Revised Asana

I actually love it so much I'm thinking about revising the pattern and making another one.

Please excuse the middle of the night hair and mirror smudging . :)

The death of Asana

I completed all the fasteners and got the straps positioned on Asana last night. At that point I looked at it and decided I would never wear it. It just didn't fit me right. The back, right where the top band connected was buckling, the center band didn't really do much, and the lowest band was just too low and would constantly either be showing my underwear or the top of my pants above it. The sides in the back didn't come far enough around and made me look pudgy. I looked at the possibility of putting another fabric in the back--something strechy that would cover the hole, and decided I should take off the center tabs and see what that looked like. I took off the tabs and determined NOTHING would make this shirt work on me, and I would have to pretty much re-do the entire thing if I wanted this pattern to work.

SO...all is not lost. I took off the center tabs and began playing with the remaining I-shaped fabric. My bottom band was a lot longer and more loosely knit than my top band, and ties quite nicely into a knot, and the garter ribbing of the top band is really quite nice and has an interesting drape. I ended up making the piece into a kind of halter with a draping neckline. Think something like this, but not quite as low cut or tight. It's actually quite flattering on me that way, but the open back is pretty revealing, and I might wear a tank under it most of the time.

I actually like the fit of my "new" piece so much I'm thinking of ways to improve it, and purposefully make a pattern for it.
I'm planning on wearing it tonight, I'll post some pics later.

So as Asana nears completion I needed a new project to start... And I've found one! I think it is always a good sign when you see that a few dozen people have all done the project and you've seen them, and they've had fantastic results. The Picovoli seems to have a high success rate (as shown here) I can't wait to get started and bought some yarn from Knit Picks last night in a lovely turquoise-->

Now I know it looks a lot like the yarn I used for Asana, but it IS darker, and besides, that color looks great on me :)

While shopping I also picked up some laceweight alpaca and am hoping to make a lacy shrug that will be suprisingly warm (if it lives up to alpaca reputation). ...I'm excited to be wearing llama fur, and am thinking I might let my mom borrow something made in alpaca to see if it bothers her (she's allergic to sheep's wool, but most people say she should be fine with alpaca). If she's alpaca tolerant I might be able to make her something that's actually warm and not just decorative this winter.

In Asana news: I've bought the ribbon for the straps and some small snaps that will accompany flat pant hooks in helping keep the back closed and somewhat neat looking. I'd probably be finishing it up today at work except I brought everything else I needed and forgot the yarn (d'oh). Plan to see finished pictures within the week.

Asana near completion

All the pieces are finished and just need assembling and for me to decide about straps...I'm thinking of doing an attached I-Cord that would tie behind my back, but I'm also going to check out some fabric stores to see if I might find some nice matching tape to make my straps out of.

Here are all the pieces

A detail of the cable cast-on edge


Detail of top panel of garter rib