Finished Object: Monica
Boy, am I tired of knitting baby tops! But Monica is finished, and she’s a keeper.
Pattern: Monica by Christine Schwender, Spring 2007 Knitty
Size: Children’s 2 (21-inch chest)
Yarn: Knit Picks Shine Sport in blush, grass, orchid, and green apple
Yardage: An unknown quantity of leftovers
Yarn Source: Knit Picks
Needles: US size 8 circular
Gauge: 20 sts and 26 rows = 4 inches in St st
Notes: I enjoyed this pattern a great deal. It was quick, and it came out well. I recognize that the colors I used for the stripes are a little . . . unorthodox. At first, I wasn’t sure they were really going to work together, and David was even less sure. But I persevered, and I’m happy with them.
I only made a few modifications to the pattern: First, I did the body in stripes, since this project was designed to use up leftovers, and I didn’t have enough of any color to do a solid body. Second, I joined the straps together with a three-needle bind-off, because I thought binding each three-stitch strap off and then seaming them together sounded insane. (And when I tried it, it looked awful.) And third, I added a couple extra rows of garter stitch at the bottom hem, because I didn’t trust that two ridges would be sufficient to keep it from curling. This worked, but I should have done the same thing on the ruffle, which curls more than I’d like. Ah well, it’s a ruffle. Who says it has to look perfect?
Now I can send the two little tops off to the little megatwins, ensuring that they will be properly outfitted for summer garden parties, and I can turn my attention to other projects. Like, say, the Tedium Bathmat, which I have been ignoring for a few days. I’m in the home stretch, but I haven’t been able to bear looking at it of late.
I have made a pact with Mr. Bathmat that he will be finished before May is out, and I must, therefore, get to work.
May 7th, 2007 at 3:41 pm
i didn’t give that pattern a second glance when it came out, but you’ve changed my mind! It’s much cuter in wild summer colors, and in cotton.
May 7th, 2007 at 6:22 pm
I also didn’t notice that pattern in knitty and I abslutely love your version!
May 7th, 2007 at 7:10 pm
Hi…Christine here…designer of Monica. I always love to see what people do when they make it their own…and I absolutely love what you’ve done with the Monica top!!! It looks gorgeous and the colors work beautifully!!! Bravo…bravo!!! I agree with the curling on the bottom, but after a few washes (and I speak from alot of experience having knit about 7 of them), it flattens out completely — so don’t worry about the ruffle edge. And the only reason I didn’t three needle bind off the strap is because it disrupted the garter pattern of the strap. So when I did three needle bind off (I too agree that it is too much work to bind off and then seam - and I’m all about less work when it comes to finishing) it seemed like there was a stockinette row in between. And I couldn’t get around that. So I just went with the straight up seaming!
Thanks for knitting Monica…it looks so adorable!!!
May 7th, 2007 at 8:37 pm
Man I love this. I am so excited to finish hubby’s Wallaby so I can work on Monica. The stripes look great. Way to go.
May 7th, 2007 at 9:28 pm
It’s very pretty! I like the mixing up of colours and stripes. I have some cotton fleece that I could dig out for something like this, actually. And the ruffle is very cute!
May 8th, 2007 at 6:32 am
Simply adorable! I love this little baby top!! Great colors too
May 11th, 2007 at 2:01 pm
Ruth, i think the colors are great.
cute top, and with those colors it looks alive.