Josephinished!

I am thrilled with my Josephine Top. This is probably my most fitting-est knit to date, and maybe the fussiest, too. And it turned out exactly as I'd hoped it would. Yay!

Pattern: Josephine Top from the summer 2007 Interweave Knits
Size: 40.5 inch bust (2.5 inches of ease)
Yarn: Pingouin Transat (50% cotton/50% acrylic), colour 25
Needles: 3.75mm circular; 3.25mm circular (for armhole edge only)


It was not terribly difficult to knit this, but the finishing was time-consuming -- I probably spent as much time finishing as I did knitting the front and back pieces. Hey, I'm primarily a sock knitter, so things like picking up precisely 68 stitches around the neck opening takes me forever. But now that it's done, it was well worth the fuss. I'm pleased with how this fits me. I'm also very pleased that I've used the four balls of Pingouin Transat that I bought last year at Value Village for $5.99! Woot!


(My awesome bakelite necklace was made by PetitOiseau -- my fault it's hanging all crooked in these shots, not hers!)

I love the textured stitch pattern in the top half of Josephine: the little purl bumps amid the stockinette are a really nice detail. I also love the little cap sleeves, which fit really well thanks to some short rows. The moss stitch on the sleeves echoes the moss stitch (with eyelets) in the bottom half of the top. It's a clever pattern, and I didn't change a thing. Several people who have knit this have replaced the knitted cord with ribbon, and I considered that, too, because I thought the pattern called for i-cord, and that would be insane. But no, for the cord you just cast on a few hundred stitches and then bind them off. Easy, and I like the result (although I may have gone too light on the steam, as the cord still looks a little curly).


So there you have it: my new BFF, Josephine. Good timing, too, since it's not super warm here these days.

Enjoy your weekend. I'm going to try a little handquilting -- wish me luck with the rocking stitch!