Trying to keep up with regular life duties in addition to the added activities of summer, plus swatching and working out some new ideas for patterns is keeping me from doing as much personal knitting as I'd like, but I have managed to make some progress on my summer top mentioned in an earlier post.
So far the crocheted blocks have been arranged and joined, a contrasting crocheted band has been inserted, and the bodice has been picked up and knitted down to the hem.
When I picked up knit stitches around the yoke, I added some gathers for a bit of soft fullness in the bust, and added gentle waist shaping to allow for a comfortable, but body-skimming fit that remains figure-flattering.
Two rows of crocheted edgings have been worked around the inside of the neckline and I am now beginning the crocheted edging around the hem.
I was considering adding more blocks to the hem, but decided against this as I want the skirt of the bodice to have a lot of flow and drape, which blocks would have ruined. I do, however, wish the hem to have a bit of visual weight and some continuity with the yoke, so I'm experimenting this week with more contrast edging matching that in the yoke.
I like this little top as a camisole style as-is, but I don't know if I will wear it much this way, so I'm considering various sleeve options. For now I plan to finish the hem edging and add some sort of closure to the keyhole opening in the yoke, but I might leave it sleeveless just for now to see how I like it.
