Knititude

Haddonfield Tank

 

The cable/lace panels that accent the Haddonfield Tank from Knitted Tanks and Tunics have to be among my favorite stitch patterns ever. I found one of them in a Japanese stitch dictionary, and fell in love with its movement and texture. They are also fun and interesting to work, although definitely not for beginners, especially if worked flat, since there are lace stitches on every row.

Before Haddonfield, I used it in my Motif Mittens, designed for Tanis Gray's book Wanderlust: 46 Modern Knits for Bohemian Style (another one of my designs, the Cabled Capelet, is on the cover!). For these mittens, I created the mirror image version of the panel, so the mittens would mirror each other.

Well, the Motif Mittens only left me wanting to use that lovely cabled lace in another design! For Haddonfield, I decide to use decreases and increases to curve the panels, accentuating body curves as well as the curving flow of the stitch pattern. This tank also has waist shaping, which combined with the decreases and increases that move the panels, makes it a solid intermediate in difficulty. Since Haddonfield is worked in the round to the armholes, at least the cables are worked for the most part from the right side! (From the armholes to the neck, they are worked flat.) Since the fit and length are pretty classic, I decided to go with traditional ribbed edgings; the hem edging is worked continuously with the body, while the neck and armhole edgings are added during finishing. 

The yarn I chose for this tank, Berroco Modern Cotton, is a blend of pima cotton and modal rayon, and for a cotton blend yarn, it is quite soft and pleasant to work with. It has a nice sheen, moderate drape, great stitch definition, and wears well-- and comes in lots of colors, from neutral to bright to saturated! I would happily use it again.

 

 

Sedalia Tank

The Sedalia* Tank from Knitted Tanks and Tunics has lots of knitterly details that I really enjoyed incorporating into the design (but they do make this project a better choice for an experienced than a novice knitter). The simple lace columns on the body are carried into a floral lace motif on the upper front and back, and the waist is shaped with side decreases. All edges are self-finished, and the lace pattern creates an attractive wavy edge along the armholes.

I decided to add gussets under the arms (see above photo) because I wanted to shape the armholes with just decreases, and not bind off any stitches, since the transition from bound off stitches to the armhole sides would have been hard to finish nicely without adding an edging. But without the bound off stitches, I thought the armholes would be too deep, since the underarm stitches would have to be removed more gradually by decreases. And that's where the gussets came in: they fill in the area between the initial armhole shaping decreases, keeping the armhole from being too deep.

Another knitterly detail: the shallow scooped necklines, slightly deeper on the front than the back. (Sedalia can also be worn backwards if you like the deeper neckline in the back-- or even worked with the front and back identical, using either the deeper or the shallower neckline.) I shaped the necklines using short rows, and also used short rows to shape the shoulders. 

I thought the crisp stitch definition of Classic Elite Yarns Provence would be a great match for this design; it also has a pretty sheen from the mercerized Egyptian cotton, wears really well, and comes in many lovely shades. I used it for one of my earliest designs, the Wisteria child's sleeveless dress, and have been fond of it ever since. Alas, I found out recently that Classic Elite Yarns is closing its doors! This was very sad news for me-- CEY has been one of my go-to yarn companies, and I used two of their other yarns, Firefly and  Sanibel, for the Yuma and Odessa tunics in Knitted Tanks and Tunics.

I will miss you, CEY!

And I suggest that if you are thinking of making Sedalia, and want to use Provence yarn, you purchase some sooner rather than later. If looking for a substitute yarn, I have found yarnsub.com to be valuable resource.

All photos except 2nd-- copyright Tom Moore Studios!

(By the way, Sedalia was previously published as an individual pattern, the Madaket Tank, and is still available as an individual PDF download).

*Named after Sedalia, MO: Another town that I would love to visit someday.

 

Galena Tank

The focal point of the Galena Tank is the unusual lace yoke, which is worked sideways, not in the round. I found the original stitch pattern of lace circles in Barbara Walker's Third Treasury of Knitting Patterns awhile ago, and after swatching, made some changes to the stitch pattern so that the circle outlines stand out more clearly. I also placed them on a background of garter stitch. 

