Pretty Tank Top Knitting Patterns

After sharing some fresh T-shirt knitting patterns last month, let’s complete our summer knit wardrobes with some awesome tank top knitting patterns.

I love a good knit tank top because it somehow feels a little bit more dressed up than a purchased tank top, plus they give you an opportunity to knit and wear knits even when it’s hot outside.

The Rowdy Tank by Caitlyn Turowski is a great season-spanning top, because you can wear it when it’s warm as a tank or layer it like a vest when it’s cooler. It’s worked with two strands of lace weight yarn held together (or you could use a single strand of sport weight) and it comes in nine sizes, ranging from a 28 to 60 inch/70 to 150 cm bust, and is meant to be worn with 0-4 inches/0-10 cm of negative ease. You can find the pattern on Ravelry.

Keep it super simple for summer with the Ella tank top knitting pattern from MMadison Marie on Etsy. This cropped V-neck design is worked entirely in stockinette stitch, which gives you a cute rolled hem. It uses worsted weight yarn and comes in four sizes.

Another great classic design in Camisole No. 9 by My Favorite Things. This slim fit, top down crewneck reminds me of my storebought tank tops, but worked in fingering weight yarn it would be even lighter and nicer to wear on its own or for layering. It comes in eight sizes and is meant to be worn with 4.75-6 inches or 12-15 cm of negative ease.

For a design that’s all summer, check out Plumeria from Wool & Pine. This pretty design has a plain knit bodice and a long, lacy skirt. It’s worked in the round and includes a written pattern and a video tutorial to help with any potentially tricky bits. There are 12 sizes available in this pattern, which is on Ravelry.

The Ripride Slipover from Jennifer Shiels Toland is a pretty DK weight topper with panels of lace down the center front and back and textured stitch panels at the underarms. The pattern has options for a round neck of V-neck and optional waist shaping. You can also split the hem or leave it even. Ten sizes are offered in the pattern, which is on Ravelry.

Go for something a little warmer for the cooler mornings and evenings to come with the Emery vest and pullover pattern from Joji Locatelli. This cabled pattern can be worked as a sleeveless shell or a pullover with sleeves. It’s worked with worsted weight yarn held with a fluffy laceweight, and comes in 10 sizes. You can find this one on Ravelry.

Any time of year is a good time for stash busting, but if you can combine it with knitting a blanket that will keep you warm when it (finally!) gets cooler that’s even better. Let’s take a look at some fun patchwork blanket knitting patterns.

If you want to keep it super simple, you can just make blocks of garter stitch and sew them together, like the beginner’s patchwork baby blanket from Mini Baa Baa or the color block blanket from Make and Do Crew. Both projects are worked in strips and sew together, with the baby version calling for two strands of DK or light worsted weight yarn held together and the larger one using bulky yarn.

Add a little more texture with the mixed blocks of the cottage quilt throw from Mama in a Stitch. This one combines garter stitch and seed stitch and uses worsted weight yarn. She used a crochet join to make the chains on top of the blocks, but you can join them however you like. It calls for eight colors but you can use what you have, and there are three size options.

Get a real sampler style patchwork blanket with this design from Knit Sew Make. It calls for worsted weight yarn and has four size options. All of the patterns just use knit and purl stitches so this one is still pretty easy for beginners.

If you want a more complex colorwork project that will keep you entertained all season, try the Peace by Piece blanket pattern from Needle and Feather. This one is made up of two color colorwork blocks and calls for worsted weight yarn. You can choose to use just a few of the blocks and repeat them more often, or make multiples of the whole set.

The knitted patchwork recipe from Martine Ellis (free on Ravelry) uses mitered squares in fingering weight yarn, so it’s perfect for using up all your leftover sock yarn and mini skeins. This one is a tutorial more than a pattern so you can make your blanket as big as you like or keep going until you run out of yarn.

Susan B. Anderson’s 100 Squares blanket (find it on Ravelry) has a lot of mitered squares, too, but they’re arranged in fun ways and includes some quilt inspired designs as well. This one also is a bit of method more than pattern but it sure looks like a lot of fun for using all the leftovers.

Of course you can totally improvise a patchwork blanket using the yarn and stitches you like, but I hope these patterns inspire you to look at your leftover yarn in a new way.

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