My first knitted skirt

There are a few types of projects in knitting that scare me.  I haven't tried Fair Isle yet, for example, or any kind of color work.  Skirts were also on that list.  For one, they're a big investment of time and money (it takes a lot of yarn to make a skirt).  Also, they really don't look good on everyone, but the only way to find out if they look good on you is to make one, try it on, and hopefully find out that it doesn't make you look like a hippy monster from hipsville.

But I finally decided to take the plunge and find out if I liked the look of a hand-knitted skirt.  I fell in love with the pattern - Lace Tiered Skirt - while flipping through Feminine Knits.  This is the third pattern I've made out of this book and the first without errors (seriously, did they even have someone copyedit the translation?  It's riddled with simple arithmetic errors and the like.  Interweave should be embarrassed).  Knit Picks had a yarn sale and - voila! - it was kismet.

I cast on about three and a half weeks ago.  It didn't take me nearly as long as I'd thought it would to knit up, the lace patterns were simple and easy to memorize, and I really liked the way it looked on the needles.

There are four different lace patterns.  Here is the bottom;

 I really like how the pattern makes the wavy hemline.  The next repeat was this pattern;

And then this one;

What I discovered upon trying it on, though, was that the skirt was a lot heavier than it looked it the book.  The single crochet waistband with crochet thread that the pattern called for didn't have a chance in hell of holding this thing up around my waist.

So I added two single crochet rows along the waistband, then a row which alternated four single crochets with a triple (to make holes), and then another single crochet.  I'm hoping that with a stronger and wider waistband it won't fall down around my ankles.  As soon as I can talk Matt into taking a photo for me I'll post one of me wearing it.  I'm still not sure I like the look on me, so I'm curious as to what others think.

- D