Roland-designs.: Sibyl summer top by Alexandra G

Here is a little review of my latest knitting project.

I had wavered between starting on a more ‘winter’ type sweater, or cardigan, or a summer top. I’m a slow knitter, so I knew that if I wanted to knit a summer piece I would have to choose one that would knit up pretty quickly and wouldn’t be too fussy.

The design I settled on ( Sibyl ) was actually a suggestion that had come up on a knitting facebook group I follow. I purchased the pattern on Ravelry, and ordered the yarn - A cotton/linen mix by drops. Colour 11 – Beige.

Now, a little about the yarn – Drops Bomull-lin is a slightly dry, thick-ish type of yarn and the different fibers sort of separate easily – I rarely knit with anything other than wool, so I’m not an expert but I can imagine there are better quality linen/cotton mixes that are softer and more pliable, though you will never be able to beat the price of Drops yarn.

The pattern says to knit two pieces, a front and back which you then sew together. I hate thick seams, so I opted for knitting in the round and then working each lace panel on its own. I think this was actually a very good idea as the top is close fitting and a thick seam on the side would have been unseemly, bulky and uncomfortable.

Weaving in the loose ends was again a bit of a challenge, as unlike wool, cotton and linen does not eventually felt itself into the knitting – It sticks out, and can easily come apart. When the whole top had been knitted I carefully undid the regular knots, changed to a granny knot and weaved in the ends using this method: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p05xKbQ0-R0

About the patterns – Pretty straight forward, I knitted it in medium as I am a typical medium size (M or Scandinavian 38/EU 40), but though the top is nice and snug I would have preferred it a little looser – so think about that when knitting it is you are full at the bosoms, tall, want some wiggle room, or are a tight knitter, I would then suggest going a size higher.

Knitting in the round was great, and the lace part was not too difficult as long as you pay attention to the little box on the right hand side of the pattern which gives a good tip for matching up the lace strips. But, I would have wished for more detailed instructions for the lace bit as it came out slightly different on each side and was a little fiddly.

The pattern is available here on Ravelry: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/sibyl-4

Yarn bought here: www.garnbørsen.no