I was thinking of combining this stitch pattern with a lace border in a garter-based shawl, but never got around to completing the design. Then I got the idea of working a single column of the lace circles, adding short rows to shape the column into a curve, and turning the resulting curved strip into a yoke. I decided to keep the rest of the top simple, and found a very special yarn, Quince & Co.'s Willet, that shows off the textured stitches of the yoke AND works into a light, smooth fabric for the body. It's made of a responsibly sourced cotton that is grown, spun and dyed in the USA. 

The other unusual feature of the yoke, besides the lace stitch, is the duplicate stitch method that I used to graft the ends. When using this method for a circular item such as a yoke (or a cowl), you cast on in a contrast color waste yarn, work a couple of rows, then join the main yarn and work to one row before the end. You then cut the main yarn leaving a long tail for grafting (very important!), join the contrast color yarn, work a couple of rows, and bind off. Next, you thread a tapestry needle with the long yarn tail and with the contrast color rows as a guide, use duplicate stitch to graft the ends of the yoke together. Sound complicated? This is a case where a picture (or better yet, a video) is indeed worth a thousand words. 

If you knit a lot of socks, you are probably pretty comfortable with using Kitchener stitch for simple stockinette, but the duplicate stitch method is a wonderful way to graft lace or other stitch patterns, because there are no complicated grafting charts to read! And since there are no live stitches hanging loose, there is no fear of dropping stitches, AND you can readjust the tension of your grafted stitches as much as you like, or pull the graft stitches out and redo them if you make a mistake. Once you are happy with the graft row, you carefully cut away the waste yarn stitches. 

After finishing Galena's yoke, stitches are picked up from the bottom edge and worked down for the body. There are some short rows to shape the top of the front and back to the curve of the yoke, but after that, the rest of the body is pretty simple. After you reach the bottom of the armholes, it's worked in the round; some waist shaping and a simple rolled hem, and you're done.

By the way, this tank was not named after the mineral, but after the town of Galena in Illinois (I hear it's quite nice!).

(All photos copyright Tom Moore Studios)

Marietta Tank

I wore the Marietta Tank for the author photo on the back cover of Knitted Tanks and Tunics. It is one of my favorite designs in the book, but I decided to wear it (and not one of the other designs) for two reasons: because it fits me well, and because the color is very flattering.

I'm not tall, and I had to make the samples for the book patterns in a size that would fit a model (not me), so many of the book garments are a little long in the waist for my body. The Marietta Tank is slightly cropped, so the narrowest part of the waist hits me just right-- at my natural waist. That is an important consideration for the best fit whenever a knitted garment has waist shaping. In fact, I included a section in the book called "Making Sure Your Knits Fit," which includes how to change the position of waist shaping if necessary. Generally, a top will be most flattering if the narrowest part of the waist shaping falls at or slightly above the natural waist.

I'm also fond of this design because I find twisted stitch patterns both pretty and fun to knit (especially once you learn how to work the twists without a cable needle!). I love the elegant little twisted rib cable that runs from the hem up the center front and back, and then splits to frame the twisted stitch panel on the front. I enjoyed designing that panel, but It was a challenge to grade all of the sizes so that the panel starts at the right place for each one.

You can also wear Marietta with the panel in the back, and the V-neck in the front, which is another plus for this design. 

And finally, the yarn I used, Rowan Softyak DK, is an unusual and lovely yarn, produced in heathered shades, and constructed of mostly cotton with a bit of yak and nylon. The yak and nylon help it hold its shape, while its chained construction gives the finished fabric a nice drape, and makes it resistant to splitting while it is being worked. 

(all photos copyright Tom Moore Studios)

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Astoria Tunic

I'm glad that the Astoria Tunic graces the cover of Knitted Tanks and Tunics; I really like the fun retro feel of the high rounded collar and the center front pleat, and I also think that the A-line shape and tunic length make this a style that is flattering to many body types.

The body is very simple: it's worked in the round, and has regular decreases along the sides to give it that A-line shape. The armhole edgings are worked at the same time as the body, so no additional finishing is required. Once the upper front is reached, things get a bit (but only a bit!) more complicated: while working the upper front, purl columns are started, to allow the back part of the pleat to fold neatly, and a few short rows are worked to shape the upper edge into a curve. The inverted box pleat is formed by folding the fabric toward the center front along the purl columns, and then back toward the sides. 

