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I feel like I hardly got any sleep the other night,
dreaming about my next tank top. In the dream I was starting and changing my
mind, restarting, rethinking, redesigning and oh my gosh, I felt like it was
the most important job in the world and there could be no errors. This is not
like me but something must have been bothering me when I went to bed. Still
haven’t figured it out but I did my next shell. Sister Janet, even if she’s not
exactly in the youngster category, was next on my list. Checking in on her in
Toronto the other day by phone, I casually asked what colour she might like in
case I got around to it. She shocked the heck out of me, asking for bright
yellow or gold. She’s more of the jewel tones but I have gold Panama that should
work up nicely.
My plan was to change up the hems a bit – after all I
do have a few in my back pocket to choose from! :) Going with the Scalloped Lace
with auto picot hem on page 99, the Handbook for Manual Machine Knitters
https://knitwords.blogspot.com/2016/09/omg-its-ready.html
and the Leaf pattern from page 57, same book.
Got the hem done although this yarn is not the best-case
scenario for hand transfers. Panama is a blend of cotton and acrylic and it has
a tendency to split and snag on the hooks as you’re lifting multiple groups up. For this
one, I’m using the adjustable 7-prong tool, moving five stitches at a time and
then four on the next one. Turns out not exactly a lot of fun or relaxing! I’ll
admit, some bad words were repeated multiple times.
I’m not sure I’ve told you this before, but I have a
short memory for bad things. Always considered this a plus. By the time I knit 100
rows of stockinette, I’d forgotten the grief and continued into the ‘leaf’
pattern in an increasing diamond motif. Felt so confident in planning it out. The
book says it’s a 16-row repeat but I added the offset next ones at 14 rows so I
counted back from the neckline (RC176), six times to start it on row 106 so it
would be wide enough for the width of the neckline. The leaf uses outlined
transfers, not the simplest thing to do, even when all things are aligned with the knitting gods!
I also forgot that because of the acrylic I wouldn’t
be able to press this out with my usual abandon. Careful steaming only! Thankfully, there's good stitch definition!
This could be called the Four-Letter Word Tank!
I’ll be honest here. I was hoping to make two tanks
from this olive garden yarn, and I did. I started off to make for Agnieszka and
in the back of my mind, the second one would be mine. Here’s what actually
happened. I did make a swatch, I showed you! But in my excitement, of course I didn’t
let it rest enough. I finished the top and was pleased but thought, this will
never fit her! It would be perfect for Rhiana though, a size down from the one
I thought I planned. Oh well, no worries, I’m sure (not really) they’d like a
mother/daughter combo or at least I figured Mom would. Not so certain about my
13 year old! Nothing ventured, nothing gained. In for a penny, in for a pound.
No guts, no glory. You know what I mean!
Used the automatic picot hem, #3, from Knitting on
the EDGE by MAO, the orange book, http://www.knitwords.com/bookstore.html did the A- line shaping from the original black tank, cut
in the back armhole to make it more
summery and edged the armhole with #23,
ewrap on vertical edge from 50 Ways To Love Your Knitter (the green book) by the same – I haven’t used that one in ages and oh my! impressed
myself all over again how well it works. It has the look of that crabby-stitch
crochet thing but done on the machine and doesn’t take all day and all night to
do it! The auto picot hem worked beautifully for the neckline – no reduction in
the number of stitches because of the width of tuck patterning in the body but
you need to add an RTR (remove, turn, rehang) in there after hanging the
beginning row (only for the neck, not the bottom hem) because there is a right
side and wrong side to the band.
Quick knits, both of
them in one day!
Look at those beautiful, weird little argyles! If you could only get that all-over!
I’m not sure I’ve told you this before, but I have a
short memory for bad things. Always considered this a plus. By the time I knit 100
rows of stockinette, I’d forgotten the grief and continued into the ‘leaf’
pattern in an increasing diamond motif. Felt so confident in planning it out. The
book says it’s a 16-row repeat but I added the offset next ones at 14 rows so I
counted back from the neckline (RC176), six times to start it on row 106 so it
would be wide enough for the width of the neckline. The leaf uses outlined
transfers, not the simplest thing to do, even when all things are aligned with the knitting gods!
