Web-Letter, Issue 151 – Allegoro Chatham Tank Late summer is a wonderful time to go to the beach. The water is warmer and crowds are thinner than earlier in the season, and knowing that autumn is right around the corner makes the sun's warmth more appreciated. This week's pattern is a summer top, perfect for these golden days of summer. Designed by Elisabeth Parker and knit in Allegoro, it would make a great beach cover up  - or wear it layered over a tee as shown. Creative Director
The Story: I love beach cover-ups. Frequently, I'll buy up garments designated as such during the summer and wear them year-round as shirts; it might be the fact that I value the excess ease usually incorporated into the sizing, the drapier-than-usual fabric choices, or the fact that I'm usually more than a little grateful for the added, tunic-y length. When I set out to create my perfect summer handknit, naturally, I wanted to emulate the cool, loose fit of my favorite types of garments. I decided on a loosely-knit stockinette racerback tank in a crepe-y, cotton-linen yarn. Allegoro fit the bill perfectly.  However, I wanted to eschew all seams for a garment with as little structure as possible, and loosely-knit cotton has a tendency to grow vertically without the stability that seams provide. Add to that the excess ease I love so much and you're venturing into what I generally call "circus tent" territory. I figured the best way to counteract that growth tendency would be to eliminate as much as possible the inevitable pull of gravity on vertical panels of stockinette – knit it sideways!  The resulting garment is a balance between fun-to-knit and a completely wearable basic.  --Elisabeth Parker (designer) Designer's website: http://fuchsiaknits.wordpress.com The Yarn: Allegoro 70% organic cotton, 30% linen A blend of 70% organically grown cotton and 30% linen: Allegoro has enough linen to give a  summery linen crispness and cotton to add softness and keep the yarn from getting too wiry (as pure linen is prone to do). Allegoro is great for summery projects, like the Chatham Tank featured in this week’s Web-Letter, because it will keep you cool and comfortable—in the knitting and wearing.  In keeping with its mostly earth-friendly fiber content, Allegoro is dyed using GOTS certified non-toxic dyes. (You can find out more about GOTS standards here: www.global-standard.org.) These dyes yield beautiful soft colors, the kind of colors that are easy to wear and you’ll never tire of. The Stitches: This garment is worked from side to side. So instead of using increases or decreases to shape the sides, a few short rows are placed at the lower edge. This adds more fabric at the lower edge, giving the sweater an A-line shape. See a tutorial for short rows.	more photos The Pattern: Here are the free downloadable Allegoro Chatham Tank pattern. (file size: 268 KB) If you have difficulty downloading or printing the PDF pattern above, try these: page 1, page 2
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If you like the design above, you'll like this too:
	Allegoro Loose Knit Cardi Pattern available in the Web-Letter #89.
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