This weekend we had family in town so in between my GRE studying (I hate geometry) and riding around with my mother-in-law and brother-in-law I got to sneak in a little knitting on my custom tee. We did take them to the National Harbor for dinner and took a ride on the Capital Wheel. The view from the glass gondolas is always so gorgeous.
I’ve been getting more comfortable with custom knit creations after my first custom cardigan and then my cape, So I decided a while ago to work on a summer tee for myself. I bought an inexpensive bag of 1 pound of cotton yarn mill ends from AC Moore and made a gauge swatch and started making myself a circular yoke tee.
This is my green tee in progress. I’d slowly do a couple of rows every other week when another project would get a bit mundane but I’ve finally gotten to the body of this baby and I’m excited to get it off my needles. I’ve worked beyond this point in the picture and am now doing increases and think I might want to do a split hem with curved front and back panels courtesy of some short row shaping. I’m a little inspired by this newly released pattern:
Sheltered by Andrea Mowry is a cool looking poncho but I really love the split hem and want to see if I can do something similar. I’m using this tee to test myself. So far the fit is pretty good (I’m hoping it doesn’t stretch too much with blocking) and I think if I make this in a tunic length it will be even cuter when layered with a long sleeve tee in the fall. I told you this year was about not being afraid to try new stuff, so I’m plugging away at learning how to make more things for myself because my goal of having a closet full of hand knit sweaters is very attainable. Although I may put this aside to whip up a bulky knit for my cousin!
So what are you knitting that’s pushing your limits?
Yards of Happiness 
Awesome! It is coming along beau-ti-fully!!! 🙂
I’m so impressed! I’ve never done a round yoke like this. Does it fit the shoulders without puckering across the front? How do you calculate size?
(About geometry: if you can imagine using it to chart a sweater pattern, it will be less horrible!)
If you look at my Madigan sweater, that’s a circular yoke so you can see how it fits. I’ve heard people with narrow shoulders don’t like the fit but I feel fine with it. And I use a sweater construction book to help with the math based on my gauge and size!
Just checked the Madigan, which fits you to perfection. I do have narrow shoulders, I guess… but my complaint with machine-knit commercial yoked sweaters has been that they tend to be too tight in the shoulders, so maybe I just need to try making one and see how it works out. Would you be willing to share which sweater construction book you use? I’ve got a set of size 2 to 52 raglan patterns that I’ve carried around for years, but I’m ready to try out some of the interesting new methods of construction that you show here on your blog.
You’ll want to read this post for what I use: Stitching Status: Distractions & My Design | Yards of Happiness
https://yardsofhappiness.com/2016/04/11/stitching-status-distractions-my-design/ this my favorite book to use and I draw out patterns and take notes in my notebook! And look for a free circular yoke pattern on Ravelry too to try something simple.
Wonderful! Thank you so much!