Surprisingly, stretchy (or even non-stretchy) chain mail was not the look I was going for but I do worry that that is what I have. I pictured an oh so stylish in a slouchy '80s manner tea bag t. Were they known as tea bag tops, or was that just me? I imagined I was safe when the need for such a summery top descended, as I thought I must have the pattern my Granny used when such knits were fashionable. Sadly not. Possibly I thought I wouldn't embrace 80s fashion again. But then on a trip to delightful
Jenny Wrens I saw a collection of tea bag style tops in a Wendy booklet. They are calling the style an open stocking stitch top in cotton. Think I'll stick with tea bag t. In case you are unsure what 80s delight I am talking about, here is my version
Do you see what I mean about the chain mail? Though now I have looked at the original pattern it looks rather similar
Possibly I should have avoided grey. Mine has stretched a fair bit at the lower edge - I'm thankful I chose the short length to knit - there is also a longer length, which by now would be around my knees.
I selected a size which matched my measurements, but aside from the growth in the length, is too baggy at the neckline. This is meant to be slouchy, but mine is constantly slipping off. So I am going to wash this and see if it shrinks a bit. If not, I shall redo it in the smaller size sometime before next summer.
If anyone actually needs some chain mail for a historical re-enactment maybe, here is what I did! The pattern is from a Wendy collection 354 and is the short version of the Open Stocking stitch Top. I used two balls of dy choice cotton fresh dk in the colour silver, bought from Jenny Wren Yarns. I shall wait to see what magic happens in the washing machine. In the meanwhile, I have another top - cotton and summery again - to show. This time a success... well, if you can overlook certain things. But I shall show more next time, hopefully before it is too chilly and no-one wants to see a cotton string top...
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I like it! It doesn't look like chain mail at all. You could wear it with a long sleeved t-shirt underneath and a bold, chunky necklace.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised how much I am still wearing this top this winter, with a long sleeve t. It seems to have survived a few wash cycles, maybe there has even been some shrinkage. Or maybe that is my wishful thinking!
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