short but sweet



sweetness from Knitty
in all season's cotton, Cotton Ease and Phildar Licorne

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Here I am with the video camera in the bathroom modelling my new tank: sweetness. I started with the blue Cotton Ease and went down a needle size to get gauge, so then when I switched to the all season's cotton for the other stripes the whole thing ended up a bit narrower than I had planned, especially considering that I added waist shaping (taken from bob also in the Spring knitty). So it's unintentionally form fitting, but serendipitously, the short-sleeves also turned out skimpier than I planned so they suit the tight tank perfectly. Although surprised by the fit, I actually really like it. Every tank girl needs a little top that makes her feel pretty!

No progress pictures today. I am sorry to say that my digital camera is no more. It only manages to turn on and take black pictures now. I guess I ran the thing into the ground. Or perhaps I let it fall on the ground a few times too many! What ever the reason, it's a goner. Now I've got to contend with no internet connection and no camera for the knitalongs. Poop.

Despite not being able to photographically record my progress or get to the computer to blog about it, I have been knitting. I finished the body of sweetness up to the yoke and did the side seams for my husband's vest. Maybe I can finish one of these two by next week before the knitalongs begin. I'm in no rush though. I've decided to relax through the summer knitting. The yarn won't go bad if I don't get something done. I can make it next year. And the pressure's really off to start on the boys' summer shirts, since I can only get giant short-sleeved t-shirts over B's cast!

To do by next Thursday:

• Figure out how to use video camera to take knitting pictures.


• Call in miracle and get RCN to install our phone/cable/modem. (That's right, we've also got no phone or access to Nick Jr!)


• Finish either brown butter or sweetness (ugh, all those ends!)


• Decide on stripes for Pagan and do some swatching already.


• Find time in day to at least check blogs of fellow knit-alongers!

Have a good weekend everyone. And if I don't get a chance to blog before then, happy mothers day to all you moms out there!

My summer beach version of sweetness is coming along well. I can't stop knitting this because I just love seeing how the colors are coming out! I added waist shaping and now this puppy is like totally form-fitting. I've slipped it on and we're talking second skin here. I hope it won't end up being too immodest to wear! I keep telling myself that the cotton will grow a bit while I've got it on. Yeah, it'll grow a bit. Right.

Okay, time to 'fess up. I started a new summer top! No, not Pagan - the knitalong is still on. But when I was swatching a bit of the Cotton Ease that I bought last week and then received a package from Becky with the most beautiful yarn in it, I couldn't help myself. I figured out how many stitches to cast on for a good size, did some ribbing and then asked myself, 'ok, what are we making here'. After browsing through my list from Monday and comparing the blue Cotton Ease and the aquamarine Licorne from Becky with my stash of all season's cotton, I decided to do a version of Sweetness in beach colors with short sleeves and waist shaping. The last tank did not have waist shaping and boy do I miss it! Won't be making that mistake again!

Another thing I won't be doing is blogging or knitting much over the next week. 'Cause we're moving. Yes, all sudden like that. We've been waiting for our landlord to finish renovating a bigger apartment nearby so we could move our now large-ish family into it and finally it's done. So off we go!

Tank girl wants more tanks. Please help her decide from this list of lovelies....

Very cherry

From the latest Knitty. My top pick so far.

Sweetness

Another great pattern from this season's Knitty. I'd make it with short sleeves of course.

Pagan from Rowan #27. The only one on the list actually designed for all season's cotton, so no need to do any pattern modification here. I'd probably add some stripes to make it more interesting.

More stripes! I've wanted to make this striped sweater from Rebecca #17 for a long time. Not sure if I'd have enough or the right colors to make the stripes look as pretty as in the picture, though.

After seeing Carolyn's new halter, I've been thinking about something similar. Strech marks prevent me from doing the exposed navel thing, but this little top from Rebecca # 24 seems like a good compromise.

Maggie from Rowan #31. I love this top! Lengthening it should be no problem, but would it work in the all season's cotton?

Shells also from Rowan #31. Simple, but classy. And I can see it working well in the all season's cotton.

I think this racerback tank from Interweave Knits Fall 2002 is totally cool. I had been considering it for some cotton glace odds and ends though.

Ha, ha!

Fixing the blog took most of my knitting time yesterday, but I found a few minutes here and there to sew up the all season's cotton top. There's still a few loose ends hanging around on the inside, but I felt like I needed to celebrate it now. I like the way it came out, although I'm a bit wary of the off-the-shoulder thing. I'm quite attached to the idea of wearing underclothes, but you know those Rebecca girls certainly aren't. It's very comfy though and the ribbing at the top that holds it up works amazingly well. It has plenty of hold, but doesn't feel tight or look too stretched out. I think the all season's cotton ended up being a great choice of yarn.

In fact, I liked the result so much that I've got many more all season's cotton tops planned. I'm scouring through my pattern books to find other little tanks that I can make with this yarn. Any suggestions? I'm thinking of trying one of the Cherries from the last Knitty and/or a short-sleeved version of Sweetness. I actually have enough of the yarn left over from this one that I could make another one exactly like it but with the colors reversed. Tempting.