The Radish Crop Top began by taking a chance. For starters, the yarn was an impulse buy during my first trip to a nearby LYS. The pattern was hastily chosen from an internet search on my phone while shopping their selection, determined to find something to buy. Then, the row gauge wasn’t quite right, and the pattern only had a clarity rating of 2.1 (out of 5) on Ravelry. My own confusion came almost immediately after casting on. Indeed, the starting line was chaotic for this project and a successful outcome was uncertain. Frustrations mounted quickly, and the usual joyful calm of my knitting practice was traded in for a mantra of “why can’t this just be done yet?”.
Fortunately, a travel delay, filled with the warm embrace of a trip home, created space for a welcomed pause. I set the project down with only the arm/neck edges and other finishing tasks remaining. Family filled my time, and my mind was able to let go of this unfinished project and all of its woes.
After returning home, it took me a few days to resettle into home life and recover from a fun (but tiring) trip. The thought of picking up stitches decreased my desire to dive back in, but I overcame the dread by thinking of the amount of work I had already completed. My mind was determined not to let that effort go to waste. I had to get to the finish line!
First up, blocking! When I finished the knitting while out of town, I had already seamed the sides to get a feel for the fit, so I blocked fronts and backs together with the hopes I could magically stretch the lace without making the underarm area bigger (a common complaint about this pattern’s results on Ravelry).
Then, picking up stitches could no longer be avoided. The pattern included specific stitch counts to be picked up, but I skipped that in lieu of Marie Green’s advice in her book Knitting Light where she suggests picking up fewer stitches to tighten the neckline or armhole. So, I skipped some stitches, particularly underneath the arm, to make sure there wasn’t a huge gap in that area. I added two stockinette rows before the patterns recommended garter stitch edge, another tactic to help the underarm fit.
I am pleasantly surprised with how well the fit turned out. It is intentionally cropped, and it falls just above the waist of my ribcage-fit Levis. I already wore this into the wild (a.k.a. In Public!) on Saturday night, to a local amateur MMA event of all places! After feeling like this tank was a worthy opponent, I suppose it was fitting to celebrate its completion surrounded by the air of determination, tenacity, and warrior-spirit of the aspiring fighters. I was in a battle with Radish, and I came out the other side. A more fearless knitter, with a cute top!
Project Details:
Yarn: Rowan Cotton Revive
Color: Cherry Blossom 003
Comments: I loved working with this yarn. It is a tubular yarn, which I find super easy to knit with since you don’t have any ply issues. The texture of the finished fabric is a bit stiff, but I like the drape for this particular project. I have leftover yarn (as a byproduct of not hitting row gauge), so I will likely use this for another project. The tank is going to be great for my tropical climate with this recycled cotton!
Pattern: Radish by Lisa Richardson
(Available on KnitRowan.com)
Comments: I thought this design was unique and stood out as a cute summer option that my wardrobe lacked. I was so excited to work on it, and the sideways construction seemed like it would knit up quickly. Unfortunately, at row 9, confusion commenced. The shaping instructions are confusing as written, and I wondered if my self-taught US-based knitting brain would ever figure it out. But, I used my own body as a template and interpreted the increases/decreases as best as I could, holding it up against myself all along the way. If you decide to knit this pattern, my best advice is to just be consistent with how you decide to do it and take notes on the first side (you’ll basically need to mirror this and then recreate it, so if you can figure it out one time, you got this!). My next best advice is to remember that yarn is forgiving. My spacing between inc/dec isn’t perfect, but it still looks relatively even and fits. I call that a win!
Leave a Reply