I should have ripped it back, a lesson learned

Today, a gorgeous sunny Sunday here in Kent, I am wearing a cotton summer top I knitted last year.  I loved the cotton I knitted with (Paintbox DK from Loveknitting.com). When the back and front were finished I sewed it together and finished the armholes and neck.  The neck looked awful, lumpy and bumpy, not a good finish! It is often more difficult to get a neat finish with a cotton or cotton mix, based on past experience. I added some extra rows and attempted to make the neck edge roll back on itself to neaten it up.  I had an idea that if I added a lace trim it would enhance the neck and be a ‘feature’.  I should have ripped it back there and then but I didn’t.

So I tried the top on ….

I have no idea why I waited until the final furlong.  It fits badly.  It is too snug in places, but too wide across the shoulders and chest (think of me as a lumpy triangle, narrow on the top, getting wider across the bottom (!).  This is not a flattering photo, deliberately to show off a bad knit, ha ha! It’s the top’s first foray into the limelight. I am wearing it with some fabric shorts I sewed in February this year (love the shorts and they fit well). I have just been in my garden enjoying the sunshine. I could have gifted this top straight away to someone else or to a charity shop, however I decided to wear it and work out exactly what I shall change when I made Version 2.  Such an easy knit.  Such a dumb mistake.  I have plenty more yarn to make a different size or a striped one, minus the lace, with a different neck finish.  Wish me luck!