Hello darling. Here is my Home Camisole by Caidree. I knit this using my special Hawaii yarn, Cetari Old Dominion DK Cotton. I wasn’t 100% sure of this yarn when I bought it, but it was a local yarn store and the store was going out of business. I wanted to buy something to help the shop owner and I wanted it to be useable. The top took a while to knit because I was sure that it was going to be too big on me. So, she got put in a time out for several months. That was naughty of me, especially considering that while it is a titch loose in the bust/ ribs (like most summer tops I have knit) it fits practically everywhere else. I got a bug in my bustle about finishing WIPs at then end of March and decided to finish it, even if that meant gifting it to someone. That may not end up being necessary. I-cord edging… am I right? That nonsense takes for-ev-er to complete! But it looks so pretty when it’s done. It is truly a labor of love. The pattern was really well written and everything worked out exactly as they planned it.
What went right? I wasn’t totally in love with the color, but it has grown on me. I like the variegation and the fact that it looks purposeful, even thought I didn’t alternate skeins like I should have. The v-neck is fantastic. I think that may be my preferred neckline. It is a bit of a beast to knit and fiddle with, but it is so flattering on me. I also think that it allows the bold color to be farther away from my face, so I appear less splotchy. While it seemed like it was going to be too loose, the fit is actually fine. I bought a tube top to wear under it so that it can work with a looser fit. The i-cord is tedious A-F, but it looks so polished and finished. I did need some help with joining the i-cord. I decided to wing it for the underarms and hem, but there was no way I was getting away with that on the neckline. I turned to ye old YouTube (Knit a Rainbow with Kimberly McAlidin: How to finish knitting i-cord in the round) to find out how to join the ends seamlessly. This tutorial is fantastic and after blocking, you can’t see where I joined at the neck.
What when wrong? I don’t necessarily think the fit is wrong, but it wasn’t the fit I had in mind when I cast it on. When I knit this again, and I will, I will do either a. use a finer yarn and go down a needle size while knitting the same size or b. use dk weight yarn with recommended needles and cast on a size smaller, then increase a bit after I have joined for the underarm to give a slight A-line to hide the breadbasket stomach. This will make the fit a bit better in the bust/ underarm. This tip isn’t just for this top, but for all strappy tops that I knit: KNIT LESS ROWS FOR STRAPS! I always knit the straps per the pattern recommendation and always end up with straps that are too long and need to be ripped back and adjusted. It is tedious. It is fiddley. I do not like doing this. Also, I should have referenced the video on how to seamlessly join the i-cord edging when I first bound off for the hem. It isn’t horrible, but it doesn’t lay as flat as it could. I have blocked the top and pinned the underarms, and will find out if the join still sticks out. If it does, I see myself ripping back to join seamlessly. Prior to blocking the join kind of stuck out at the sides.
So, that is all she knit. This is my second Caidree top, and both ended up being loose. I can’t help but think that it is user error more than designer, but who knows. If I make the modifications that I mentioned, I see the next Home Camisole looking more, not body-con, but fitted. The yarn didn’t dry out my hands, but I did use the wrong needles to do the i-cord around the arm holes so my hands still hurt like mad when they were done. Once I switched to the sharp Chiagoo’s for the neckline, everything went way smoother. As I said, I will for sure be knitting this again. I have the cotton-silk yarn from the shop in Petaluma that I want to find a use for. I realize that it isn’t deep stash, but it is from 2023, so it counts as stash. The designer writes a good pattern. I see myself recommending it to others and letting them know to swatch to be sure the fit issues aren’t a designer error. I see myself wearing this top a lot this summer, and also wearing any other versions that I create.
Loves,
M
Mrs. Collins Makes Stuff 