I am obsessed with Handmaiden’s hand dyed sea silk yarn, a combination of sea cell and silk fibers. I have knitted five projects with the yarn over the years, and I find it has a wonderful drape and sheen and is easy to unravel. Having encountered a gorgeous sea blue color of the yarn at my local LYS, I was impelled to buy it immediately. It took some time to find a pattern to do the yarn justice, but Kim Hargreaves’ designs always include such exquisite details that I thought her Blithe would be a good choice.
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/blithe
I love the clever ridge pattern in this design. My only disappointment is that, even though I made the fronts one size larger to prevent gaps in the buttonhole area, I still have a little bit of gapping any way. I think if I were to knit this again, I would start the button placket much higher up. I think a button placket that starts at the waist is more flattering to a flat-chested figure than a curvy one.
I believe the slight gapping in the button band was caused by my gauge tightening as I knitted, so that the pieces ended up a bit smaller than I had predicted. I still love this top, however, and it will make a wonderful piece to wear under a cardigan or jacket.
I purchased my sea blue mother-of-pearl buttons at a wonderful notions shop in Paris, Entrée des Fournisseurs. This fabulous shop is right off La Place des Voges, where my husband and I spent a wonderful sunny afternoon people-watching in the park at the center of the square.
Entrée des Fournisseurs has a marvelous selection of buttons, ribbons, and many fabulous trims worthy of a Chanel jacket. I could have spent hours there except that my escort grew bored of examining “bits and bobs” and wandered out. The French name for said bits and bobs is mercerie. Mercerie includes trims, buttons, lace and ribbons, and it was extraordinary what a button array I found in such a small store.
It was great fun knitting my Blithe in Paris. I used a different Kim Hargreaves pattern for the sleeves, as I thought a standard set-in sleeve would be more flattering than the lace sideways sleeve in Blithe. I do highly recommend the pattern, but I would upsize the fronts a size or two to prevent gaps in the closure, or better yet, start the button closure much higher up for a curvy gal who wishes to knit it. I'd like to ask my readers, is it just me, or does the button placket starting so low at the waist create a visual illusion that the bust is too low as well? Not the most flattering top I have ever made, I think!