Giselle is finally off the needles....

...thank goodness! This knit has been such a pain!

I thought that the endless stockinette stitch on the body was bad... little did I know what I was in for with the edging. I had to pick up and knit.. get this... 476 stitches around the perimeter of this top! 476 stitches evenly spaced! 476!!!

I had wasted so many hours of my life picking up these stitches, I just had to count them.

After all those darn stitches were on the needle I then had to bind them off using the picot bind off method. Talk about time consuming. Two full evenings. Gone.

But of course, it was worth the work. The picot edging really finishes it off and adds a nice feminine detail.

Even though it wasn't that much fun to work on, I am very happy with the finished product. The top fits very well. Also the yarn has a beautiful drape and sheen making it a perfect top for dressy occasions.

One tiny little issue though, I found it hard to make the top stay where it was supposed to and not gape open at the front as wrap tops can sometimes do. So I added a button to one side and that fixes the problem quite nicely.

Of course this top has been modified from the original pattern. It was originally designed to include these flared, renaissance looking sleeves that I wasn't sure if I was completely into, so I decided to leave them off. The short sleeve version fits my style much more and will be great in the spring/summer, the time when I will be wearing this the most. Since the yarn (Berocco Seduce) is a linen blend, it is more suited to the warmer months.

All in all, I really like the Giselle pattern...

...But wont be knitting it again any time soon.

Guess who came out of its gallon size ziploc bag?

Giselle!

I started this top back in April! And I am just now working on it again. I lost interest for awhile there but the guilt of knowing it's sitting there unfinished drove me into a Giselle-knitting frenzy. So I pulled it out and started working on it again.

I've decided to forgo the long sleeves and leave it cap sleeved the way it is. It will be a better summer top that way and less knitting for me, yay!

To tell the honest truth, I'm not really enjoying this project but I am looking forward to wearing it.

So I must press on.

I have been thinking about the Giselle Top pattern since I purchased it at Stitches West. I could never find the perfect yarn for it until..... I discovered Seduce. It is a new yarn made by Berocco and it is just so pretty. It is an interesting blend of silk, linen, rayon, and nylon. It is kind of wiry but soft at the same time. I immediately swatched for Giselle and it was a perfect match. I washed my gauge swatch and was pleasantly surprised by how the yarn softened and how the stitches smoothed. The drape was beautiful. I knew that this yarn would work up wonderfully in a light summer top.

The great thing about this pattern is that it is knit from the top down. (NO SEAMS!)

I can try it on as I go to see if it is fitting me correctly.

I simply just slipped the stitches from the circular needle onto some waste yarn.

I really like it so far. I think that I chose the right size too. Phew!

I always seem to choose the wrong size!!!

Seduce produces this slightly inconsistent fabric that reminds me of raw silk. I can't wait until I get this pattern submission knitting out of the way so that I can get back to this project!