which_chick | (no subject)

I mentioned I was making a tank top, sort of a free-form thing which I didn't have a pattern for, exactly, and which I was making out of ghastly variegated cotton from Wal-Mart. Well, It's done.

I haven't woven in the ends yet, but everything else is done. I'm pretty happy with how the techniques came out, damn near entirely thrilled with the fit, and generally enthusiastic about the experience. So, y'know, we're scoring this as a win. The string cost seven bucks, I have more than half of it left, and I've already gotten seven bucks worth of entertainment out of it.

Thou shalt not make snide comments about my pasty white winter skin. Thou shalt not make snide comments about visible bodyfat. Thou shalt not share thy opinions on the colors involved. I'm aware of them. That's why I said ghastly variegated cotton. This is play clothes for me, to wear while working in the garden or playing horse or stomping in the mud after assorted put-upon members of the order odonata. This is not for picking up guys. It's to cover my tits while letting the rest of me get a tan, with rather less falling-down or slipping-out-of-place potential than a tube top. This is not about *fashion*. I don't really do fashion.

Here's the front view:

Here's the side view:

One of the neat things about this project was that it let me try out some knitting techniques that I hadn't done before.
Here, in the brown V-shape kind of in the middle of the picture, are short rows, used to make the fabric buckle out for what tits I have.

Here are the bound-off bits for the arm holes. I was pleased with how these came out because I sort of guesstimated how big they'd need to be and they fit perfectly.

These are the shaped decreases for the arm straps. Note how neatly the decreases fold into the other stitches. The ones I did on the other side slant the other way because I'm just that damn cool. This is before I put the crocheted edge on the straps to keep 'em flat instead of curly.

This is a kitchener stitch. I know it doesn't look like shit, but that's the general idea. Look on the left where the two strings are. Those rows WERE two end pieces of knitting that I joined together near-invisibly with kitchener stitch. So, y'know, go me! This was also pre-crocheted-edge.

I ran a single crochet edge around the arm straps because they were pretty curly. That worked out well at a ratio of two crochets per three knit stitch ladder things. On the outside strap edge, I went down to the underarm hole binding offs. On the inside strap, I went down to the neck hole binding offs. That all worked out really well and I'm please with how it worked. Here's a detail shot:

The side seams were mattress seamed and I need to practice that and come up with some damn way to seam ribbing that I'm happier with. I could knit the next one in the round until I got to the arm and neck holes. That'd be interesting, but I'd need a pair of appropriately sized circular needles. Hrm. That'd elimate seams entirely. I could do front and back out of one piece of string (fewer ends to weave in, see, and less seaming) and just divide the thing up for the arm pieces. Hrm. Make a note.

This was 86 sts per side on size 4 needles. I'd do the next about ten less on the ribbing, with increases in the first line of stockinette. Cotton yarn doesn't crunch real well for ribbing purposes, not like wool does. This was k1p1 ribbing.

Arm hole bind-offs were 5,5,3. Straps were twelve sts wide when I got done narrowing them. I think they were sixteen when I started. I have no damn idea how I decided the number to bind off for the center neck hole thing on the front and back, but I put those in the middle. Probably I counted off sixteen to start and ended when I had sixteen left. Bet that's how I did it.

Short row placement was measured as per the web page instructions. I did six sts, wrapped. Probably eight would be better. Knit even for 1" above short rows before starting arm hole binding off. Neck hole binding off happens next row after you're done with arm hole binding offs.

(These are not instructions for other people, btw. These are instructions for me, offered freely with no warranty. Use at your own risk.)