Meet Florence
Florence is finished, and she’s just lovely! We had our ups and downs, to be sure, but I’m glad that I persisted.
Thanks to David for the pictures. He has the patience of a saint!
Pattern: Florence, my own pattern
Size: 34″ bust, 32″ waist, 44″ at hips. 23.5″ total length, 4″ sleeve to underarm, 20″ sleeve at widest point.
Yarn: Habu Cotton Gima A-174, 1/8.5 (100 percent cotton, 265 yards per 1 oz. skein), color 23
Yardage: 3.5 skeins
Source: Kpixie
Needles: US5 bamboo straights and US4 bamboo circular (24″)
Gauge: 22.5 stitches and 32 rows = 4″ in stockinette stitch
Notes: This project began when the Design Workshop I belong to had a “linen stitch challenge,” for which we all tried to think of ways to incorporate linen stitch in a knitting design. This led to the creation of the Linen-Stitch Baby Tanks, Nicole’s linen-stitch heel on her Nine-to-Five Socks, and a fantastic design by Mel that will appear soon in MagKnits. It also inspired me to come up with a scheme for a summery top in Habu Cotton Gima that would have linen stitch edgings. Once I bought the yarn for the top and began swatching, however, I quickly figured out that linen stitch was not going to work. I set about trying to come up with another plan. Many swatches later, I decided to copy my favorite summer T-shirt. Here’s a sketch of what I was aiming for:
My plan worked about as well as such plans normally do — some elements of the original design are still present in the finished product, others didn’t work out, and still others I deliberately changed along the way. I scrapped the original sleeves, for example, once I saw how light and floaty the top was going to be, because it seemed to me that longer, floatier sleeves would work better with the design.
I’m calling this top “Florence” in honor of the Florence whose diary I recently featured here. You can read about her, and about the stages of knitting this project, in the Adventures of Florence category. I can’t say whether or not Florence would have worn a garment like this, or would have liked it, or even whether she was a knitter — but I can say that wearing this top will always make me think of her fondly.
And Now For a Contest!
I would very much like to write up the pattern for Florence and make it available for free to anyone who would like to knit it. This will be easy enough to do for the size I actually made, but I find it challenging to size patterns up and down for others. Sizing guidelines only take me so far; at a certain point, I have trouble trusting that the measurements I’m using for bodies other than my own are going to fit a real human person. Here’s where you come in: I’d like to collect some measurements from different bodies, and a contest seems like a good way to go about it. If you’d like to enter, all you have to do is answer, to the best of your ability, four questions in the comments, as follows:
(1) What size bust do you usually make for a knitted garment (assuming no positive or negative ease)?
(2) What size is your waist?
(3) What is the best-fitting knitted garment you have made, and what did you like about the construction?
(4) When you knit a garment or purchase a ready-made garment from the store, what do you usually have to alter or avoid?
Additional comments/observations about your personal sizing dilemmas are welcome.
If you’ve never knit a garment but would still like to participate, you can do so by measuring your best-fitting existing sweater or other garment. Just to be fair, here are my answers:
(1) 34″ bust.
(2) About 30-31″.
(3) Jess by Anna Bell. I made it with several inches of negative ease (rather accidentally), but it’s very stretchy, and the fit is quite flattering.
(4) In knitted garments, I often make the armholes shallower and the arms shorter. I have to avoid any bust-shaping in a ready-made garment; I don’t have the bust to fill it out.
I am basically a fairly easy size to fit — which might explain why I have trouble figuring out how to fit garments for other people.
I’m going to keep the contest open until August 12, when I get back from vacation. At that point, I’ll randomy choose the name of a winner, who will recieve a gift certificate to Kpixie that will allow them to purchase enough Habu Cotton Gima to make their own Florence top. (Of course, the winner may choose to buy something else with the gift certificate. That’s between them and Kpixie.) I will also write a version of the pattern sized to fit the winner.
I’m off to Vermont to ride my bicycle around the Green Mountains with my husband, my parents, and one of my brothers. Have fun with those measuring tapes!
July 31st, 2007 at 9:57 am
Florence is lovely! I love the light floaty sleeves, it really shows that you were thinking about the properties of the yarn when you designed the sweater.
My answers:
1) 43″ bust
2) 36″ waist
3) My best-fitting finished object is Glasgow Lace. I added waist shaping and bottom ribbing that weren’t originally in the pattern. The three-quarter length sleeves masked a difficult issue for me in general, getting sleeves the right length.
4) I am 5′8″ tall, and my arms are correspondingly longer than average. I routinely add length to both the sleeves and bodies of garments.
