My New Hand Knit Cotton Top

I finally finished it!  This camisole top took three 50 ounce balls of cotton boucle yarn.  Actually, after this picture was taken, I decided the top was shorter than I wanted, so I spent most of the weekend knitting a three-inch extension (140 stitches).  I used a seed stitch border at top, bottom, and sides, with stockinette in between.  The straps are seed stitch; I don't need them curling up on top of everything else straps do!  Actually fitting the knit fabric to my form took some sewing skills but was really not difficult.  I used a yarn needle and one of those marvelous needle threaders.  I can't praise them enough.

My son Lawrence took this picture at Gerst Haus, where we had gone for a Mother's Day treat a few days early.  Since his family lives in Gallatin, it is convenient for him to visit me here in Nashville after work.  These nights are special; we discuss my forthcoming novel Befriending Aliens. Every novelist needs to bat ideas back and forth, and Lawrence is my key to science fiction.  He enjoys television a lot more than I do, so he can clue me in on good visual effects.  Already he's drawn the front cover for me - that's a relief!

Anyway, if I can knit a top like this, you probably can too, especially if you have some knowledge of sewing to make it fit.  I bought the yarn from KnitPicks when I bought the latest lot I wrote about.  This was a discontinued line of yarn - one reason I knit it on US 10 needles rather than the US5 or 6 suggested.  Since I didn't want to play with circular needles while knitting straps, I knit those on my US9 straight needles.  This boucle yarn was rather thinner than I expected, and the boucle bumps made it virtually impossible to crochet.

This is, unbelievably, a lightweight and comfortable summer garment.