My design ideas and advice:This is the Bradley Tank Top, a simple colourwork tank top. It uses the simple slip stitch technique so you are only ever using one colour in the row. I love this brick pattern and first used it on the Charlie Cushion for one of the first Skipton studio patterns though I have used the pattern several times before that in the numerous knitting pattern books I designed for the American Market in the noughties.
I just love a simple colour work pattern that looks complicated but is super easy.
The Bradley Tank Top is worked in pieces and then sewn together.
The pattern includes two lengths, cropped (the black version in the photos) or longer (the teal version in the photos).
I chose the Jamieson’s yarn because of it’s history. It is a Shetland yarn that is exactly that, the fleece is grown, sheared and spun on the Shetland Islands. Something that is close to my heart and I love that the craft is still continuing today.
I like to give names to my patterns that relate to the pattern in some way. For me this simple slip stitch pattern remains me of brickwork. So I looked in to the history of brick making in Yorkshire and found there was a Victorian company from Wakefield that specialised in manufacturing braickmaking machinery. They were called Bradley & Craven Ltd.
For this pattern I used:
Yarn & Amounts: 4(4:5:5:6:6) 25g balls of Jamieson’s Spindrift in shade A (Charcoal) and 2(2:2:3:3:4) 25g balls each in shade B (Heron) and shade C (Steel) for crop version
OR
5(5:6:6:7:7) 25g balls of Jamieson’s Spindrift in shade A and
2(2:3:3:4:4) 25g balls each in shade B and shade C for longer version
Needles: 3mm and 3.25mm.
Gauge (tension): 27 stitches and 46 rows to 10cm/4ins square over pattern using 3.25mm needles.
Measurements:
To Fit Chest (suggested) |
||||||
81.5-86.5 | 86.5-91.5 | 96.5-101.5 | 106.5-112 | 112-117 | 122-127 | cms |
32-34 | 34-36 | 38-40 | 42-44 | 44-46 | 48-50 | ins |
Actual Chest Size |
||||||
88 | 96.5 | 105 | 114 | 123.5 | 131.5 | cms |
34½ | 38 | 41¼ | 45 | 48½ | 51½ | ins |
Length crop (from shoulder) |
||||||
46 | 46 | 49 | 52 | 55 | 58 | cm |
18 | 18 | 19¼ | 20½ | 21½ | 22½ | ins |
Length longer (from shoulder) |
||||||
55 | 57 | 60 | 63 | 66 | 69 | cm |
21½ | 22½ | 23½ | 24½ | 26 | 27¼ | ins |
Vlogs: We chatted about the Bradley design on the Purl &Jane Instagram Lives
https://youtube.com/watch?v=BficvNPR5Gs