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]

Getting ready for back to school makes me think about pencil crafts, so let’s take a look at some pencil themed knitting patterns!

I recently made a pencil on a circular knitting machine, and it was a fun, quick, easy project that uses little bits of leftover yarn (and if you don’t have yellow you can make it a colored pencil using whatever color’s your favorite). And if you want to make a bigger version check out this pattern from Orange Olive Road on Etsy.

If you want to knit a pencil pillow by hand, check out Sketchy, available on Ravelry from Shana S. Cohen. This one uses worsted weight yarn and has two size options and the choice to make a pencil with an eraser or a colored pencil.

Pencil scarves seem to be the most popular kind of pencil knitting pattern, and there are lot of cute ones. This one from Cosy Craft UK mostly uses garter stitch, with some welts to add texture and what looks like an I-cord edging. It calls for DK weight yarn.

If you want to go all garter stitch try this version from Emsley Co Creations, which uses five colors of DK weight yarn and just a little shaping to make the point of the pencil.

There’s also this fun, mostly stockinette so it looks like it curls a bit, pencil pattern that looks like it’s worked in chunky yarn from Little Knits Studio. This one uses just a little garter stitch and easy shaping for the point.

If you don’t want a pencil scarf, how about some pencil socks? The No. 2 Pencil Socks from The Yarn Enabler are available from Ravelry and use five colors of sock yarn. They feature wide ribs to mimic the texture of a pencil and have options to be worked from the top down or the toe up.

Needs Sharpening by Alexander Walker is a free pattern on Ravelry that uses five colors of sock yarn to make a sort of shortie sock. The little bit of black at the tips of the toes inspired the name. These, too, can be worked in either direction and are available in three sizes.

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