Pioneer T-Shirt

My Pioneer is finished and I have been wearing it all over town. It fits like a dream.

I got to debut it at the summer Sip n Knit meeting last week. As I recall, three of us had them done and on and more were getting close. (Didn't have my camera, but there's talk of a "Pioneer Get Together" later when more are done. I'll snap something then.)

It's knit from a washable wool. The wool has been very comfortable (not itchy at all) and not too hot even on warm days. (Naturally, I didn't try it on hot days.) The washability will make it a very easy care item and allow me to wear it worry-free all the time.

The back is decorated with three columns of narrow cables.

The same cables run down the side seams:

This is where I made my biggest modification. I tried on the shirt when I was just below the sleeve opening (remember I started at the shoulder) and it was way too tight under the arms. So I took it out and then cast on 6 stitches on each side to widen the sleeve opening there.

I'm not sure if that means I cast on too small a size but everything else seems to fit ok so I'm just going with it. If I did cast on too small a size, however, it could explain why my V neck is a lot higher than most others'. (But again, I'm just going with it.)

The neckline is finished with a crochet edging:
The pattern wanted you to alternate a single crochet (sc) with 5 half double crochet (hdc), but that didn't produce enough of a scallop for me. So I shorted the sc to a slip stitch and lengthen the hdc's to double crochets. I liked that a lot more. I also did a row of slip stitch around the edge first which helped to neaten up the selvage edge a lot.

I chose shorter sleeves for my T (10 rows vs the 14 in the pattern) and shortened the edging as well to maintain the balance.

As I said, the shirt wears very well. I have been having some trouble finding colours to wear with it. White is definitely out as it makes the shirt look down right grubby. (This is just an excuse to buy more clothing, isn't it?)Project Stats
Started: 21 Jun 09
Finished: 1 Aug 09
Pattern: Pioneer from knitty.com (free)
Materials: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport Multi in Michigan Cherry Blossom, 4 skeins @ $11 = $44

Not to be blunt, but I don't think this is the nicest looking garment I've ever made. As I was looking at pictures I took of me in it, I could tell there are times it makes me look downright frumpy. And I'm still not convinced variegated yarn is the best for garments. In this shirt in particular, the lines of horizontal colour seem to conflict with the vertical lines of the cables.

That being said, it was a lot of fun making it with the other "Red Purl ladies." And since the colour was dyed just for Amy at Red Purl, I'm very happy I used it. (And not to be misleading, let me state I do like the pink, green and brown combination.) I would make my Pioneer again, and in the same yarn.

There is more to a project than the final product!