Tee No. 1 Project Review
My experience and thoughts about the pattern by My Favourite Things Knitwear.
About the Pattern
Tee No. 1 is a knitting pattern by My Favourite Things Knitwear (MFTK). It is a saddle shoulder design, knit from the top down in stockinette and featuring an oversized, boxy fit. Other pattern design details included folded hems and short sleeves that hit at the elbow. It is suggested to be knit with 1 strand of Gepard Wild & Soft (fingering) held together with 1 strand of Gepard Cashmere Lace (lace) on 3.5mm/US 4 needles for the body. The pattern is graded for bust circumferences of 31.5-55 inches (80-140 cm). The recommended amount of ease is 4-6 inches (10-15cm) for sizes XS-XL and 3-4.75 inches (8-12cm) for sizes 2XL-4XL.
My Yarn Used
For this project, I used the suggested yarns by Gepard. Gepard is not widely sold in the US where I live, but I was able to get some up on a trip I took to Olso, Norway (checkout out a video I made about yarn shopping in Olso!) . I visited the yarn shop Fru Kvist and chose the color Glacier (728) in Wild & Soft and the color New Wild Sky (742B) in Cashmere Lace. They were mid-tone blues with the cashmere lace being slightly darker than the Wild & Soft. I knew they would create a beautiful subtle marl in the finished knit fabric. I picked up 5 balls of Wild & Soft and 3 skeins of Cashmere Lace for my tee. More info on sizing below!
Sizing and Gauge
My full bust circumference is 34” (86cm), so I picked the suggested size for that measurement, size S. This would give me 5.75” (15 cm) of positive ease. The gauge of this pattern is 24 st x 32 rows in 4 x 4” (10 x 10 cm). I used 3.75mm/US 5 needles, and I used my Knitters Pride Dreamz birch needle tips. I usually knit with metal needles, but my row gauge with metal was very tight compared to the pattern gauge. Using wooden needles loosened up my row gauge to be much closer to the pattern gauge! My final gauge after washing and blocking the tee was 23 st x 36 rows. I did gauge swatch, but sometimes it’s difficult for a gauge swatch to truly represent a finished object’s gauge. It happens! See the impact of my gauge in the Final Fit section below.
My Modifications and Final Fit
I knit the majority of the tee to pattern, with the exception of the body and sleeve lengths. I wanted the hem of the tee to hit around my waist, so I could easily pair it with high waisted shorts and jeans. From the center back, my body length to the hem measured at 15” (38 cm). The pattern suggested length for size S was about 20.75” (53 cm), so mine is cropped significantly! At this length I am able to wear it untucked and it shows most of my high waisted bottoms without covering them. It still has enough length to French tuck, which I also think is a cute look!
I also shortened the sleeves of my tee, knitting them to 2” shorter than the pattern’s suggested length. The final length of my sleeves from the underarm to the hem was 5” (13 cm). They hit right at my elbow, which matches the pattern styling. I am Petite (I am 5’0”), so often times I have to shorten sleeve lengths to fit my body proportions.
My finished body circumference was 41.5” (105 cm), which was larger than intended. This is certainly due to my gauge being slightly off! This gives my tee 7.5” (19 cm) of positive ease instead of the suggested range of 4-6” (10-15 cm). I do wish the tee had less positive ease, as the extra-oversized fit seems overwhelming with the long, oversized sleeves. I am glad I cropped the body length, as I think it balances the proportions of the entire piece well. I think overall I would’ve been happier if I met gauge and had less positive ease, or knit one size smaller at my current gauge.
Tips on the Pattern
I thought this pattern was well written and easy to follow. MFTK writes her patterns without much fluff, so don’t expects lots of helpful tips and tricks in between the pattern instructions. Some spots that might be tricky and how I did them:
The folded hems
Use this video tutorial to see how I do folded hems while binding off!
The sewn collar
The pattern describes how to do it, but I found it helpful to watch the video linked in the pattern to visualize it. The video is not in English and does not have subtitles, but helped me enough visually to grasp the concept!
The collar is sewn down with 1 strand of the lace weight yarn. If you aren’t using the suggested yarn combination, I suggest sewing down the collar with a sewing thread rather than yarn for a more seamless look.
I used removable stitch markers to mark points along the collar to ensure my collar stayed aligned as I sewed it down
Blocking
Super important for this construction! With all of the short row shaping and picked up panels, this tee looked pretty weird before blocking. It was bunched in places and stiff, and I was worried it was going to be a flop before blocking!
Blocking relaxed the fabric and gave this tee the drape is needed to look effortless and ~cool~
Final Thoughts
Definitely a fun knit! I enjoyed the thoughtful details of this pattern design and it is pretty unique compared to the rest of my me-made wardrobe. I don’t think I’m eager to knit more saddle shoulder designs, but that is just personal preference of this style on me. This is oversized and almost masculine in style, and I tend to prefer more tailored, feminine pieces. However, if you like saddle shoulder designs, I think this is an excellent pattern choice.
I am bummed my gauge was off! This tee is very oversized on me and I could’ve benefitted from less positive ease by meeting the correct gauge. I did gauge swatch twice, but I suppose there is always more swatching that can be done. *sigh* The tricky parts of knitting!
The fabric is a merino-silk-cashmere blend, so I expect to wear this tee mostly in the Spring and Fall rather than the Summer. The cashmere yarn created a beautifully soft outer texture to the fabric, and the silk gives it a bit of sheen and lots of drape. I really like knitting this yarn combination on my birch needles. The experience was smooth and the stitches felt like they glided off the needles. I also love the subtle marl of my finished fabric! It’s a beautiful shade of blue with depth. I look forward to wearing this tee and enjoyed knitting something with a new-to-me construction.
