FO~Knitting Nature Shell Tank

Yeah! A new FO I can wear! It's the 'Shell Tank' from Norah Gaughan's "Knitting Nature". I used Knit Picks Cotlin in Island Coral. It's a funny thing about this color. Originally, I bought it to make the Dollar and a Half Cardi from IK. I swatched and was not happy with it, plus I was concerned that I wouldn't like a whole cardi in this color. Then on Mother's Day I was knitting this tank in the car and again being concerned on the color.....then I realized I was wearing a camisole in the same EXACT color! How funny is that?? So I DO like it after all.

Anyhoo, I ended up on this tank, which I loved when I first saw it. Figured it would be an easy knit. Not so much! I learned a LOT on this tank. I learned to really take your time to read the directions, not just that, but you need to understand them too. I frogged the whole right front panel because I thought the shaping 'at the same time' didn't begin until the armhole. Whoops. The cable panel was really fun. Putting it together took a while and several tries on picking up the correct amount of sts on the armholes. (Realized quickly why too many is a bad thing...all wavy!)

The yarn was really nice, not great like the current Shine yarn I am using, which I just LOVE. There was bits of plant material which I picked up fairly easily, some I didn't bother, maybe it will come out in the wash. I'm curious to see how the top will hold up, since I heard linen gets better with age, I'm actually going to put it in the machine.

It's a little bit shorter than I would like, but I think it may stretch a bit when it's washed. Yes, I know, I didn't block it! I actually like the very organic look of the yarn and the stitches not being all perfect. Overall, I would recommend this yarn for summer tops, think it would also make great washrags.

I also want to mention that I've been VERY pleased with Knit Picks. I have ordered twice recently, both times my order came very quickly (the first one was 3 days). The Shine yarn that they have is a really lovely yarn, and machine washable too! I've started my Arietta cardi from Knitty, think I finally got the colors right. I'll post some pics of that soon. I'm also using the Options needles, boy are they nice! Very light, very smooth, you really feel like you are knitting faster. A bit slippery with the Shine yarn, also my joins came a bit loose, but then I used the tightening tool, so hopefully that will remedy that issue.