Have fun in Vermont!
July 31st, 2007 at 10:57 am
(1) 38″
(2) 28-1/2″
(3) Unfortunately, socks, not a sweater. Love the heel flap construction.
(4) I avoid short row heels and raglan sleeves (don’t like droopy looking shoulders).
July 31st, 2007 at 11:12 am
Florence looks great! Let’s see…
1) 33″ (but nobody ever seems to do 33,” so I usually make the 32″)
2) 28″
3) My apricot jacket. I love the interesting construction, it fits just right, and I made it in a practical color that goes with everything!
4) I usually have to add a couple of inches to the length of most sweaters since I’m tall (and things still come out too short. *sigh*)
have a great time on your trip!
July 31st, 2007 at 12:10 pm
I love your Florence, beautiful job.
I tend to be pretty tricky to fit - waist and hips are in one size range, bust is in a whole different stratosphere. Add to it that I am *very* shortwaisted, with long arms, and that just complicates things further!
1) 38″
2) 28-29″
3) My Sandra Sweater, though it’s not a good sizing reference because I had to cut it to fit. It has a little ease in the bust now, but not much.
4) I generally have to fit my bust and then make the waist smaller to give it some definition, otherwise it gets lost in my shortwaisted-ness; also often have to subtract a couple inches from the torso and sometimes add an inch to the arms.
Have a great time in VT - what an awesome trip
(I will be there next week too! I can’t wait!)
July 31st, 2007 at 1:04 pm
What a beautiful design!
(1) 30″
(2) 29″
(3) The best-fitting knitted garment I have ever made is…well…a hat for my daughter. I’ve had some trouble getting sweaters to fit just right. Because I have long arms, I have a pathological fear of knitting too-short arms…so they’ve tended to end up a bit too long! I’m about to start a sweater (my first for myself!) and hope to get the measurements right this time.
(4) I have trouble finding garments that are small enough for my torso but with sleeves long enough for my arms.
Have a wonderful time in Vermont! I’m heading up there myself in a few days, and can hardly wait to get up there!
July 31st, 2007 at 10:24 pm
WOW- what a beautiful lightweight graceful sweater. Thank you so much for sharing the pattern though for now I am too obsesse with writing bag patterns and trying to get published. I am envious of your publishing sucess and wish you future sucess. WOuld love any tips on getting Knitty’s attention. Also is Ok if I mention this pattern in my She-Knits podcast ?
Sharon
sdreifuss(AT)msn(DOT)com
August 1st, 2007 at 8:15 am
I am sure the real Florence would have been thrilled with her namesake! Beautiful sweater.
Let’s see
Bust 38″
There is plenty of info around on how to do it, but I am in a sock and lace phase.
Waist 29″
Rarely make sweaters for me since I am too lazy to figure out the accommodations for large bust.
My best fitting sweater is commercially made, and has some negative ease.
I think there are some standard sizing things around—and the style of this sweater would lend itself to easy adjustments on the part of a knitter such as lengthening the torso or adding short row shaping for the bust.
Also, what are the characteristics of the yarn as knit –stretchy, clingy, drapey, etc.
Have a great vacation.
Kathleen
August 2nd, 2007 at 5:10 am
My Answers:
1. 38″ bush
2. 34″ waist
3. My best fit was from Japel’s Fitted Knits. The ribbing in most of her patterns makes for mindless shaping. I would, however like to find a summer pattern that has extra ease and it nice and drapy, yet with a shape to it!
4. I have to watch two things- length, as I’m 5′9″ and not a fan of my post childbirth stomach being displayed; and armhole depth- I have very wide shoulders, which tends to eat up any ease for armholes. Nothing I hate more than a sweater that is tight in the armpit area.
August 2nd, 2007 at 9:52 am
I just love it. It is gourgess. I’m not going to enter the contest because i never did something to wear. But i’m thinking of starting to think about that.
Too many thinks
August 3rd, 2007 at 8:07 am
Florence is very pretty, well done!
Well, I shall answer as best I can, although since I’ve recently lost quite a bit of weight, I’m not so familiar with my own body as I used to be, which is a weird concept, but true at the moment.
1)40″
2)32″
3) Forecast by Stephanie Japel, though more by accident than design. When I finished it, it was a little too tight (when I started I was a 44″ bust and made it to have 0 to 1″ negative ease.) but once I’d lost a little weight, it fitted beautifully for about a month. Now it’s far too big. I also got about halfway through another of her patterns, Angelina, which was fitting well, until I lost weight and decided I didn’t like the neckline, so I’m going to frog it. Both are top-down raglans, so they’re easy to try on as you go along.
