Last month, during a phone conversation with my mom, she finally asked me when I was ever going to knit her a sweater. I thought about it long and hard, and finally narrowed it down to two patterns: Toledo from Rowan 37, and also Ilga Leja’s Fluid Linen. I emailed her images of both patterns, and even before she responded, I cast on for Toledo. 12 inches into the pattern, she called back to tell me that she liked Fluid Linen. Oops. How presumptuous of me.
Nevertheless, yarn had been bought, and I was not about to let it go to waste. I ended up ripping out most of the sweater and modified it to suit my measurements. Realistically, this tank only took me a week to knit.
The tank wasn’t fully complete without its accent ribbons. And since I didn’t have the Rowan Linen Print called for in the pattern, it took a while before I settled on Berroco Suede and finally called it a FO.
Pattern: Toledo, Rowan 37, Sz L hips modified to Sz XS for the rest of the bodice
Materials: Sz 6 and 8 needles, 5.5 balls of Rowan All Seasons Cottons (Shade 192) and 0.5 balls of Berroco Suede (Shade 3764)
Notes: All Seasons Cotton is a lovely yarn. Quite unlike the ropey feel that I have come to expect of cottons, it is springy, smooth and quite spongy. A delight to wear and also to knit with, very much to my surprise. I used 12 strands of the Suede yarn per plait, in lieu of the Linen Print. I think this blue/gray combo turned out quite nicely. In all honesty, I have always liked this pattern and wondered why I never see more of them on the web. In hindsight, I think it would fare better for a DK-weight yarn instead of an aran weight cotton, to minimize potential chunkiness. But all in all, a great pattern.
Now that this one’s out of the way, I better get cracking on that Ilga Leja Pattern.
November 16th, 2008 at 3:32 am
its gorgeous! beautiful colour and love the ribbon choice.
looking forward to see the Ilga Leja- one
November 16th, 2008 at 9:33 am
It looks great on you! The ribbons really make it, you know?
November 16th, 2008 at 9:44 am
Wow, that top looks great! I love the shaping, it really makes a great fit.
November 16th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
love it so. and you wear it so well. i am always impressed with your execution and your speed, looking forward to seeing the mama sweater.
November 16th, 2008 at 9:41 pm
So cute! You make me want to knit it…I do have some ASC in stash too….hmmm. Can’t wait to see the sweater you are going to knit for your mum - very stylish!
November 17th, 2008 at 11:18 am
cute tank! i’m surprised you went with the size L for the hips. does it make a drastic difference?
November 17th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
It fits you beautifully! You did a superb job making that pattern yours.
November 18th, 2008 at 10:52 am
I love the shaping at the sides. It really accentuates the waistline. It’s a lovely sweater.
November 18th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
I like that pattern, and I agree with you that a thinner yarn would probably be better. The blue and the grey look great together. ASC is one of my favorite yarns.
November 18th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
I’m pretty sure that if you knit a potato sack and put it on, it would look so good that i would feel like knitting a potato sack too. Not that this is a potato sack, only that if I saw it in a book, I wouldn’t feel as compelled to try it as I do right now. It looks really nice
November 20th, 2008 at 6:38 pm
It looks great! I love the stitch detail and the ribbon. Really pretty!
November 21st, 2008 at 7:47 am
Love this! And you modification are perfect, it fits you so well.
December 17th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
I love this - it looks great on you!