Holiday tank on holiday

I did manage to finish my linen tank top on time for our vacation. We had a lovely two weeks diving in the Maldives and the top proved to be perfectly wearable. I tried to get my husband to take some pictures of it for me, but I'm afraid they didn't really focus on my knitting... Here is the best one of the lot, but even this isn't so great. As you can see, it is just perfect with bikinis and shorts!


Pattern: Ribs and Lace Tank, Interweave Knits Spring 2007
Yarn: Garnstudio Bomull-lin (6 balls)
Needles: 4.5mm & 3mm - I used much smaller needles than specified by the pattern

I really liked knitting with linen, although it wasn't easy on my hands. This would have been a quick knit if it wasn't for the fact that at first I used needles that were too large and had to frog a lot before I finally faced up to the fact that I was producing a tent, not a tank top. My tension is a bit uneven on the rib part, even though it is fine on the lace / stockinette part, but it's not too bad.

As much as this was a fun project, I am not sure I will be knitting anything anytime soon that I can only wear when on holiday. I just can't see myself wearing this in London more than once a year...



On that note, I will leave you with some pictures of fish. My husband has taken quite a few good ones, but some need editing as it is hard to get the colours right underwater...

Batfish. These guys are so friendly and curious, they'll swim right into your face!


By far the best shot of me underwater so far. I'm pleased!

Shark, hunting. I love sharks, they move so gracefully. In case you are wondering, this guy wasn't lucky, at least not while we were watching.

July sock yarn

I can barely believe it is alreasy July! I ordered my July sock yarn a bit early and already got it in the mail last week. It is from a company called Angels and Elephants that sell on ebay. The Colourway is called Zennor and is absolutely gorgeous! The colours are even more beautiful than they were in the pictures. Of course I don't know yet how it knits up...



I also bought The Knitter's Book of Yarn recently. I am absolutely in love with that book. All the information on yarn is great and even the patterns are quite good. Anyway, I used the methods from the book to look at this yarn. The bits of wool in it are quite long and curly, so it should make durable socks, I think. It is fairly soft (softer than the Noro Kureyon sock yarn), but not so soft that I would want to use it for scarves of baby clothes myself. But it should work just fine for socks. My only complaint is that whatever they washed the skein with after dying has a strong soapy smell. I don't have any plans for it yet, so it's going into my stash for a little while. I hope it will knit up nicely!

I also got some half-rice yarn in the sale at John Lewis; Debbie Bliss Cathay in a beutiful ivory colour. It is screaming to be knit into a cardigan - if only I could decide on the pattern! I also got some Rowan 4ply cotton, because the colour was lovely, but I am considering the so far unprecedented step of taking it back, simply because I already have two sweater's worth of 4ply cotton from when Jaeger Siena was discontinued. Given that they are a huge department store and I shop there a lot, I wouldn't feel partiularly guilty.

Now back to work... I was going to write and watch Wimbledon this afternoon, but it is raining, so the BBC has an 'isn't Tim Henman fantastic and now he works for us' feature on instead... Apparently they are going to put a retractable roof on Centre Court. About time, I should say. I wish they played at night, like at the US Open. Who can really watch tv in the afternoon?