4) I’m taller than average, so in making tops for myself, have to lengthen the back neck to waist length by at least 1″, and sleeves by 1-2″. I also almost always add bust shaping, unless it’s something very boxy, which I probably wouldn’t make anyway because it wouldn’t suit my shape.
August 3rd, 2007 at 8:22 am
Not that i dont appreciate your blog but i someho wam getting e-mialed everytime someone leaves a comment for you. I guess I inadvertently subscribe???Don’t take this the wrong way however I am not subscribed to anyones blog and would like to knowhow to unsubscribe. I still think your design is great and do plan on mentioning it in my podcast.
Thanks,
Sharon
August 3rd, 2007 at 5:27 pm
Love the color, and the drape of the sleeves is particularly nice. Well done!
August 4th, 2007 at 6:58 pm
Oh goodie! I LIKE Florence!
(1) What size bust do you usually make for a knitted garment (assuming no positive or negative ease)? My bust measurement is 37 1/2″, so assuming no ease at all, likely a 38
(2) What size is your waist? 27:
(3) What is the best-fitting knitted garment you have made, and what did you like about the construction?
Sahara — but I modified it a lot! I put in horizontal short row darts at the bust to accommodate the extra inches for the extra length that exists there, and I adapted the waist darts that were already there to fit MY measurements.
(4) When you knit a garment or purchase a ready-made garment from the store, what do you usually have to alter or avoid?
I avoid drop shoulders like the plague. If I knit one, I typically have to add short rows at the bust, unless its a very loose fitting garment. Sometimes I have to either add width (or subtract some at the waist). I also sometimes have to adjust for my short waist.
Additional comments/observations about your personal sizing dilemmas are welcome.
I tend to like tailored things, not baggy things….
August 6th, 2007 at 5:38 pm
1. 34″
2. 26.5
3. Fiery Bolero from Intereweave Knits. It’s hard to go wrong with a shrug, but I liked the one piece construction. It forced me to improve my purling on circulars.
4. I avoid boxy shapeless garments. I almost always have to hem pants/skirts/dresses. For tailored tops I have to make sure there’s enough room in the shoulder and bust.
August 6th, 2007 at 10:48 pm
What a lovely top, in a gorgeous colour. I like how its fits you!
1) Chest: 40″ is the finished size I make, if available, for my 38″ waist
2) Waist: er, um, okay, well…. 30″ (it’s going to be less very soon, though, I assure you ;)!
3) Best fitting garments I have knit: Rogue by girlfromauntie.com and cul de sac vest by Elsebeth Lavold in Knitter’s (both had waist shaping which made a world of difference to the fit)
4) I usually have to alter the length of readymade trousers because they are too long for my petite height (5′4″) and petite sizes usually too tight for my not-so-petite frame.
5)I have learnt to avoid boxy, straight garments, knit or not-knit. My earlier philosophy was that if it’s baggy it will hide my lack of good curves but now I realise that it makes them worse.
August 9th, 2007 at 3:21 pm
I’ve already raved about Florence, but she’s still fab!
1. 34″
2. 28″
3. Unhelpfully, a shrug. I know, that’s just a pair of sleeves connected, but I find shrugs very figure flattering. In general, I like a fitted waist, not too short, and most especially something fitted at the back. I have a thing for that dip from a woman’s back to waist and then the curve back out, as viewed in profile, and think any garment that hides it ought to be taken out and shot.
4. I carefully avoid things that are bulky in the waist, like those appalling sweater/dress things in bulky yarn which appear in Vogue Knitting all too frequently and make even the 6-foot twig models look elephantine.
Note to She-Knits: I think you must have checked the ‘notify me of followup comments’ option. It should apply only to comments on this entry.
August 11th, 2007 at 11:19 pm
1) My bust is 41″, but I don’t see that as an option very often. I think the bust of my favourite sweater is 40″
2) 34″.
3) I’m a fairly new knitter and I haven’t knit any garments other than hats and socks (which, after my first few attempts, I’ve been pretty happy with). My best-fitting knitted garment is a commercially-made sweater which is fitted but not tight at the bust and looser but not bulky at the waist, which somehow seems to minimize my bust without being too boxy. It also has nice long arms.
4) I have trouble buying garments with long enough arms and wide enough shoulders. Sometimes the torso is also too short. I tried to correct these problems by buying men’s clothing, but then the chest is too small.
August 23rd, 2007 at 3:00 pm
What a pretty top! Please come join us at habu kal if you get the chance. we would love to hear your experience working with habu gima cotton.