finally, a finished basalt tank!!

i forgot to post it here, but i did post a pic of my finished basalt tank blocking over at the knitting nature KAL.. as always, i promised to post some modeled photos of it soon, and this time, i actually did! big pat on the back to me, as photographing knits on me seems to take an epic amount of energy and motivation. unfortunately, the dark brown color of the yarn i used made it very difficult to photograph well. so, while you can kind of see the fit of the tank, it's not as easy to see the hexagons. you'll just have to trust me that they look pretty tidy and nice (no modesty here...!) i also must have messed with some of my camera settings, because i just couldn't manage to get a crisper shot. i'll have to consult with my bff who happens to be a photographer - and who unfortunately happens to live 1000s of miles away...


pattern: basalt tank from knitting nature
yarn: rowan wool cotton in coffee rich, 6 balls and a tiny bit of the 7th.
needles: addis 24" size 5
size: medium, 39"
start: april 2007
finish: july 2007

what to say about this.. first, using the yarn that was called for in the pattern, i figured i could get gauge with the recommended needles (size 4), but my swatch turned out TINY. thank god i swatched - i sometimes (usually) don't. so i swatched with size 5s and my swatch was still way too small, so i moved up to the 39" size. in the end, my tank measured 36" and fits well in the chest. as you can see, i made half-hexagons instead of whole hexagons on the sides and added a garter stitch and eyelet border around the bottom. i really like the neckline on this tank - it's actually not so revealing as it might appear in the picture (i'm wearing a bad bra that seems to squish my boobs together) - and i think it fits with the summery-ness and openess of the tank design. i wish i had added some waist shaping like Kelp did - i love the way hers turned out... without the shaping, it looks sort of boxy and makes me look a little wide through the middle (which i am, but is it so much to ask that my knitting perform body miracles?!) also, the armholes on my tank turned just the tiniest bit too small, but it's still comfortable to wear and doesn't bunch up under the arms. i know some people had problems with the written pattern, but i didn't stumble across any bugs and the knitting went fairly well. i loved the yarn, and the pattern was fun, although i was nervous up until the very end about whether or not it would fit. it's really to hard to determine that while looking at some seemingly randomly-patched together shapes. norah gaughan is genius. pure natural genius.

some more views:



man i need a haircut...

more knits coming soon!

~r

posted by rockbridge @ 9:09 PM