Hallelujah!

I finally finished that endless strip of twisted rib for my waistband of the tie back shell! Yay! I also picked up all the stitches to knit up the bottom half. I can't believe I'm actually excited to knit several inches of stockinette in the round... but anything is better than that waistband torture. Lol. My plan is to knit as per the instructions down until the turning ridge on the hem, then transfer the stitches to some scrap yarn and let it hang out there until I finish the rest of the top - that way I can adjust the length if I want it a little longer. (I tend to wear low-cut jeans, so I hate it when a top is too short and it shows my belly sticking out!) Incidentally, this is going to be my first time using a hem in my knitting. I'm a little nervous that it's going to look weird, but the sample looks very nice, so I'm going to trust the pattern.

BTW - picking up the stitches from that waistband for the bottom half wasn't so bad. I think I've finally got the hang of that particular skill. (Yay!) Of course, figuring out the correct ratio for picking them up was kind of a pain, and it turned out that each segment required a slightly different ratio - so I hope that won't cause any weird effects; I don't think it will. So far it looks okay.