At last

Finally! Here are the pictures of the finished Shapely Tee :

and the back view:

Technical Details

The pattern is the Shapely Tee, a free pattern designed by Joan McGowan-Michael of White Lies Designs. I used some DK cotton yarn I had lurking in the stash and the recommended size of needles, US sizes 5 (for the edges) and 6 (for the main body), using my Denise needle set. I am going to weigh the Tee soon and see how much yarn I used.

I twiddled with the pattern a bit after having measured my favourite knitted top and found that the bust needed to be a couple of inches smaller than the hip. So I knitted the 44 inch size up to the waist, but then only did 3 increases instead of 5, and so had 4 fewer stitches in both the front and the back at this point. I worked the armholes for the 44 inch size, and took the 4 stitches out of the centre of the neckline, so making the shoulders narrower. I worked one set of short rows for the bust.

Thoughts on the pattern

I really enjoyed knitting this, and it is very comfortable to wear. The short rows at the bust are very effective, and certainly help the front and back hang to the same length. I have loads of similar yarn in different colours so I can definitely see another Shapely Tee in my knitting future. I think in my next Tee I will try knitting the body circularly, I am not really a fan of seams. Also I will have a go at picking up stitches around the armhole and knitting the sleeves down, I will also make the sleeves a bit longer. All in all I am very pleased with how this has turned out and am looking forward to having another go with a few improvements.