I’ve had the As If Tee (Ravelry link) by Shay Johnson (designer’s site) in the back of my mind for a while. As I was once again reviewing my stash, I discovered that I might have just the yarns that would work for the pattern… and that was the impetus to finally cast on, a mere 18 months after bookmarking.
Before purchasing, I looked at the pattern again, only to find that it called for aran weight and mohair lace. The yarn I had in mind for the body was finer than that… but luckily the As If Tee Lite (Ravelry link) was available!
You might remember me being excited to find Papatya Love yarn when I was making my Ship of Theseus cardigan. I bought a few shades at the time to get a perfect colour match with a Mandala cake, so a few skeins went into stash. That included 258g of teal (which is over 900 metres). Papatya Love is sold as DK weight and while I’ve found it to be lovely and fluffy and knittable on 4.5mm needles, for me it produces a loose, stretchy fabric that way. So when I saw that the As If Lite called for sport weight, I thought this was a great match.
I paired it with a dark teal Katia Sweet Lace (shade 17) that I bought myself on a trip to France five or six years ago. I had 105g of it – that’s a lot of yardage at 270 metres per 50g. So I was all set for yarn, all set for pattern, and good to go.
And *then* I saw that the pattern wanted me to work the sport weight on 4.5mm needles. As noted, the Papatya knits at that gauge just fine, but it’s looser than I wanted. So I went ahead and used a 4mm needle instead. Then, after casting on for a size 4, I found that it was a comfy fit for my hips but massive around the waist. So I threw in some waist shaping, too – decreasing by a total of 36 stitches, and increasing again my 32. So the bust ended up being a size 3 after all.
Different sizes suggest different lengths from end of the shaping to the top of the garment. I’ve gone with the size 3 length when working the back panel, and will match it in the front. Then I’ll pin the top seams and try it on. The lace will stretch out with wash and wear so I want to be cautious with the length there. Maybe I’ll also try some kind of short row arrangement (or something) to shape the neckline?
Once I’ve got that under control, and a sport weight collar added, I intend to further modify by adding full sleeves, in lace weight, finished with sport weight cuffs. The garment is still recognisably As If – just somewhat amended!
The Crafty Yarnster 