WIP Wednesday: Hannah’s Venice Top
I have a couple unfinished projects from 2016 that I’m determined to finish in 2017. One is actually a crochet project, which you might see in the next month if you follow the crochet portion of our website. The other is the Venice Top knitting pattern, designed by Amy Gunderson, published in Interweave Knits Summer 2016.
I love all of Amy’s designs, but this top caught my eye because of its flowy shape and subtle feminine style, both perfect for summertime. The main portion of the top is a lace rib pattern, and the front top and back have a pretty lace detail that adds interest to the whole piece and give the top part a little more shape than the rest of the body, which just hangs freely.
The problem I’ve had with finishing this top is that I keep messing up the lace rib pattern! It’s not hard, and the stitch pattern is pretty close to the same on either side. But it’s me, and I have a problem with totally screwing up anything that isn’t all just knitting, especially lace. I haven’t had a ton of practice with lace, so I dive into lace projects and then go, “What the heck am I doing?” It’s a problem, y’all, and it brings out the quitter in me.
Another issue I’m facing is that of being a total perfectionist (*cough*Virgo!*cough*). I denied this for many years but since starting to knit sweaters I’ve just had to accept that it’s a part of me; I cannot stand the thought of having a super obvious mistake in something that I made myself and want to wear proudly. This is why, having finished one of the rib lace sections and before moving onto the lace chart at the top, I started over from scratch because I noticed a slight boo-boo at the VERY BEGINNING of the piece.
I waffled over whether or not to fix it, and at times settled on the fact that I don’t think anyone else would notice. Well, that doesn’t actually matter, because I knew that I would notice. It would fester in the forefront of my mind every time I’d put it on.
So, here I am, almost a year later with two partial pieces to this thing. (And I know what you’re thinking—I did say just this morning that I don’t like the color pink and I don’t knit with pink yarn. Well, I lied. I generally don’t like pink but wanted to step outside of my comfort zone with this yarn color choice.)
My hope is that I can spend some more time on this project and have it completed to wear by this upcoming summer. Can y’all help keep me accountable?
What do you have on the needles carried over from 2016 that you want to finish this year?
Happy WIP knitting!
—Hannah
very interesting knitting pattern
very interesting knitting pattern