A Top Knitting Pattern Designed with Summer in Mind

Jacqueline Cieslack’s Sol knit top was developed for a collection celebrating the summer solstice, and it’s just the thing to knit and wear at the height of summer.

It’s a cropped (though there’s an option for a full-length version as well) tank top with a fun lace and bobble panel running up and down one side. It can be worn with all sorts of ease depending on how you like it, and the pattern has nine sizes, ranging from a 34.25 inch chest measurement to 69 inches.

I love Jacqueline’s roundup of test knitting results with all the details on what size was knit, how much ease each garment has and what modifications if any the knitter made. This makes it easier to envision what the finished garment might look like on you given your size and preferences for ease.

You can also buy the pattern direct from her website if you’re staying off Ravelry for now. (Link for Ravelry is here.) in either case the pattern runs $8.

[Photo: Jacqueline Cieslack.]

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While I was knitting this baby blanket, my husband was curious as to why I was knitting a baby blanket when there are no babies in the near future that we know of. (What we know is kind of relative since some friends told us they were adopting a couple of years ago with less than a month’s notice.)

I said, “well, I had the yarn.” Which is true. I bought a ball of Bernat Sport Ombre Twist yarn when JoAnn was closing and it seemed like just the thing to make a baby blanket.

And at more than 1,000 yards per skein, I figured a one-skein baby blanket would be a fun project to try.

It actually worked out perfectly, with the blanket coming out a good size. With the border it’s 36 inches/91.4 cm square, which is what I’m usually aiming for when I knit baby blankets but I rarely hit it because I also rarely check gauge for a baby blanket since it’s usable whatever size it is.

I had enough yarn to work the blanket and two rounds of single crochet as a border, with a few yards of yarn to spare.

If you don’t crochet you can leave off the border or do an applied I-cord or some kind of knit border, but you might need to use a contrasting yarn for that.

The blanket uses sand stitch, which is an easy knitting stitch that only uses knits and purls. It’s sort of stockinette on one side and alternating knits and purls on the other. There’s some debate as to which side of this stitch pattern is considered the front, but the good news is they both look good.

You can grab this free pattern over at Our Daily Craft. Stitch it up even if you don’t know of any babies coming soon. You never know, and it can always be a charity project if all else fails.

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