Alive and knitting

Never mind all that shop talk. Let me show you some knitting.
For a few weeks I’ve been working on Ysolda’s gorgeous Snow White. I’m using teal Alchemy wool/silk, and it’s looking fantastic. Well, the yarn is, I can’t tell about the shaping yet. I’m just a leetle bit worried about the length/tightness… I decided to add 10cm on general principles, because shorter tops are not flattering on me, and also, me wide. Me busty. This means I tend to lose a bit of length in a lot of styles. (Both because the fabric gets pulled out a bit more, and because my ample bosom steals vertical as well as horizontal inches.) But, here’s the flaw: Ysolda’s pattern, while wonderfully detailed in many respects, has one strange omission: no length measurement that I can find. Not on the schematic, not in the text. So I may have underestimated; and now I’m worrying about the advisability of having fairly snug ribbing right over my least favourite body part – the belly.
(In fact, the further I get with this, the less advisable I think it is. I’m not at my slimmest – that’s an understatement. And while this style would probably work on me when I am at my slimmest, right now, there’s a bit too much of me to be wearing something so … figure-hugging. But, bloody minded as ever, I’m chugging along. And will no doubt end up with something that will go straight into the “when I’ve lost a couple of stone” pile at the back of the cupboard. It’s so pretty though!

(Aside: this being in the round, and involving some elegantly complex shaping, I had to break the habit of a lifetime and use stitch markers. Which has yielded an interesting discovery. The little fishy stitch markers from Heidi Petach? Are *wonderful*. I didn’t especially like them in the bag, but on the needle they seriously come to life, swimming through the air most delightfully. Plus, it probably helps that their turquoise beads match my yarn!)