then just decreased every 6 rows till the sleeves were as narrow as I wanted.  I did an i-cord bind-off using the solid blue to tie it all together.

I love it!  It fits perfect. It has long sleeves, which I love.  It will be a staple over these warmer months.  Sweaters really are my favourite thing to knit. This is sweater number 5 that I`ve knit this year! And off course I am wearing this sweater as part of the Me-made-May challenge as well.

Natalie Top take 2

I finished this top in the late fall, took pictures in the winter and I'm finally posting about it now!

The pattern is the Natalie top by Liola Patterns. It is available on the Indie Sew website.

I bought this fabric in the summer on my fabric expedition into Toronto.  I knew I wanted to make this top with it but I wanted to make another version first before I cut into this fabric. So I made a wearable muslin out of this blue fabric. I do wear this one but it wrinkles horribly quickly. The next one I made was this green one. You can read about it here.  I made the green one tunic length but over the winter I cut it off and hemmed it to be the same length as these ones.

For this version I cut a medium.  I shortened the opening at the top by 1 inch.  I also added some darts in the back to help with the fit. 

It's my favourite top I've ever made.  The fabric is so soft and the fit is just perfect.  Roomy enough to be comfortable all day and fitted enough to be flattering. I love it!  What is your favourite top pattern?