Sassy classy crop top - Celeste Blue Ver.
On this page 8 sections
Project recap
- Ravelry: PurringYarn’s Sassyclassycroptop - Celeste Blue Ver.
- Time spent: 41 hours
- Yarn: Loveyarn 回归线 絮语（天青）
- Needle: US 3/3.25mm
- Duration: -
- Pattern: Sassyclassycroptop by Ann-Kathrin Stoll
The design
I wanted to knit a summer rib top and was struggling between this and Mixed Rib Cami. Eventually I selected this one because the turtle neck design reminded me of the black top Haibara(灰原哀) was wearing when she first appear in Detective Conan which I thought it looks extremely effortlessly chic.
Size
The yarn is a silk/merino mix and it’s very fine, appx. thread or lace weight. Therefore I have to knit while holding two strands together. Though I’ve knitted the swatch, I’m not sure about the gauge as it’s in ribbing. The pattern simply says “wash and blocked”, how it’s blocked? No stretch? Lightly stretch? I asked in the comment but no reply from the designer. Unhappy and still get no answer, I just go with the smallest size as my usual and hope for the best. After finishing the neck and shoulder, I found my neck can squeeze in but felt it’s too small. Also I’m not happy with the crocheted cast on edge and tension so decided to unravel and start over with size XS.
I’m knitting the no-cutout version.
Modifications
The pattern made me very confused in the no-cutout section. When it says “After the last round you need to p1,k3.” and I thought it was referring to pattern stitch which does not make much sense so I ignored it. Later on I realized it meant I need to work “p1, k3” before starting the Back section. Well, technically it was not incorrect but I definitely won’t write this way if I was the designer. This instruction should be either move to the start of the Back section, or make more clarification by adding “before turning to WS”.
Because of this misunderstanding, my stitch count of Front/Back was 4 stitches off. Not a bit deal for me so I just wing it by few stitch increase on the side to make it fit the stitch pattern.
- Cast on: German Twisted cast on
- Bind off: Jenny’s Interlock bind off
100 ways of ribbing
100 is an exaggeration but I did try few different ways of ribbing: Eastern knitting with continental, Eastern knitting with flicking, and Combination knitting. This is solely because I got so bored during the endless 2x1 ribbing.
I noticed lots of people mistake combination knitting with Eastern knitting. As far as I read from Paty Lion’s book, Easter knitting use Eastern knit and Easter purl which both wrap the yarn clockwise (aka the “wrong” way), resulting Eastern mount after a knit or purl stitch with the leading leg in the back. While in combination knitting, knit stitch is wrapping counterclockwise (aka the “normal” way) and only the purl is wrapped clockwise, so the purl stitch would be in Eastern mount.
After some experiment, I found that my tension looks the best when I’m doing Eastern knitting (with flicking). When knitting combination, it feels very smoothly but somehow the visible V do not look THAT consistent comparing to the Eastern. Below picture shows how I switched differnt methods throughout the project.
Combination knitting is popular, obviously because lots of people hate purling. I’m not particularly in that group any more and I think I’ve conquered purling long time ago by practicing, regardless of continental or flicking. Actually I’ve tried combination in continental in the past and honestly I didn’t really get it at the time. So, my intension is not making purling easier, I just want to try some new ways to make this project more fun.
Knitting in Eastern, however, is a completely different experience. Because I have to wrap the yarn in the “wrong” way in knit stitch as well, it feels very, very differnt. I think my knit stitches tend to be slightly tighter, which can explain why the ribbing overall looks better comparing to other methods. However, while I like the result, after weighing the convenience vesus the outcome, I don’t think it worth the effort, because whenever I tried to get to the speed my yarn wrapping in knit stitch would easily come off so I cannot reach to the speed I want.
Final thoughts
Though I have few opions about the pattern writing and still not happy that my question got ignored, I really like the final object. I love, love this colour so much! The cable on the shoulder adds the subtle details to this beauty and this top suits so well for my both work and casual outfit. Love the shaping too. I won the yarn chicken by just having tiny bit of yarn which is not even enough for a round, and the top is at the exact right amount of length that I hoped for. Yay!
Project timeline
- – Cast on.
- - Start over. Not quite happy with the tension and how the tight the collar is.
- - Bind off and block.
New techniques learned
Knitting journal
Finished the turtle neck part. I’m not a big fan of the pattern writing to be honest. Some part reads very confusing. For example:
- the Round 1 and 2 mark in the Shoulder section is not clearly marked in standard round number.
- although I understand how it works, technically it is incorrect to start a new row with “M1R-P” before the EOR marker should I follow exactly as the pattern suggested
- as far as I understand, the 3rd row after finishing row 1 and row 2 should be a repeat of row 2 in order to maintain the rib patter. However, the notation of “Repeat the 2. round one more time” is not clear and could be interpret as repeat both rows.
And I didn’t even mention the gauge. I asked in the comment about the gauge instruction - what exactly mean by washed & blocked since it’s a rib gauge. No response after a week. I’m losing patience now. I don’t feel it is a polished, publish-readiness pattern. Honestly? At this point I feel I can do much better than many designers I’ve knitted, given my trained clear communications skills at work. Well, from this perspective the pattern is a confidence booster. I really need to think about that.
- 22 days later
It has been a while since the last time I worked this due to needle shortage, which is unbelievable cuz I have two “complete” knitting needle sets. Anyways I checked the work and determined to unravel them when I’m ready. I’m not quite happy with the cast on edge, which looks too prominent (think I used crochet cast on for this? or maybe German twisted?). Probably change to a rib cast on in the next try. Another reason is the fit is a bit too tight - I can squeeze it in but ideally it shouldn’t not this tight. I believe unravelling would be the wise choice.
- 6 days later
Well, I have to say this colour is lovely. My ribbing tension is ridiculously good after switching to Eastern knitting to work on the back section which requires me to work k2p1 rib on flat. Because this yarn doesn’t have much stretch, the ribbing can look very wonky. Could the neat ribbing a result of me knitting tighter? I don’t have the answer right now but at least for this top, I’ll stick with Eastern knitting. It takes longer but the result is definitely worth it.
Another issue is - I’m running out of yarn!! The remaining of two skeins I have for holding together are 64-12(cone)=52g, and I only have another 50g ball. The pattern said 100g/466m, well… I don’t think so. I think it’ not enough but I also don’t know how much I need, and the last thing I want is to have another extra stash. I’ll see how much I left once I joining front and back and then calculate.
- 6 days later
Done! It’s blocked beautifully. I love the colour of my choice - it looks fabulous in this ribbing design. So chic! The cable details at the shoulders is a really nice touch too, simple yet elegant.
If I had to pick anything, I wish the shoulder could be a bit wider, which would look more flattering given that I don’t have a straight shoulder line. Overall I’m very happy with it and it has the perfect negative ease I’m looking for.
From the knitting circle
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