Ah…a bit of knitting finished!

This is Lotus Blossom Tank by Sharon Shoji from Ann Budd’s Best of Interweave Knits.

This was a trial to knit. The sizing was bizarre and because of the construction, was tricky to alter at the sleeves.  The sleeves are knit as a decreasing wedge shape from the back and then seamed along the angled front sides.  The number of stitches you start off with determine how deep the sleeves are going to be  so if you want to make the garment more fitted, the sleeve caps become narrower and require a little fudging.  I knit the sleeves three times before I was happy.

Did I say the sizing was odd.  After knitting the smallest size into an enormous circumference, I cast on 40 sts less and I still had positive ease!  Reading the mods on Ravelry was enormously helpful.  I decreased 14 sts at the end of the lace and used a double increase at each side every 4th round for bust shaping.  I also knit an extra inch and a half in the stockingette section before binding off for the armholes.  It is a little snug under the arms but frankly I couldn’t rip it back again and cotton always seems to sag after a while so this may just be perfect by the end of summer.

The yarn I used saved the project for me.  It was Freedom Echo, DK 100% recycled cotton by Twilleys of Stamford in the UK.  I bought my first ball in the little town of Alnwick, in Northumberland, UK on a chilly grey day at the beginning of our holiday last year.  Not much you can do with one ball really. But…a dear friend gave me some more in a beautiful deep aquamarine for my birthday…and with one more ball, there was enough for this project.  If you are in Melbourne and you would like some of this excellent recycled cotton, you can get it from Woolarium.

Ravelry notes here.