The layers of fabric have to be attached to each other to hold the pleat in place; I experimented with several techniques to find the best way to do this without creating a lot of bulk at the top of the pleat. 

For the collar, stitches are cast on between the top edges of the front and back, and then worked in the round. The collar is then folded in half to create a double layer, which helps it stand away from the neck.

I used Schachenmayr Catania Grande yarn for Astoria; it's 100% mercerized cotton and worsted (#4 medium) weight, but I used larger needles to create a less dense fabric with more drape. This yarn comes in a wide range of colors, from neutrals to pastels to brights, and the mercerization gives the cotton a nice sheen and excellent stitch definition. 

(all photos copyright Tom Moore Studios)

Bethel Tank

The Bethel Tank is one of the three projects in Knitted Tanks and Tunics that uses more than one color of yarn (the others are the Roanoke Tank and the Beverly Tank)-- but the only one that uses the stranded or Fair Isle technique. In this technique, many colors may be used, but traditionally only two colors are used in any one row or round.

For stranded designs, the color choices are all-important: when combining yarn colors, a particular color displays very differently depending on the adjacent hues. Traditionally, Fair Isle knitters use a fingering (#1 super fine), Shetland wool yarn such as Jamieson's Shetland Spindrift, which comes in over 200 colors! The Brown Sheep Company makes a similar yarn, Nature Spun, from U.S. sourced and spun wool, which comes in over 80 colors, but since Bethel is primarily a warm-weather garment, I decided to use Brown Sheep's Cotton Fleece yarn for this project. Cotton Fleece is 80% cotton and 20% merino wool AND it comes in over 60 colors. It's also a borderline DK/worsted (#3 light/#4 medium) weight, so it knits up much faster than a fingering weight yarn. And finally, I was already familiar with Cotton Fleece, having used it for the Sherwood child's pullover, one of my first published designs, back in 2006.

I used Brown Sheep color cards to choose the yarn colors, found a few suitable stranded motifs in Alice Starmore's Charts for Color Knitting (highly recommended!), and then I did a lot of swatching, arranging the colors in different ways. I ended up with two favorite motifs, and I went with the one that I thought would have more of the effect of a necklace in the finished design.

Bethel's stranded yoke is worked in the round from the bottom up, and then stitches are picked up from the lower (cast-on) edge and worked down for the body. I used short rows to shape the top of the front and back along the edge of the yoke, so that it keeps its natural round shape. One of the advantages of working top-down is that the top can be tried on while work is in progress, to check the placement of waist shaping as well as the finished length. The hem, neck and armholes of Bethel are all finished with an attached I-cord, which creates a simple, clean edge.

One word of caution: The darker colors of Cotton Fleece can bleed if washed in warm or hot water, so take care to use cold water when washing!

(all photos copyright Tom Moore Studios)

*I used the runner-up stranded motif for the Zinnia Tank, also worked in Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece.

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Roanoke Tank

The Roanoke Tank, another design from Knitted Tanks and Tunics, is unique in its design and construction, but also showcases a very special yarn: Claudia Hand Painted Yarns' Drama. Drama is 100% linen, sport weight, machine washable AND dryable (more on that later), and it also comes in some absolutely stunning colorways, from subtly to boldly variegated. For Roanoke, I chose one of each type of colorway: the body of the tank is worked in Silver Shimmer (subtle shades of white), while the front and back panels are worked in Collards and Grits (love that name!), a gorgeous combination of blues, greens, neutrals and white. 

I have to admit that the yarn did not inspire the design. I had been playing with the idea of building a garment around an upper front medallion of some sort, decided it would be a nice way to showcase a variegated yarn, then decided to use a more subtly colored yarn for the body, and went looking for a yarn that had those colorway options. I also wanted the body to be light and flowy, so that narrowed my choices, and then I found the perfect yarn! 

The front and back diamond panels are worked first, and then stitches are picked up from the lower two sides for the body, and from the upper two sides for the straps. I used a smaller needle size for the diamond panels, to keep the garter stitch fabric from getting loose and sloppy, while for the body I used larger needles, to create that light and airy feel. I made several different sizes of diamonds, trying to find the largest size that would work for the design: If it was too large, then the upper point of the diamond would extend up into the neck area, and the body wouldn't start high enough to be extended around the sides, but if it was too small, it wouldn't look right.

