Since it’s hot and humid here in Dubai 9 months out of the year, I have often been drawn towards knitting tank top patterns. However, I never seem to wear them out often enough, no particular reason, just never do. So, when we went on our recent mini vacation, I was determined to dig these tanks out of my closet and wear them already!!! And I did.
Here beginneth the tank top parade…
First up, Smooch from the Rowan All Seasons Cotton Collection. It was my first time working waist shaping into a garment and I loved how this type of nip-tuck knitting can transform the wearability of a garment. I have not turned away from waist shaping since. The yarn I used was the lovely Rowan ASC and is one of the better cotton yarns that I’ve knit with. I don’t remember much else about the project details in terms of needle size used and any changes that I made because I knit this about three years ago, but I still *heart* this tank.
An even older knit that I worked on in my pre-waist-shaping days was this halter tank using Phildar Copacabana. It was an easy pattern that I just made up as I went along. I remember using big plastic needles with this yarn and I hated how the yarn actually squeaked as the stitches slid along the needle. Eeww!! This was no fault of the yarn but purely to do with the plastic needles. This yarn is a tape yarn which feels papery currently discontinued by Phildar. I think that I used just under 4 skeins for this tank top.
Then there was another Phildar pattern for the Kate Halter waaaaaay back. I knit this with Phildar Aviso and I have to say that I don’t care too much for this yarn, it’s splity, heavy and tends to pill. This was another tank that was knit on huge honkin’ needles and so basically was done in no time. The collar/straps construction was a first for me since most Phildar patterns have you work the collar separate after which you attach the live stitches <<eeeek>> to the main body one by one. It’s knitting surgery and can cause a lot of cussing and a painful noggin, very easy to botch up. So, if you’re ever going this route, proceed with caution or maybe throw caution to the wind and proceed after a stiff shot of a strong brew!
Lastly, remember when I cast on for this tank? Apparently, I finished it but don’t think that it ever showed up on my blog. I used Sublime yarn for this which is a merino yarn and so didn’t end up with the problem of it being too heavy or “blooming” after use like my other tank tops. This pattern too was made up using an all over eyelet design and some waist shaping detail. The back and front are identical and so I could have knit this in the round and saved my self some seaming, but I wanted a bit of sturdiness that only seams can give a garment to accentuate the waist shaping. I seamed the sides, no biggie!
Here endeth the tank top parade!
PS: I don’t know why lately all my images on WordPress look washed out, maybe a bug that needs tweaking. But if you click on each image you will be able to see the actual color.
That’s all folks!!
