Success Fail

It's sad face time.  The Deneb bolero blocked great and I had no problems sewing up the seams in time for mom to try it on.  Then I tried it on as a test run.  You know what helps make a bolero fit?  Having an opening both large and flexible enough to fit over your shoulders once you have the arms on.  That's right.  All my hard work just went to crap because there is no way anyone older than maybe 4 could actually put the thing on.

Everything else about it is great, but I have to make it all over again.  )-:  I do have enough yarn that making a second attempt won't immediately require the frogging of this one, so that should help make sure I don't end up with a too small opening again.  

To save face, I attempted another new (to me) technique.  I have now manage to make a decent applied I-cord.  I am happy to say that the I-cord did, in fact, work out.  I've been designing a top-down pullover and I had to come up with something to make the front and back neck edges lay flat.  The top isn't all the way done yet, I still have to do the I-cord on the back edge and weave in ends but this is how it looks so far.

It's a raglan with ribbing on the sides for interest and shaping.  There is also ribbing on the sleeve cuffs.  I'm lazy so not having to count to make a garment fit nicely is happy time for me.  I like ribbing.  This is a closeup of the I-cord edge.  It's kinda hard to see, my camera has been giving me fits and never seems to take photos as nice as I think it should be able to manage.

Still, it is success of a sort, just tiny success.  Hopefully things will go better with the sweater I'm trying to design.  If I manage to do it it's going to be epic.  In the mean time, I have yarn to make the Draped Lace Shell by Lien Ngo.  I think I need comparatively easier lace than the Deneb bolero before I give it another go.