« August 2009 | Main | October 2009 »
Last weekend we took a quick trip to Nantucket on our sailboat. "Quick" as in we just stayed one night; as for the voyage itself, it takes at least 4 hours of sailing to get there. The weather was gorgeous! Just one problem*: I forgot my knitting. Aargh-- a good 8 hours of quality knitting time, wasted!
*Well, two problems-- as you can see from the photos, there wasn't much wind, so we did more motoring than sailing.
That's the nice thing about a free pattern-- it's kind of like having a contest where everyone is a winner. Yes, I realize it may not be the optimal time of year for a sleeveless top in a cotton yarn, at least not in the Northern Hemisphere, but hey, add the Twisted Rib Cable Tank to the queue for spring! Like most of my patterns, the size range is from XS to 3X, with bust sizes from 31 3/4 to 55 3/4 inches.
Worked in the round to the armholes, in Cascade Yarns Luna, a worsted weight cotton yarn with great texture, this top is a quick and enjoyable project, with enough detail to be interesting: the twisted rib cable begins with a flare at the hem, back and front, and then flows into a self-finished neck edging, and the armhole edgings are also self-finished. You could try substituting Cascade Yarns Cotton Club, a cotton/acrylic blend yarn with a bit of sheen, if you wanted a smoother look to the stockinette sections-- or even Cascade Yarns Cash Vero Aran, a wool/microfiber/cashmere blend, for a dressier look. Just don't forget that gauge swatch!
(Note that on the Cascade model, the hem hits higher-- at the top of the hip-- than on little old me. Luckily this pattern is easy to lengthen: just make sure to add a full repeat (or two) of the Twisted Rib Cable pattern, and to re-distribute the waist shaping decreases and increases so they fall at the right place on your body.)