Zodiac Halter Back

Thanks to everyone who left nice comments yesterday -- I'm quite excited about the top so far and it's really nice to get so much encouragement. It's exactly what I need to help me get through the back, which doesn't have as much visual or knitting interest as the front. I got about 4-1/2 inches done last night (out of 14 inches total). And really, anyone can knit this little number up fast -- the front only used up about 3-1/2 skeins of the yarn (there's 90 m on each Zodiac skein) for the medium size.

I'm modifying the pattern just a little bit. I'm not the only blogger who has decided to work on this one this summer, Michelle at My Knitting and Great Danes also tackled this project. Based on her reports that the back was a little loose fitting, I decided to extend the ribbing a little bit farther around to give the back a little more elasticity. (There's only 2 knit ribs on either side in the original). I thought about doing it all the way across the back, but couldn't figure out a really good way to make the increases and decreases work out in the subtle way they are when there's a panel of non-ribbing in the back. Hopefully the ribbing will give it enough elasticity to pick up some of the slack in the back.

For anyone who would like to know, the pattern is Karabella KK201 (you can find it if you go to their website, select "patterns", and "Zodiac Solid" -- it's the first pattern). I bought it from the lovely people at School Products. I don't think the yarn or the pattern is listed on their website. You can call them at 1-800-847-4127. They are an extremely friendly bunch and will help you do everything from pick the color yarn to making sure you have enough to complete the pattern. When I bought the yarn, they included the pattern for free.

Oh, and as to trying to mimic the model... I've talked to my chief fashion photographer and he's up to the challenge. He's pretty interested in this top, too!