April 22, 2011

Kieran Foley-Inspired Tunic

I used up quite a bit of my cotton yarn on the girls’ Easter dresses but still had plenty left! I decided to make something for myself. As I went looking for ideas, I came across this incredible Latvian vest designed by Kieran Foley for knitty.com. I loved the colors and patterns. Also, since the overall effect was kind of a patchwork, it would be great for using up leftover yarn since I wasn’t exactly sure how far each color would go. I needed to modify the look, however, to be more feminine. Also, I wanted it to be appropriate for summer and warmer weather. You don’t typically see these types of patterns on warm weather clothes but I was feeling adventurous.

I found the Sahara racerback tank pattern by Teresa Chorpeza for Tahki Stacy Charles that I used to guide the basic shaping for the top. I changed the front to be a button front and added significantly to the length. I then charted out Kieran Foley’s Latvian patterns to fit. It was a bit of a challenge but fun to experiment as a designer!

The long part of the tunic was knit in the round and as I ran out of one color, I just tied on the next and kept going.

I was hoping to have enough yarn to make a dress but I needed about 6 inches to a foot more in length that I didn’t have. So, the dress became a tunic that will look great with jeans. I am a bit of an odd-shaped model at the moment (a temporary condition to resolve in a few months!) but I like how the final result came out!