I had a lot of trouble with this skirt. Not because it was difficult to knit – the instructions were very clear, even with photos for the trickier techniques – but because in the end, it sagged like anything.

It was probably because I didn’t knit a swatch with what was a new yarn for me, and because I knitted one half during work time, and the other in the holidays. I was very relaxed in the holidays, hence the skirt grew.

The pattern actually called for a column of buttons to hold it all together, but considering the weight of the skirt (around 400g), and the sag factor, that was out of the question. So I learned how to sew in some reinforcement in the form of grosgrain ribbon (I didn’t know what that was before this skirt), and then sewed up the button band so that only the top two button holes were free.

Oh yes, the one row horizontal buttonholes gave me a few tense hours. It was a shame that I didn’t use most of them in the end. I sewed on two buttons and a set of snaps, and then had to adjust the position a few times to fit my waist properly.

At that point, the skirt seemed stable, but when I wore it out to work I found that it still slid down more than I would like. Now I wear it with a belt – I’m just thankful that it’s wearable, otherwise it would have been a waste of 7 weeks worth of work. I guess that’s how it goes with knitting.