Tops, Tanks, and Tees!!!
Very Shannon‘s Tops Tanks and Tees KAL is one of my favorite spring knitalongs and it begins today. It’s not too late to join in, so sign up and visit the thread on Ravelry. It’s the most active discussion thread I’ve ever seen. Today’s the first day of the KAL and I’ve already gotten several tips on using the Ravelry site more efficiently, a million summer project ideas, and some links to good tutorials.
(more on ravelry, instagram, kollabora, and flickr)
So here’s my swatch for the Hawt Sands beach coverup. We are beach people, except for last year when we barely went at all for some reason. Maybe it was the flesh eating virus alert, I don’t remember. But hanging out at Galveston, riding the ferry, eating at Mosquito Cafe, and getting something cold to drink on the deck of Murdoch’s Bathhouse are some of our favorite summery things to do. That means this top might actually be worn as both a tee and a cover-up.
You know how I’m trying to move toward more summer weight yarns? Well, this will be my first time to work with hemp. I’m using Elsebeth Lavold’s Hempathy in two colors and trying to knit my actual size for this one, since I can’t count on as much growth with blocking. The colorwork feels different in hemp, I hope my finished tee won’t be as messy as my swatch looks.
I’m all set to start today if I can just quit checking out everyone else’s projects and yarn choices long enough to get to work. To be honest, I started Monday, thinking it was the 7th for some reason, and put in a few rows. When I realized it wasn’t Wednesday and that what I was doing is a forbidden KAL taboo, I dropped the seed stitch as if it were on fire. No curses have befallen me, so I guess it’s safe to continue.
Ha! Shannon says on the post that you can count projects you were already working on, so I think your so-called snafu wasn't one. 🙂 That looks like an awesome cover up! I love the seahorse. I've always wanted to try Hempathy. I'm going with a Saco Stripes top in Shibui Linen for my TTKAL project, but I am off for a month so I'm going to aim to do a couple of tops.
Yay! I've never worked with hemp either. I'm interested to see your thoughts on it as you go along.
Oh the hemp looks lovely. Must try some, well if spring would hurry up and properly arrive in NE Scotland that is.
I've been trying linen for the first time, and man, is it wonky! They all tell me it fixes itself in the end, or at least, becomes charming? Best of luck with Hempathy, have always wanted to try it.
It's beautiful! I find very difficult to work on summery projects knitwise. I've never tried hemp. I don't love cotton to knit but I do to wear it. Is hemp elastic like wool or it feels more like cotton?
That's true Cassy. I may need to count my Fire Opal Tee because Hawt Sands is moving slowly in the Hempathy. It says it's dk, but it feels more like fingering weight to me. I'm a little nervous knitting with a different type of yarn, afraid it will ruin my top, but I have to get used to non-wool stuff.
I love Saco Stripes. It has the perfect amount of ease. It's going to be beautiful on you.
Like I told, Cassy, I'm nervous about using it. But if things turn out wonky, I can always re-knit it… as usual. The idea of it sounds perfect for a coverup/ summer top though, doesn't it? I'm interested to see how it will block. I usually block for a bit more ease, and since I'm a 34 and knitting the size 33, that would be a perfect fit for me. We'll see soon enough.
Everyone raves about it on Ravelry, Emma, so it must be pretty great. I don't feel like it's rough or scratchy to work with either. But I like the roughness of wool, so maybe I'm de-sensitized to those things.
Oh, I'm anxious to see your Palm Cove, Dayana! My seed stitch hem looked a little messy, but I went down in needle size for the stockinette and it is much smoother. I am achieving proper gauge, so I think it will be less airy than I initially thought.
I think embracing the airiness is wise. It's linen and for summer, airy sounds earthy and cool. 🙂
It is more like linen or cotton, I think. There will be some stretch with the weight of the garment, but then I think it will maintain that shape. I'm looking forward to washing it for the soft, drapey texture I keep reading about.
Coming very soon — too lazy for a photo shoot on Sunday, darn I might have missed my husband photographer window. 😉