The Brilla Tank Top Begins

Thank you so much to everyone who left kind words on my last entry! It's definitely a great little project, and if it's your kind of project, I definitely say "go for it!"

Here's my next tank top project. It's the Ribbed Tank Top out of the same pattern book as the Peasant Top (Filatura di Crossa Spring/Summer 2003), only it's done in Filatura di Crossa, Brilla. This yarn is 42% cotton and 58% viscose. The color is #388, and depending one when I see it it looks either slate blue or silvery grey. I thought it would be perfect for dressy summer evenings and might work it's way into fall under a jacket. It's a soft yarn and it knits up easily -- it just seems to glide over my AddiTurbos.

It doesn't look like much yet, since I'm only about 8" up the back. But since the whole top is only 20", it means I'm a little less than half way done with the back. The pattern is 13" from armpit to bottom, and I am thinking of trimming that to 12" or 11". I'm a little short-waisted and don't really want a lot of extra fabric hanging around my hips. I'm hoping to get it finished for my trip to France -- I don't think it will be too difficult to get it done by the 28th, even if I do have to spend some time with my masters thesis.

So far the biggest surprise for me is that I actually don't mind all the K2P2 rib. On socks, I absolutely abhor K2P2 ribbing, but for this top, I feel like I am hitting a rhythm and I can roll forever. More proof that adjusting my style to be more "true Continental" was worth the intial frustration.

I know there's been a lot of bragging rights for who has the greatest husband, and I'd like to make sure that I get in a few good words for John. Not only is he doing most of our planning for our trip, he wandered through women's clothing stores yesterday on our walk back from breakfast to help me get some spiffy new "gear" for France.

Here's the 3 suite Bed and Breakfast that we're going to spend our first 5 days in, Les Terraces du Soleil. John's still working on the second 5 days -- he always works hard to get a good deal on something wonderful, and he's almost never failed to find something wonderful!

If anyone knows of any good fibery stores in and around Nice, France, please let me know! (I'd also love to hear about any "must dos" anyone knows about in the area). That'll be a true test for my best guy... something I haven't made him do yet... wait around while I wander through a yarn store!