Denim Tank Top

I still owe pictures of the two cardigans I've finished, but here's a nice little denim tank, WITH BEADS!!

front view showing button closure.

another front view showing right side with increases.

beaded bracelet to match!! only took about one hour to knit!

detail of button closure on bracelet.

before washing the tank and the prewashed swatch. I love the fade!

Pattern: Denim Tank Top from Knitting with Beads by Jane Davis
Yarn: Den-M-Nit from elann.com, mid-indigo color
Needles: US size 5 Knitpicks Options
Beads: a mixture of 2 colors from a local bead shop, size 6, about 1,904 beads total.
Beading Credit: I must give credit to Elise who helped me string lots of the beads, and also to the girls from the Wednesday Night SnB. Thanks, peeps!
Modifications: I put in buttons instead of a zipper closure, and I like the way it turned out. As usual, I did make it a bit longer to compensate for my height.

Knitting with this 100% cotton yarn was nice, not as hard on the hands as some cottons, and the top took me less than a week to finish. I like the way the denim yarn fades in the washer and dryer. It does shrink, but like jeans it stretches right back out. I made the bracelet about 8" unwashed, and it shrunk to a comfortable fitting 6.5" - however with the stretch factor I should have made it shorter.

Yep, I'm pretty happy with this one. :o) Having a little bit of a beading phase - I never should have gone to that bead shop!

Wow

I just impressed the heck out of my newbie-spinner-self by making a 2-ply sample using beaded silk (my first spun silk!!) with a slightly fatter strand of BFL. The silk is hand dyed tussah from the amazing Abby of Franquemont Fibers. The colorway is "dandelion". Anyhoo, on to the pictures.




I'm going to say it's about fingering weight, and the color seems pretty accurate in these pictures. I'm going to have more opportunity to spin now that football has started, and I might try sampling some 2-plies of only silk with beads next. Who knows what I'll do? I certainly don't.