Pattern: Hemp Lace Tank (#329) by LanaKnits
Yarn: allhemp3 in Dusty Rose
Yardage: 3 skeins
Needles: 2.00 and 2.5 mm AddiTurbos

It's so exciting to be finally finished this project. I started this just after our wedding last summer (so about the end of July) when the weather was really hot. Hard to believe right now - it will be a few months before it is warm enough for me to wear this outside without a sweater. I found the AddiTurbos a bit slick for this yarn and will probably try to find either some bamboo or AddiLace the right size for next time.

It was a close finish yarn-wize. I stopped knitting about half an inch earlier than called for before adding the straps. My waist is a little higher and shorter than a dressmakers "standard" so this put the centre of my waist shaping in the right spot. I think if I had knit that extra half inch I'd have run out of yarn half way through the cast off. The underarm (body and strap) is grafted together with kitchener stitch. It's not too bad to do but it was a lot of stitches and I ended up with an extra one on the first side. I never figured out where my mistake was - I couldn't find any dropped stitches - so I jut threaded my yarn through it and bound it off with everything else.

There are actually quite a few spots like that in this top. Places where I was sure I had counted each and every stitch at least twice but when I got to the next shaping step discovered I was off. It was a lot of little stitches to count. I couldn't see any of the mistakes so I decided not to go back and fix them.

I tried the top on as soon as it was off the needles but it really needs a bath and blocking to soften up and loose some bias; when I first tried it on the centre lace panel slanted sharply to the left. I gave it a bit of a pressing too (mostly in an attempt to make it dry faster) and it made the fern lace pattern look so crisp.

Here is another half complete project - my Hemp Lace Tank from LanaKnits. I’ve gotten used to working with the hemp (which feels remarkably like twine when you first touch it) and this project is now moving along at a nice pace.  I’m four sets of increases past the waist - two to go. My tank top is about 6.5 inches long so I’ve got about 7.5 more to go before I start the straps. It should start to go a little faster in another twelve rounds since I wont have to keep track of any more increases.
 
I really like the lace pattern down the front. It’s cute but not complicated and the stitches stand out nicely in the hemp. Decreases are a bit tough to work though since the yarn doesn’t have much stretch.

This also arrived last week - three skeins of allhemp3 and this pattern from Lanaknits in BC. The yarn feels kind of like twine at the moment but I could feel it softening up as I was swatching and it will go through the washer once it’s all knit up. I ordered the pattern on the long weekend when I realizedthat only two of my hot weather tops were of natural fibres and thus actually cool to wear on a hot day.

Since I’ve had to order needles to make the pattern this may not be finished until the weather is cold gain but it will be a wonderful little undershirt during the winter and all ready for next summer’s hot days.