Aargh.

Well, I've been working on this project for a couple of months, since the end of May at least. And last week, I finished it. The Lotus Tank was ninety-nine percent complete -- I had it all done except the armhole and neck edgings. Here's one picture of it on a model...

See that horizontal edge neckline, going across the chest from shoulder to shoulder? It's part of a nifty funky construction that gives the shoulders some shape. On the model above, it goes across the chest just fine, with only a little gaping in the front. Look how it looks on the model below:

Lovely. Well, on me, most of the Lotus tank kind of looked like that -- lovely, nice drape, hugs me right where it should... except for that long horizontal. It went from armpit to armpit. I had the tank finished and sewn together, and popped it over my head so I could admire it before doing the last bits of finishing work, and oh my gosh I'm so glad I did. I could not have worn it, the way it looked. I thought about what to do next for a while, trying to design some kind of insert or figure out some way of adding some fabric so that it didn't gape open and show about half of my bra and all of my straps. However, reality set in and I realized that there was no way to fix it. So, I frogged the tank down to the armholes, where I had divided the circular knitting into front and back. Like this:

Then, I tried to design a simple tank back and front, so that I could still use the fabulous knitted lace portion I had already done and had spent so much labor on. After some hours of useless figuring, I started digging through my magazines and pattern library looking for something that would work. I found a pattern for a tank top that had a similar stitch count and gauge, with a shape and finish that I thought might work. Here it is (Creative Knitting, Summer 2008):

The person who designed this one was doing something similar: using a lace pattern around the bottom to add interest to what otherwise might be a pretty simple tank. I liked the way the lace on the Lotus Tank draped on me, and I liked where the stockinette started -- it was very flattering. So, keeping that part, I started the armholes where I had started them as written in the other pattern, but followed the new pattern. So far so good -- although I have to tell you, I'm not thrilled at having to do it again. One thing I particularly like about the new pattern is that it calls for a garter stitch band around the armholes and neckline; this will nicely re-state the garter stitch lines already present in the existing lace.

I'm about halfway through finishing the back... again.

The Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool is holding up really well under the frogging and re-knitting. I still love this yarn and am enjoying working with it... again. One of the best things about it is that when I want to join a new ball of yarn, I just felt it onto the old one and keep knitting. There will be practically no ends to sew in when it's finished -- and boy do I ever plan to do a three-needle bind-off at the shoulders.

Next, I'll show you why I'm dying to get this finished at some point in my natural lifetime.