Anyone else presently working on their LBT?

I'm wondering if I am the only one basically just beginning? I see alot of tanks that are done but can't remember seeing any WIPs. Here is mine from a few days ago. I am now on row 11 of my second repeat of lace.

Anyone else still working on theirs? I'd love to see pics!

Question about row 12

Hi there! I'm new to the KAL and relatively new to working lace. So I need a little help : )

In the lace pattern section in row 11, some yarn overs are created just before the purl stitch... and I'm wondering how to work them in row 12... its like a yarn over and then another wrap around the needle (I'm now not sure if I worked that yarn over before the purl correctly in row 11) ... do I work one yarn over and then let the wrap around fall off the needle? I'm not sure if I'm working this right! I hope I explained it effectively.

Thanks!

New to the KAL and I say hello to everyone!! I am hoping to swatch tonight and maybe knit a little bit of it tonight. I am using some Rowan Calmer that I had in my stash. Has anyone used it for this tank?

Hope everyone had a good weekend!

I went to see the Yarn Harlot last night in Salt Lake City and someone in the crowd was wearing a Lotus Blossom Tank in a heathery pink colour. Were you someone in this knitalong?

Stephanie Pearl-McPhee was wonderful BTW. There are pictures on my blog.

Finished mine too!

My Lotus Blossom Tank is done TOO! I'm VERY excited as this is my first knitted item that's suitable for wearing in public. I knit it out of Wendy Supreme DK Luxury Cotton and size 4 needles. (And yes, I'm wearing a hot pink skirt with a lavender colored top. It's hot and my summer wardrobe is LIMITED.) I knit the smallest size with only 4 repeats as the pattern calls for. I'm only 4'11", so I figured that would be okay. As you can see, I pretty much messed up all over the first repeat, but I knew that if I frogged, I wouldn't want to start over, so I kept at it! :-)

You can view more information about it (and my next project on the needles, yikes!) on my new and improved blog, here. I hope everyone had a GREAT Labor Day Weekend.

Me too!

I've made several mistakes, and the finishing isn't perfect, but I still love how it looks and feels! I may knit another one next year. Yarn is called "Bamboo" (bamboo 70% cotton 30%), unknown brand, and I've used about 225 grams. More info and a photo of the mysterious ball band are posted on our joint blog.

The rolling front was better once I misted and pressed it.

Finally finished

I love this tank. I knit mine 4 inches longer, like many of you did, and I just love how it turned out. I decided against using short rows in the bust area and it fits just fine.

More info is at my blog: The Giving Flower Thanks for a great KAL and some gorgeous tanks.

Soon to Blossom....

I wish I found this KAL earlier! I'm almost done, but I've had so many questions to get here.... I could have used your help. But now here I am, done with the shoulder parts, ready to sew them on -- Well, if I can figure out what the best way is. Could anyone post the close-up of the part where the shoulder meets the front? Please?

My front rolls too. I hope it will be better when it's blocked, but I would like to hear from the other knitters how you fixed this.

From the pace I knit, it won't be finished before the weekend -- I can only knit two hours a day, at most.
I will come back with a finished photo!

Tamami (one of the Designated Knitters)

I'm new, a little late and need help

Hi everyone!
I'm new to this KAL and I'm knitting my tank a bit late, as it's starting to get a bit too cool to wear it, but nonetheless, I'm forging ahead.
I'm so impressed with everyone's work, and after starting my tank in the second size and ripping it all out after the second pattern repeat because it was a tent, I'm glad to have found others with similar problems.

I'm now ready to start the armholes and I've read a lot of people have put short row in to give a bit of room in the front. I'm knitting the smallest size and I'm a size 36", so I think I should be knitting some short rows too.
Can anyone tell me how they knit the short rows??? I'm new to short rows so I don't really know what to do.
Thanks so much.
Kimberly- The Giving Flower

Me too, me too!

Just got mine hot off the ironing board, and I am very pleased with it! Mind you I haven't tried washing it yet, just given in a bit of a steam with the iron.

The details: 2 and a bit balls of SWTC Bamboo in sahara - love the way you get the "moire" effect with the colours. (You are supposed to only need 2 for my size so I am lucky that I was originally going to make it bigger and bought the 3rd one)
Size: small.
Needles: US size 6 and 5 Denise interchangeables.
Modifications: None really, except a half inch extra of st st before the armhole shaping.

I am glad I took notice of advice here about negative ease. It would have been huge on me if I had gone for the size that I thought should have fit.

Thank you everyone on the knitalong for all the helpful hints and encouragement. I will keep popping back to see how everyone is doing.

i finished it~~~

hey guys,
i finished my LBT this weekend! i'm really excited with how it came out. :3



yarn: rowan cotton glace in pier
needles: size 5 & 6 plymouth bamboo circulars
size: XS(?!) it's an imaginary size, i cast on 170 st instead of the 200 for the smallest size

like many of you have done, i added an inch of stockinette to the torso before the decreases. on the last pattern repeat, i only did half the pattern for just a little less length than a full one would offer, so there are 3.5 repeats here. i had never worked with cotton glace before, but i looooooove it now. for a mercerized cotton, it's really not as shiny as you think a mercerized cotton would be. i liked what ocdeviant did with her armholes, so i also used crochet (1 row HDC and SC) around the armholes and neckband. i was really worried about the neckband rolling and flopping around everywhere pre-blocking, but i steamblocked the crap out of it and it seems to be holding up rather well. i have to say, this is one of my favorite knits i've done so far!

more photos can be found on my flickr account (these two are from flickr anyway):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/honeypoo

thank you all for your help in my previous posts to this blog! *bow*

Lace part done

I have some progress to report at last! Here is a close up to show the colours - it's SWTC Bamboo Sahara. it could do with a good blocking to show the stitches better.

