Okay, so I finally got around to making that knit set I’d been thinking about. Took me a while to actually start, you know how it is.
Getting Started
First thing, I had to figure out the yarn. Went digging through my stash, found this cotton blend I bought ages ago. Thought the colour was decent enough, sort of a dusty rose. Wasn’t sure if I had enough, but decided to risk it. Grabbed my usual needles, think they were 4mm? Something like that, whatever felt right with the yarn.
I didn’t really use a proper pattern, more winged it based on some pictures I saw and my own measurements. Risky, I know! But sometimes you just gotta go for it. I sketched out a rough idea, basically a simple top and some shorts.
Knitting the Pieces
Started with the top. Cast on stitches, hoping I got the width right. Just did a basic stockinette stitch, nothing fancy. Knit, purl, knit, purl… felt like it took forever. Just straightforward knitting, back and forth, watching it slowly grow. Had to unpick a few rows at one point because my tension went all weird. Annoying, but better than having a lumpy bit, right?
- Cast on the number of stitches I thought would fit around me.
- Knitted the main body panels (front and back separately).
- Did some basic shaping for armholes, just simple decreases.
- Made some straps, just knitted thin strips.
Then I moved onto the bottoms, the shorts part. Did pretty much the same thing. Knitted two panels, front and back. Added a bit more width for sitting down comfortably, haha. Getting the crotch shaping vaguely right was a bit of guesswork, not gonna lie. More stockinette stitch. My hands were getting a bit sore by this point, but kept plugging away at it.
Putting It All Together
Once all the flat pieces were done, came the part I always put off: sewing it up. Ugh, the sewing. Laid out all the pieces. Matched up the sides of the top, sewed those seams. Attached the straps. Then did the side seams and the inner leg seams for the shorts. Took my time trying to make the seams neat, but they’re never perfect are they?
Weaving in the ends felt like it took longer than the actual knitting! So many little yarn tails to hide. For the shorts waistband, I folded the top edge over and stitched it down, leaving a little gap. Then threaded some elastic through with a safety pin. That worked out okay, actually.
The Result
So, after all that? It’s done. It looks… handmade, let’s say. The fit is surprisingly alright, maybe a bit looser than I planned but comfy. The colour is nice. It’s definitely a two-piece set I knitted myself. Not sure I’d wear it out to anywhere fancy, but it’s fine for lounging around. Was quite a bit of work, but satisfying to see it finished, even with its little flaws. Glad I used up that yarn, too.
