Finished Object: Waterlily

Pattern: Waterlily by Meghan Fernandes
Yarn: Quincy & Co Tern
Colours: Seaweed
Needles: 3.75 mm and 4mm Round Needle
Start of project: May 13, 2015
End of project: May 23, 2015

On Ravelry

I finished my Waterlily today. I knit it as part of the TTT KAL (Tops, Tanks and Tees) by Very Shannon. I had this T-shirt in my queue for a while because I really liked the pictures in PomPom Quarterly 8.

I am rather ambivalent about my version - there are things I really like but there are also a few things I am not wild about...

what I like:

• For this T-shirt I used my new Hiya Hiya interchangeables for the first time. They are really worth their money, the sharp points make it so easy to knit more than one stitch at the same time and they are very light. I am also very much in love with the beautiful little bag they came in.

• This was the first time I used Quincy and Co. I am very happy with the quality and the feeling of the Tern yarn I used, I will definitely use it again.

• I like the way the lace looks. I found the pattern rather difficult to get into at first but it turned out nicely and after a while I got into a good rhythmn. 

• I like the modifications I made. The extra 10 cm in length were totally needed, I am not sure if the waist shaping is very visible but I think it was good I added it and I like the deeper v-neck.

• I learnt three new techniques with this pattern.The first one was the Latvian Braid which I found very fiddly but I think it keeps the lace from falling apart. Then I knit my first v-neck ever (and I love v-necks ;-). Finding out the right spot of the pattern row after row and figuring out if I had the exact amount of stitches took a lot of counting. The last new thing for me was the back neckline band. Thanks to other knitters' notes I knew I had to alternate between k2tog and k3tog in order to avoid a wavey neck. I think it worked out well and I like the clever way it finishes the t-shirt. I think learning new stuff and having to use my brain is a great part of why I love knitting.

what I don't like:

• I wanted to do my Waterlily with stripes (a mix between Waterlily and the Regatta Tee) and for that I had ordered a second colour to go with the Seaweed. Unfortunately the two colours don't look well together, the Mist is too dark and it looked heavy and not at all like I had pictured it in my mind. 

• I am also not a huge fan of the Seaweed (for this particular t-shirt). It's a nice colour but it doesn't feel very summery and I am not sure if the colour suits me or if it washes me out. I wished I'd chosen either a much lighter colour or maybe petrol.

• I think it turned out rather big for me (especially around my belly). I like my t-shirts fitted and I was barely able to block the lace because it was already wide enough.

• While I was knitting it, I noticed that all the yarn ends and new beginnings were on one side. I was sure they were on my front, so I did half an extra row to move them to the back. Too bad that they somehow ended up in the front anyway which I only noticed when I tried it on after I had finished everything. Somehow knitting orientation is not my strong suit.

 

... on the needles in May ...