A Tank Top to Get You Thinking about Summer

I knew I wanted to share this particular knitting pattern with you (mostly because I really want to knit one, too) and I grappled with the idea of whether it was time to pull together a roundup of tank top knitting patterns.

I think it might be a little early in the season for that, at least where I live, but I promise to have more tank top and summer top patterns for you soon.

In the meantime, I think Maxie’s Tank Top pattern from Ainur Berkimbayeva deserves its own post.

This sleek V-neck is worked in one piece from the top down. It uses fingering weight yarn (in particular, Knit Picks Lindy Chain, which is a linen and cotton blend and a chainette yarn that’s great for summer stitching) and has an allover ribbed pattern. This allows you to knit it with a lot of negative ease and still have it fit comfortably. It also includes bust darts for a better fit.

The pattern comes in nine sizes with an actual finished chest circumference of 23.75 to 50 inches, or 60.5 to 127 cm. The sample is shown with 7 inches/17.8 cm of negative ease, but the pattern includes tips on choosing the right size for you. It also says you can use the back neck portion of the pattern as your gauge swatch, which is fun.

Tank tops are great to wear by themselves when the weather is warm, but they are also great layering pieces, under a sheer top or even under a long-sleeved shirt or sweater when the weather gets colder.

I feel like I need a lot more tank tops and summer things that I made myself, so this one is definitely going on my list.

You can grab the pattern with a pay what you can cost model (please support designers the best that you can!) on Ravelry.

[Photo: Ainur Berkimbayeva]

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It felt like it had been a while since I’d done a roundup of knitting patterns involving sheep, and if search is any indication, that is true. I found a roundup of patterns for knit sheep from a few years ago, but the only one with v I could find is from 2015. So it’s definitely time to revisit this fun genre of knitting patterns.

This all started with a headband. Alyssa Kaat’s Icelandic Sheep Headband (free on Ravelry) to be specific. Ravelry showed it to me as a pattern highlight and I couldn’t resist taking a closer look. It’s worked with two colors of worsted weight yarn and alternates sheep with stars around your head.

Another great sheepy headband is this one from Loch Fyne Crafts on Etsy. These sweet little sheep are worked in bulky yarn and you can make the background look like field and sky or work it in a solid color.

Or make a headband (or a hat, cowl, or all three) covered with a flock of sheep with this set of patterns from New Age Knitting CA. These pieces also use the field/sky coloring, but you can use whatever colors of worsted weight yarn you like.

Speaking of hats, there’s also the sheep hat from Lynann Knits Designs. The sample was worked in Icelandic wool to make the sheep and the hat extra fuzzy and warm, but any worsted weight yarn will work.

There’s also the Wandering Sheep hat from Kat Hudon (on Ravelry), which features a fun collection of speckled sheep that can be worked in different yarn weights to make different sizes of hats for kids and adults.

And lest you think sheep need to be knit in traditional stranded colorwork, check out the Rebel Sheep Mob blanket by Deborah Moore. This one is worked in mosaic knitting using fingering weight yarn. In mosaic knitting you’re only working with one color per row so it’s pretty easy. You can find this pattern on Ravelry.

I can’t possibly share sheep knitting patterns without mentioning the amazing Black Sheep Shadow Shawl by Mark Jamieson. Shadow knitting is a technique I want to do more of, but it involves working two rows alternating in two different colors and the pattern emerges when you look at the design from an angle. It’s so cool and the sheep on this one are amazing! It’s not a beginner project but well worth the work. You can find it on Ravelry or at the designer’s website.

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