Changes made to Madonna pullover: I did backward single crochet to finish the neck edge, a much simpler edging than the original. Also, I added more stitches along the neck edge than instructed. I do not like a close fitted neckline for warm weather garments. A supportive structure was added. With it, the neckline felt more comfortable and the garment is now wearable.
What I wish I had done to Madonna pullover: I wish I did some garter rows at the bottom edge. I do not like curling in this garment. I ended up applying a Petersham band to the bottom edge to control the curling. The photo below shows both the support and the Petersham band applied.
It is a tricky garment as Madonna is a bit too dressy for my everyday needs. As a matter of fact, I am not sure what to wear with it. My daughters insisted only jeans would go with it.
Nidden was a lot of work because I knitted the back twice and the left front three times. Other than that, it turned out really nice. There are so many changes made in my version because of the differences in gauge and the yarn quantity limitation. It will be too much to list them out.
- The top of the back bodice was kept straight after 4" was completed above the armhole shaping.
- One of the major changes I made was to reduce the original 61-stitch lace pattern to 45-stitch pattern, and then to 43 stitches: Two stitches at 1-by-1 rib at each side, four stitches on each wavy pattern, and four stitches at the center motif, with the total of 16 stitches reduced. I also replaced k 2p k with k p k between the wavy pattern and the side rib pattern to reduce two more stitches from 45 to 43. By changing the stitch count, the motif height is also reduced from 28 rows to 20 rows. I was able to keep the similar look of the original lace pattern. The back lace section is on the left side on the photo, much wider than that on the front shown on the right.
- Another change was the sleeve head. I placed the assembled bodice onto my dress form and slipped a sleeve of my Gomashio cardigan which was knitted with the same yarn some time ago. The sleeve fitted Nidden well and I decided to use Gomashio sleeve pattern instead:10” cuff width, 16” underarm length, and 5 1/2” sleeve head height. For the cuff, I did 56 rows of the pattern stitches which got stretched to 10”. Picked up 45 stitches from the cuff and knit 94 rows before sleeve head shaping began. The width of the sleeve was increased every 20 rows four times, 53 stitches total. Cast off 4 stitches at each end to begin sleeve head shaping, Row 95, with 45 stitches remaining. Every two rows, one stitch decreased at each end for 11 times total, and every 4 rows four times, leaving 15 stitches on the needles. Cast off 15 stitches.
Overall, I am satisfied with Nidden and I love its back. So pretty.