Like with the Bellingham Tank, I used Ofelia, my mannequin, to help me figure out some construction details. I used some strips of a lightweight knit T-shirt for the straps, to fine-tune the placement of the diamonds on the front and back (see above photo-- in fact I still like the look of the fabric so much, I'm wondering if this could be turned into a mixed media top....). I was happy to realize that I could fit a larger diamond on the back, but when I started to work on grading the pattern for different sizes, I unhappily came to the conclusion that I couldn't make the design work for bust sizes larger than around 45" (114 cm). The body stitches come from a combination of stitches picked up from the diamonds' edges, increases, and stitches cast on for the underarms, and I just wasn't confident that the sides of the tank would stay up high enough in sizes larger than 45". 

If you haven't worked with 100% linen yarn before, I'll be frank: it's not pleasant. It doesn't stretch and it feels rough. But the finished fabric is lovely-- with time and wear it gets much softer-- especially if it's machine washed and dried. So for this pattern, the gauge actually specifies to do just that!

(1st, 2nd and 4th photos, copyright Tom Moore Studios)

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Bellingham Tank

photo copyright Tom Moore Studios

The process I used to design the Bellingham Tank was very unusual for me! But then it's also quite different from the other designs in Knitted Tanks and Tunics: I love to use cabled, lace and textured stitch patterns, and I prefer to work in the round, but Bellingham is worked only in stockinette stitch, and it's worked flat.

photo copyright Tom Moore Studios

For Bellingham, I knew I wanted to end up with a top that wrapped around both sides and then narrowed into pieces (I thought of them as wings) that crossed to the opposite shoulder. I was hoping to end up with a top that could be worn with the crossed pieces on the front as well as the back (more on that later). So the first step was to come up with knit-able shapes for all of the pieces, or even better, a single knit-able piece (I think I had a vague mental picture of something that resembled the Bat-Signal).

photo copyright Tom Moore Studios

To do this I enlisted the aid of Ofelia, my mannequin. Instead of muslin I used old T-shirts, to better approximate the weight and drape of knitted fabric; I cut them into large pieces, draped, overlapped, and pinned them on Ofelia. I trimmed the edges away until what remained was close to what I wanted for the final top. Then I unwrapped everything and laid it flat on the floor, ending up with a single large piece with a wide, curved bottom edge and two curved wings; the spaces between the center and wings would form the armholes.

But when I tried to figure out how to knit this shape in one piece, I quickly decided that not only would it require complicated shaping with decreases and short rows, but it would also be very difficult to grade and size accurately. After measuring various parts, I decided that the center section could be worked as one piece, with the lower part worked in several identical wedges and the upper part shaped with additional decreases, while the side sections could be worked separately. Instead of seaming these pieces together, I opted to pick up the stitches for each side section from the side edges of the center section, leaving the only seaming at the shoulders. This also allowed for some customization of fit, since the side pieces can be easily shortened or lengthened.

photo copyright Tom Moore Studios

I was delighted to find that the yarn I had chosen, Fibra Natura Good Earth from Universal Yarn, was the perfect match for this design. It's a worsted-weight cotton-linen blend, and I worked it on slightly larger needles than suggested, so the fabric has a nice drape, with enough weight to give the flared bottom edge of the top a little swing. It also comes in a pretty range of colors,has a lovely subtle sheen, and is rather inexpensive (and it's machine washable!).

As for being able to wear Bellingham with the crossed pieces in front? I'm not sure I succeeded in pulling that off. I think the issue was making the armholes deep enough so that the side pieces could be pulled across to the opposite side without pulling too tight under the arms-- this created enough wiggle room that the top doesn't necessarily stay put in one position on the body, perhaps leading to too much exposure here or there (definitely less of an issue with the crossed pieces in the back). So I was able to arrange the finished tank on Giulia such that the front coverage was skimpy but adequate (see above photo), but if Giulia were walking around in a windstorm, there would certainly be potential for a wardrobe malfunction! In conclusion, I would say, try it on that way, but whether it can realistically worn with the crossed pieces in front will depend on individual fit. 

