Blush and Glow Crop

Well, this is not necessarily the finished object post I would have expected to be writing first, but here we are. I didn’t block the Telegramme cardigan for like 3 weeks, even though it was done and I really wanted to wear it, so I don’t have nice photos yet. But it just finished drying this morning, so that will be coming soon!

Since my crop top was a test knit, I did have a deadline for that which forced me to actually finish the thing. I braved the cold (20 F!) to get photos in a tshirt. I’m sure I made a real interesting sight for the cars driving by, using a tripod, a electric kettle to focus it, and modeling photos in a short sleeve shirt.

• 

• Pattern: Blush and Glow Crop by Carrie Reider
• Yarn: Laine & Lotus Fiber Co. Merino Nylon Light Fingering, “Next in Line,” 60g; Junkyarn Smooth Sock, “Rosemary,” 58g; Hedgehog Fibres Sock, “Juniper,” 42 g
• Needles: US 5/ 3.75 mm
• Timeline: Started 1/16/20; Finished 2/3/20 – this was my main knitting project during that time and I worked at least a row or two every day
• More photos and details found at my Ravelry project page

• 

• 

• 

I really loved working on this crop! I’ve been really getting into garment knitting because it’s usually just so meditative to do those long stretches of stockinette, and that’s definitely true of this. The top being in garter stitch means that you basically have to do almost no thinking at all, which I really love, because it means I can take the project anywhere. I did this as a test knit, and another reason I like doing that which I didn’t include in my post is that you have other people working on the project at the same time, which is really fun from a community perspective.

The only annoyance in making this pattern was totally of my own making. Because I was doing the fade, the way the math worked out, I had to fade between the two colors in the garter stitch section. In the front, I thought I could make it work by adding a color on the wrong side, then adding a second strand of each color on the other side and switching along each way. But that didn’t work out because I ended up a few times where I only had two strands of the same color to knit the next row, which was supposed to be a different color, so I had a slightly different fade pattern than alternating for 10 rows. Plus I had four strands going and it was very annoying. On the back, after seeing this post from bonnyknits, I tried to knit each color, but because it was garter stitch, that meant I had to do some fussing with some rows being purls, and I could only do a fade of 8 rows (or 12, but I was lazy), because otherwise I would have been purling the rest of the way. I don’t think I’m explaining that well, but the short version is that neither way really worked well and I’ll have to rethink if it’s worth it to fade colors when working flat.

I can see this getting a ton of use once it’s actually warm enough to do so! I styled this with high waisted linen pants, and could also throw a denim jacket on top. I’ve worn it once with high waisted jeans and a grey cardigan. I’m also excited to put this over blue dresses and a navy jumpsuit I own.

I highly recommend this pattern once it’s been released! Size inclusive, easy to follow, and makes a great summer staple.

• 

• 

•