Sandi Rosner - 21 Crocheted Tanks + Tunics: Stylish Designs for Every Occasion

I am deeply grateful to the following companies for providing the beautiful yarn used for the projects in this book. While many of these yarns are readily available at your local yarn shop or craft store, you can also purchase directly from the companies at the websites shown below. Berroco www.berroco.com Crystal Palace Yarns www.straw.com Fiesta Yarns www.fiestayarns.com Kollage Yarns www.kollageyarns.com LB Collection www.lionbrand.com Louet North America www.louet.com Patons and Bernat www.yarnspirations.com Premier Yarns and Deborah Norville Collection www.premieryarns.com Quince & Co. www.quinceandco.com Universal Yarn, Fibra Natura, and Nazli Gellin www.universalyarn.com Copyright 2016 by Sandra Rosner Published by
STACKPOLE BOOKS
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All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The contents of this book are for personal use only. Patterns contained herein may be reproduced in limited quantities for such use.

Any large-scale commercial reproduction is prohibited without the written consent of the publisher. Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 First edition Cover design: Caroline Stover Model photography: Tom Moore
Stylist: Alison Wilkes
Hair and make-up: Rex Tucker Moss Jewelry: Connie Verrusio, earrings shown in photos for Clement and Sansome, and necklaces shown in photos of Folsom and Marina. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Rosner, Sandi, author. Title: 21 crocheted tanks & tunics : stylish designs for every occasion / Sandi Rosner. Other titles: Twenty one crocheted tanks and tunics Description: First edition. | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2015041884 | ISBN 9780811714839 (pbk. : alk. paper) Subjects: LCSH: Crocheting--Patterns. | Women's clothing. Classification: LCC TT825 .R664 2016 | DDC 746.43/4--dc23 LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015041884 This book is dedicated to Olga Ramona Essex, who taught me to value beautiful things made by hand.

I am fortunate to have many talented and generous people in my life who have contributed to the making of this book.

Special thanks are due to: Pam Hoenig and her team at Stackpole Books, for editorial stewardship Rita Greenfeder, for her patient technical editing Tom Moore, for his beautiful photographs Amy Gunderson, who has been a conduit for many good things in my life Candi Jensen, who brought me back to crochet, sometimes against my will Diane Brown, for her steadfast friendship and support

W hether you call them tank tops or camisoles, sleeveless tops have become wardrobe staples. Worn on its own, a tank can make sultry weather more comfortable. Layered over another top or under a jacket when the temperature dips, a camisole adds color and texture to a simple outfit. The sculptural nature of crochet makes it a wonderful medium for designing these versatile tops. My personal style tends toward the classic and conservative, and youll find pieces in this collection that fit that mold. I think of these as grown-up tops, with wider shoulders and high armholes that wont expose your underwear.

You can easily toss them on over a skirt or pair of jeans and go. If you tend to gravitate toward funkier, more contemporary silhouettes, this book contains pieces for you, too. With skinny straps, asymmetrical hemlines, and interesting wraps, these tanks would be right at home with shorts or a maxi skirt at a summer music festival. Whatever your style or your skill level, I hope youll find pieces in this collection that you want to make part of your wardrobe. My goal is not to design cool projects, but to design clothing you actually want to wear.

The yarns selected for the projects in this book are what I think of as summer yarnscotton, linen, silk, rayon, and blends of those fibers. The yarns selected for the projects in this book are what I think of as summer yarnscotton, linen, silk, rayon, and blends of those fibers.

These yarns create cool, airy fabrics and make stitchwork pop. Of course, you should feel free to use whatever yarn you wish for your crochet projects. When making substitutions, consider fiber content and yarn construction as well as gauge. When we crochet or knit, we are creating a fabric with unique qualities of texture and drape. A polyester chenille may work to the same gauge as a plied linen, but youll have a very different fabric. These differences will affect the way the finished piece fits and hangs on the body.

When in doubt, make a generous swatch with the yarn in the stitch pattern you are considering. Evaluate the swatch critically. Ask yourself if youll be happy wearing a tank or camisole made with this fabric. Many of the yarns Ive used are machine washable, which is a great attribute for any garment worn in warm weather. But beware: Yarns made with lots of cotton and/or linen may shrink when laundered. If you dont take this shrinkage into account, youll be disappointed when your tank fits only until you first wash it.

For the samples made with machine washable yarns, I blocked both my gauge swatches and my finished samples by adding them to a regular load of laundry and running them through the washer and dryer. I wanted to be sure I was treating them just as I would if they were part of my wardrobe. This laundering caused most of the cotton and linen pieces to shrink, some significantly so. The gauge shown in the patterns for all the designs is after blocking. That means that the gauge includes shrinkage in the wash. While you are making the piece, it will look too big and too long.

Dont worryif your after blocking gauge matches the gauge specified in the pattern, your piece will shrink to the correct size when you wash it. Of course, the care you give the finished garment should be governed by the care instructions on the yarn label. While most of the cotton and linen yarns will happily tolerate machine washing and drying, some projects are made with more delicate fibers that will require hand washing. When in doubt, refer to the label on your yarn.

Gauge is listed for each design in this book. This is simply a statement of how many stitches and how many rows are needed to make a 4"/10 cm square using the yarn and stitch pattern specified.

If you do not match this gauge your tank will not turn out the size you planned. Isnt it worth a small investment of time up front to make sure your time isnt wasted making a piece that doesnt fit? The yarn amounts called for in these patterns include a bit extra for use in testing your gauge. To test your gauge, begin by making a swatch at least 5"/12.7 cm square in the pattern stitch indicated. Block your swatch by washing and drying it the way you intend to wash and dry the finished garment. Then measure off a 4"/10 cm square in the center of your swatch and count the stitches and rows. If you have more stitches in 4"/10 cm than the pattern specifies, use a larger hook.

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