Success (this time)!

During our sun-filled beachy days of week one in Newport, Rhode Island, I cast on the Make Up Your Mind tank by Julie Crawford, a pattern I tried earlier this summer without success.  I love this pattern and felt sure that I could do it -- I also easily imagined it on Miranda and wanted to complete at least one pattern from my year of projects. What I love about this pattern is the varied stitches that make up the four bands of the tank's body. The most challenging

and most beautiful, I think, is the Hindu Pillar Stitch which is extremely intricate and elegant. When I first cast on this yarn, I wasn't sure I chose the right color.  Planetarium is a dark, smoky blue and it's really beautiful but for a summer tank, I had my doubts.  As I knitted, I fell more and more in love with the color - perhaps the laciness of the pattern allowed the darkness to be both subtle and dense at once.  And the fingering weight is perfect for the stretch and drape this pattern calls for.
In the end, I'm thrilled with how this summer tank turned out.  And seeing it paired with denim, I think it will carry into the fall over jeans and a light jacket.  The one odd thing that happened (which I can't explain) is how the rib stitch on the bust section first began as a spiral rib stitch and then ended up becoming a straight rib stitch.  It's a mistake but somehow, I love how it looks.  Hey, I guess sometimes mistakes make nice surprises, right?