I have now completed up to the armhole shaping. I kept with the four repeats as I am quite short-torsoed, and I did 3.5 inches of stocking stitch before dividing.

Here is the whole thing after about an inch and a half of st st.

Not far to go - should have it done in a couple of days, if I don't have too many interruptions.

Done

Well, it's done. The seam on the left is a bit crooked, but the top isn't actually uneven -- I was tugging on it without a mirror before my husband took the picture. I like the way the colors pooled. My only complaint is that the neck won't stop rolling because my shoulders are too narrow. But there's nothing I can do about that.

Details: SWTC Bamboo in Serendipity, a little over 2 skeins. 5 lace repeats, armholes and neckline worked by picking up 1 stitch every 2 stitches, not every 1 stitch. The effect is kind of nice.

Not my usual color choice, but I'll wear it -- with another shirt under it. There's way too much midsection peeking through the lace!

It Fits!

The Facts: LBT in smallest size, 5 lace repeats, an extra couple inches in stockinette, armhole finishing is a row of single crochet and then a row of backward (crab stitch) crochet, no finishing around the neck. I used about 2.5 balls of SWTC bamboo.

Overall, I really liked this pattern (once I made a chart for the lace). My only real trouble was with the short-rows... did one side correctly and one incorrectly (with resulting holes), as I wasn't sure what I was going for... anyhow, fixed it up and it looks fine.

Finally, I love the fit and will definitely wear it a lot. Also, I really appreciate all the support and encouragement from the kal... thanks to you all I can wear my LBT this summer!

Finished

I actually finished a little while back but keep forgetting to post about it here. I wore it to work today so I'd remember. Geez. My memory.

The Lotus Blossum has finished. I'm quite thrilled with how it turned out. A note to anyone using the Southwest Trading Company Bamboo in this color. This is NOT colorfast yarn. When I came back upstairs to dry it out I noticed all the water was pink. I think there may have been tears involved had I made that mistake of soaking this with anything else. I'm not sure if it will handle a soak better next time but I'll write about it when I find out.

I added about three inches to the stockinette section to give extra length. I love it now and am really happy I decided to make that change. Hope everyone is having fun making theirs.

Finally got started... again

After having to stop to get some other things finished I am finally back on my LBT. After taking everything that everyone else has said and done into account I decided to frog what I had done and start again. I have decided to go down to the small size and see how it goes. I have done one lace repeat and the plain rows of the second. I am so looking forward to the evening when I can sit down in front of the TV and get some more done.

I hope I get it done while the weather is still nice enough to wear it this year.

Getting Started

It's been great seeing everyone's completed and "in process" tanks. Here's my progress so far....I'm in the middle of the second repeat.

I'm using Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece. This is my first garment and have really been enjoying this pattern. Now if I could just have more time to work on it!!

question on negative ease

i'm about done with the lotus pattern repeats and am going to start the stockinette portion soon. i'm knitting an imaginary XS size - i cast on 170 st instead of 200 because 200 was coming out too big. i'm still using size 5 needles, though.

what's interesting is that my gauge matches the 22 st = 4" in St st as written in the pattern. so with some math done, i found that if i don't decrease where the pattern instructs me to, the stockinette portion will be about 31 inches around. i have a 32 in bust, so that would result in 1 inch of negative ease. i want this top to be fitted and fairly body-hugging and i hope the 1 inch of negative ease will help me achieve that.

have/are any of you gone with negative ease? if so, how much?

New ... and done!

Although I just officially joined the KAL, I finished my lotus blossom tank on Tuesday. I've been reading all your posts as I knitted and enjoyed the useful tips and great pictures!

I had originally started on the smallest size in June, but after completing 3 lace repeats I tried it on to find that it was huge (my swatching had led me to use a US 6 Denise for the main needle). I wanted it to be fairly body hugging, and it was more like a tent.

So, I swatched some more, frogged the whole thing, and started over on July 3rd with a bamboo US 4 for my main needle. I did 5 repeats of the lace and added an inch or so to the stockinette portion of the bodice.

I made two big errors that I discovered late enough that I decided not to fix them (I'm a fairly new knitter and, apparently, not a perfectionist type!). I accidentally increased 1 stitch early on in the 7.5" of stockinette on the upper part of the back -- so I K2tog during the first shoulder shaping row when I discovered it. Also, I had never done short row shaping before and didn't know I needed to "hide" the wraps (I neglected to look in the back of the magazine -- like an idiot!), so my left shoulder shaping is a little wonky looking. Additionally, I had to get a third ball of the bamboo yarn that was from a somewhat different looking dye lot, but I joined it at the shoulders on both sides, and it's not too annoying.

I am blocking the tank now (photo is pre-blocked), and will be wearing it for real soon!

Oh, frustration...

I am giving up for the time being on Lotus Blossom Tank. I've tried to knit this thing several times. First, I twisted my stitches while joining in the round. On subsequent attempts, I screwed up the lace pattern and could not figure out where I had goofed. So it is currently sitting there in the corner of my office, lonely, needing love. I will re-start it again sometime in the future. I like the pattern. It's pretty. I just need a break.