Hello Everyone,

Hope you are staying cool.  It has been muggy hot in my neck of the woods.

When I rekindled my relationship with knitting, I wanted to challenge myself to knit garments as well as accessories.  There were two garments at the top of the list.  A sweater and a linen tank top.  I completed a sweater last year for my boyfriend.  That can be found on my instagram feed.  Hmm, I should write a post on it as well.  (coming up) .

I’m a fan of Shibui’s yarns and patterns.  Last year their  SS17 collection included the Athen’s Tank.  It was knitted from Reed, their 100% linen yarn.  Just be still my heart.  I have a love affair with linen.  That pattern was  immediately placed  in my  queue on Ravelry.   This past May, I decided to take a break from my Midtown cardigan (another Shibui pattern) to knit the Athen’s.

This was my first fingering weight garment, which meant a lot of knitting.  In the beginning is was little overwhelming , but I decided to pace myself and come up with a plan.  I determined a realistic finish date and backed into the number rows/day I should to knit.  There were some days I didn’t knit and my finish date was push back a week.  But I liked I had a base line to work from.

Now about the knitting. The pattern was easy for me to follow.  I would say this is a good pattern for an advance beginner knitter.  There were some new techniques I learned.  For example binding off in the center.  Reed yarn is a joy to knit.  I know some linen yarn can be stiff or crisp, but Reed is a smoother linen in my opinion. The more I worked with it, the softer it became.

The pattern is knitted flat.  I knitted a size XXL and obtained gauge with a US 6 needle.  I shorten the pattern by 2 inches front and back.  For finishing, I opted out from using the mattress stitch to finish  the side the seams.  Instead, I use my sewing machine.  My machine has a foot design for bulky fabrics and hand knits.  I used an 1/8” seam allowance and steam my seam towards the back.  I really like the outcome and will continue to experiment with this solution.

I’m very happy with my linen tank top.  I would definitely knit the Athen’s again.

Until next time……….keep creating what makes you happy!!