Shapely Tank
After seven weeks of non-contiguous knitting (remember the week of camping where I didn't knit on Shapely Tank? and the week before and after camping where I didn't knit on it either?), Shapely Tank is finally done! And it fits! "Like a glove," as Cindy of the LYS said.
As I was seaming (mattress stitch, or invisible vertical seaming is not nearly as horrendous as some knitters make it out to be. In fact, I highly prefer mattress stitch to Kitchener/grafting.), I was really, really worried that Shapely Tank would be too small. I had visions of the armholes being too small, the neckband too tight, and the diameter of the garment itself being too small. If either of the first two nightmares occurred, I might have convinced myself to muck around with the garter stitch finishing to make it fit, or even, God forbid, rip both front and back down to the armholes and knit them longer/wider.
But if the garment itself was too small... well. I might have been able to see if it fit Rene. There was no way I was going to rip and reknit the entire thing (with the same yarn. I'll probably knit another shapely tank at some point, but starting with brand new yarn is completely different than starting over with the yarn that used to be a shapely tank).
I followed the pattern to the letter with one exception. I didn't drop down to a US 5 needle for the garter stitch borders (the body was knit on US 6) because, well, I didn't have a US 5 needle handy. I'm ashamed to admit I can't remember if I have a US 5 somewhere and it's lost sitting in another project, or if that's one size I haven't bought yet. The US 6 doesn't seem to have made a difference in the finished product.
Boring Stats:
Pattern: Shapely Tank, a free pattern from White Lies Designs
A note on the pattern: it's not the standard row-by-row instructions. It's more like a general overview. I would definitely encourage those with knitting knowledge to tackle it; it's not difficult. Beginners would have more a problem because there isn't any hand-holding, but if they are the adventure-seeker beginners... I say go for it.
Yarn: Cascade Pima Tencel
Gauge: 21 sts & 32 rows = 4" (5.25 sts/inch, 8 rows/inch)
Needles: Susan Bates 24" circulars, US 6
Start Date: June 11, 2007
End Date: July 30, 2007
As I was seaming (mattress stitch, or invisible vertical seaming is not nearly as horrendous as some knitters make it out to be. In fact, I highly prefer mattress stitch to Kitchener/grafting.), I was really, really worried that Shapely Tank would be too small. I had visions of the armholes being too small, the neckband too tight, and the diameter of the garment itself being too small. If either of the first two nightmares occurred, I might have convinced myself to muck around with the garter stitch finishing to make it fit, or even, God forbid, rip both front and back down to the armholes and knit them longer/wider.
But if the garment itself was too small... well. I might have been able to see if it fit Rene. There was no way I was going to rip and reknit the entire thing (with the same yarn. I'll probably knit another shapely tank at some point, but starting with brand new yarn is completely different than starting over with the yarn that used to be a shapely tank).
I followed the pattern to the letter with one exception. I didn't drop down to a US 5 needle for the garter stitch borders (the body was knit on US 6) because, well, I didn't have a US 5 needle handy. I'm ashamed to admit I can't remember if I have a US 5 somewhere and it's Pattern: Shapely Tank, a free pattern from White Lies Designs
A note on the pattern: it's not the standard row-by-row instructions. It's more like a general overview. I would definitely encourage those with knitting knowledge to tackle it; it's not difficult. Beginners would have more a problem because there isn't any hand-holding, but if they are the adventure-seeker beginners... I say go for it.
Yarn: Cascade Pima Tencel
Gauge: 21 sts & 32 rows = 4" (5.25 sts/inch, 8 rows/inch)
Needles: Susan Bates 24" circulars, US 6
Start Date: June 11, 2007
End Date: July 30, 2007
2 comments:
Wow! That's awesome, Squirt! Knitting your own garments is damn cool. My coworker Chuck is also impressed. :)
Ooh, that looks really flattering. How did you like the Pima Tencel? I keep wanting to try a yarn with tencel because it's supposed to be super shiny - is it?
Your black progress bars are torturing me. :D You're 90% done a hedgehog but won't be finishing it? Nooooo! 90%! The world needs more knitted hedgehogs.
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