A few people have asked me to share my Lotus Blossom Tank ("LBT") experience, so here is the whole story. I found this to be a very fun and relatively fast-moving project.

When I received the Summer Interweave Knits in the mail, I really liked the LBT, but didn't decide to knit it until I was in Bethesda for a rehearsal and decided to check out the Knit & Stitch=Bliss store, which had been recommended by a friend. My husband and boys were waiting in the car, so I didn't have a ton of time, but I noticed that they carried the SWTC Bamboo, and it is unlike anything I had worked with before, so I decided to go for it. I was between Tequilla and Electric Blue, but went for the Tequilla because the colors were so warm and summery.

I purchased 2 skeins, since that is what the smallest size of the pattern calls for, and I hoped it would really be enough. Unfortunately, I ran out of yarn just as I was finishing the neck shaping, so I needed to order another skein. Luckily, the store still had one from the same dye lot in stock, and kindly sent it to me USPS for about $1.50 shipping...instead of UPS, which they thought would have cost as much as the yarn!

My initial concerns were that the lace might not show up very well in a variegated yarn, and that the yarn might be too scratchy to wear against the skin. As the pattern developed, my concerns about the variegated yarn were allayed: the colors used in the variegation are similar enough that the eye can still appreciate the lace pattern. But since I didn't block my swatch, I didn't find out until I had blocked the finished product that the yarn does soften a bit and gets a nice drape to it. It still does not feel super soft against the skin, but I do enjoy wearing it, and think that the lack of sponginess will perhaps make it more comfortable and airy than cotton on hot and humid summer days.

I only had 32" size 6 Addis, and since the 6's are only for the bottom of the tank, I figured I could save money and use those instead of buying 24". The longer length did make it more awkward to join 200 stitches without twisting them, but they worked okay once I got going. I did have the size 5 in 24", and the knitting seemed to get easier once I switched, which also could have been because I had already done 9 rounds and was in the groove of the lace pattern.

The ever-helpful Knitting Fiend helped me calculate my decrease once I was done with the 4 rounds of lace. When I was working the stockinette part, I held the piece up to me as I went along until it hit my armpit where I wanted it to. I think the stockinette part ended up measuring a little less than 3", not far off from the pattern. The rest of the tank was fun to work and chugged along pretty quickly--that is, until I ran out of yarn on the left neck shaping, and had to wait for it to arrive before I could continue.

After weaving in ends, I bathed the tank in Eucalan and blocked it on my ironing board. I pinned the edging around the armholes and the shoulders to help it to lie more crisply, and did the same with the bottom edging and the 4 rows of garter above the lace pattern. I wore it a few days later for my anniversary dinner--eight years, yay! I have almost an entire skein of the Bamboo left over, so if anyone has any fun ideas for it please let me know!