 

Greenville Tank

The Greenville Tank, one of the 21 designs in my new book Knitted Tanks and Tunics, has three unusual features, all of which combine to create a top with a very flattering fit. The first feature is the corded accent under the bust, which is created by binding off all of the body stitches, and then picking them up again, but from the wrong side, leaving the bound off edge visible on the right side of the fabric.

The second feature is the way the corded accent curves up at the sides; this was achieved by using short rows to shape the bust area, but also was a result of the natural shape of the side lace panels.

And the side lace panels are the third unusual feature, by virtue of their placement and also the effect that the lace pattern has on the tank's shaping. Like most lace knitting, the pattern combines increases (yarnovers) and decreases to create decorative holes while keeping the stitch count the same; in this pattern, the increases are clustered near the center, and the decreases all occur at the outer edges, which causes the rows to appear to angle outward from the panel center. This also creates parallel curves at the bottom and top of the panel; the bottom curve shapes the hem into two shallow points over the hipbones (best shown in the above photo).

The lace pattern looks to me like sprays of flowers...and also like fern fronds, which is why I named an earlier version of this design the Fern Fitted Shell. The contract for this book stipulated that I could include up to five previously published patterns, and I decided to include three (Fern, the Katama/Sayre Tank, and the Madaket/Sedalia Tank). In the case of the other two, I made no significant changes to the design.

But in the case of Fern, I had never liked the way the top curve caused by lace pattern created some loose fabric at the top of the panel (see above photo), so for Greenville, I experimented with ways to fix this, and found that adding short row shaping did the trick.

I also chose a different yarn for Greenville: Cascade Yarns Avalon, a 50/50 blend of cotton and acrylic. It's cable-plied, which gives it a bit of surface texture and makes it wonderfully resistant to splitting. It's machine washable (and dryable, but for the lace in Greenville to look good, it has be to be blocked and dried flat). It's not as heavy as 100% cotton yarn would be, and keeps its shape better. And it comes in a wide range of colors; I love a nice off-white, but if I made myself another Greenville, I would probably choose Dark Denim (a steely gray-blue) or Fawn (greige).

(First three photos copyright Tom Moore Studios)

Sheridan Tank

The Sheridan Tank is another design from my new book, Knitted Tanks and Tunics. It's worked in Cascade Yarns Anchor Bay, a blend of 50% cotton and 50% superwash merino wool. It features an unusual cabled pattern on the front and back. The stitch pattern is called "Snails," and I found it in the Vogue Knitting Stitchionary Vol. 2: Cables. If I hadn't decided to name all of the patterns in the book after towns, I would certainly have called this one "Escargot"...or maybe "Lumache" (Italian for "snails," and also for snail-shaped pasta).

The cabled panels on front and back flow into and around the deep scooped neck, which is shaped with short rows. The cable pattern itself is not complicated; it's a very common four-over-four stitch cable cross (it's the placement of the background knit and purl columns that gives its unusual appearance). But the short row neck shaping works around the cable crosses, and a chart is used to show both the short rows and the cable pattern, so Sheridan is definitely geared toward the intermediate knitter. In my opinion, a chart is actually a great way to see the placement of the short row wrap-and-turns, but it does take a little getting used to, if you've never used that type of chart before.

Sheridan has side waist shaping and was designed to flatter, whether worn alone or over another layer; the vertical lines of the cabled panel and the plain stockinette stitch sides have a slimming effect, while the rounded neckline looks good on many body types. Instructions are given for changing the body length; there is also a section in the book about adjusting the placement of waist shaping to fit your body (an important consideration to get the best fit). 

This was one of the first projects I completed for the book, and a few months after I had finished the sample, I found out that the yarn I had chosen was going to be discontinued before the book came out. So I quickly picked out another yarn and made ANOTHER sample. Luckily the Anchor Bay turned out to be a perfect choice; the cotton/wool blend is very pleasant to work with, comfortable to wear, holds its shape well, and also has great stitch definition. AND it comes in 32 colors!

For a chance to win a free copy of Knitted Tanks and Tunics AND the yarn for either the Sheridan Tank (Cascade Yarns Anchor Bay) or the Greenville Tank (Cascade Yarns Avalon), head on over the the Cascade Yarns Facebook page on April 9th!