I had started and ripped out 4 different projects using Sirdar Snuggly Bamboo bought at Loopy Yarns in the loop. Because it is bamboo it is a "super wash" (meaning you can throw it in the washing machine) and it is super cool and breathable. Perfect for a tank top! So I started the tank and decided to stripe in my three colors - putty, lilac, and rosy. I had never made anything in stripes before so I didn't know about the phenomenon called "jogging." Basically, when you are knitting in the round, the beginning of your stripe is always going to be lower than the end of your stripe. See:
Woof. So, I decided to take a deep breath and try my hand at steeking. Steeking is a method of finishing a piece knit "in the round" by cutting the piece either to insert arm holes, make an opening, or to line up your stripes. I refuse to pretend I would teach this well, so I suggest looking here for a wonderful and thorough explanation. But I will show you my pictures. Here goes...
Because of all of my color changes, my project ended looking like this: All hairy and tangly and gross.
Two things needed to happen here. 1) I needed to weave in all of my ends so that it wasn't hairy, 2) I needed to block the piece, meaning steam it with an iron or wet it and roll it in a towel so it would lay flat and look like it didn't just come out of a suitcase that has sat on my floor since returning from Michigan a week ago.... (: I knew that I would be cutting the piece wide open and it would be easier to block then, so here it is with just the ends woven in, no blocking:
I really wasn't too worried about the cutting. I'm not sure why - probably because it was 2am and I knew if I screwed up I could throw out the project and go to bed. (: But it went just fine! As soon as the tank was in one, flat piece, I blocked it:
Much better, no? The little kind of divots you see are where I had to decrease - I should have done it in a middle color row to make it less obvious, but I did it on an edge row and that made it pop out a bit. Live and learn! So now the tank is not curling up or wrinkly. One good thing to remember is that when you steam block something, to make sure the water doesn't stay in the fabric and help it start to curl again, take a pillow and press it to the fabric right after you take the iron off. It'll absorb the steam that wants to stay in your garment.
After that, I did a standard mattress stitch to join the sides ......
and, ta daaaa!!!! Looking MUCH better! My stripes line up a lot more accurately, which was my main goal. I didn't prepare to steek like I should have, so I'm not upset that it doesn't look perfect. Plus, shomehow when I bound off I mis-counted and so the steek isn't exactly in the middle. It bothers me, alot.... but I will send it off to my sister and try not to let my knitting OCD get the best of me. Here it is before I attached buttons:
At this point, I was home free. I just added a couple VERY cute buttons and was finished. (FYI: I added the button holes on the i-cord straps...usually you'd just sew them on, but I thought buttons would be cute and make it easier on my sister getting Misha into her tank top. (: Here are the Final pictures!
Much better, no? The little kind of divots you see are where I had to decrease - I should have done it in a middle color row to make it less obvious, but I did it on an edge row and that made it pop out a bit. Live and learn! So now the tank is not curling up or wrinkly. One good thing to remember is that when you steam block something, to make sure the water doesn't stay in the fabric and help it start to curl again, take a pillow and press it to the fabric right after you take the iron off. It'll absorb the steam that wants to stay in your garment.
After that, I did a standard mattress stitch to join the sides ......
and, ta daaaa!!!! Looking MUCH better! My stripes line up a lot more accurately, which was my main goal. I didn't prepare to steek like I should have, so I'm not upset that it doesn't look perfect. Plus, shomehow when I bound off I mis-counted and so the steek isn't exactly in the middle. It bothers me, alot.... but I will send it off to my sister and try not to let my knitting OCD get the best of me. Here it is before I attached buttons:
At this point, I was home free. I just added a couple VERY cute buttons and was finished. (FYI: I added the button holes on the i-cord straps...usually you'd just sew them on, but I thought buttons would be cute and make it easier on my sister getting Misha into her tank top. (: Here are the Final pictures!
DONE AND DONE!
After staying up until 3am finishing the tank top, I slept until 3:30 this afternoon. I still have to run 12 miles (damn you, Chicago Marathon), and study for my criminal procedure final. Yikes. Happy Saturday!
(PS: If you like the tank, the pattern lists the email Info@knitbykiana.com as a contact)
(PS: If you like the tank, the pattern lists the email Info@knitbykiana.com as a contact)
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