Racerbacks are great way to have a summery knit that you can wear and not sweat to death in. This textured tank is meant to be layered over another lightweight item like a tank top or a t-shirt, and provides lots of visual interest. The bands change stitches 5 times so the knitting doesn’t get dull, and the lovely cotton blend yarn is lightweight, breathable and fantastic to wear.

The Kollage yarn didn’t grow a lot in wet blocking, which was wonderful, and the generous yardage meant fewer ends to weave in.

SIZE
A[B, C, D, E, F, G, H, J]
(shown in size A, worn with 1 inch of negative ease)

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS
Chest: 32[34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 48, 52] inches
Length: 20[20, 20.5, 23, 23.5, 24, 26.5, 27, 28] inches

MATERIALS
Yarn
Kollage Luscious [63% cotton, 37% nylon elastic; 345yd/315m per 100g skein]; colour: #6725 Maple; 2[2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 4, 5, 5] skeins.

Recommended needle size
[always use a needle size that gives you the gauge listed below -- every knitter's gauge is unique]
1 US #6/4mm circular needle; 24 or 32 inches for smaller sizes, 32 or 40 inches for larger sizes

Notions
Stitch marker
Stitch holder
Yarn needle

GAUGE

PATTERN NOTES
[Knitty's list of standard abbreviations and techniques can be found here.]

Shaping Note: Within the lace pattern, each yarnover increase is paired with a decrease. When increasing or decreasing at edge of work (shaping at neckline, armholes, etc), be sure to work a yarnover with its paired decrease (k2tog or ssk). If there are not enough sts to work both the yarnover and its paired decrease, work those sts in stockinette st instead.

3-st cluster: P3tog but do not drop sts from left needle; k same 3 sts together but do not drop from left needle, p same 3 sts together again and drop from left needle. Total number of sts has not changed.

inc1: The increase used for this pattern is the backward loop increase. It is the first increase shown here, referred to as m1.
(This increase is different from the m1 increase used in most Knitty patterns.)

Instructions for grafting can be found here.

DIRECTIONS

FIRST BAND (Cellular Stitch, from Barbara Walker's A Third Treasury of Knitting Patterns)
Round 1: [K2tog, yo, k1] to end.
Round 2: K all sts.
Round 3: [Yo, k1, k2tog] to end.
Round 4: K all sts.
Repeat Rounds 1-4 until work measures 2.5[2.5, 2.5, 3, 3, 3, 3.5, 3.5, 3.5] inches, ending with Round 2 or 4.

P 1 round.
K 1 round.
P 1 round.
K 1 round, evenly decreasing 1[2, 0, 1, 2, 0, 1, 0, 2] sts. 128[136, 144, 152, 160, 168, 176, 192, 208] sts.

SECOND BAND (Checkerboard Stitch)
Rounds 1-2: [K2, p2] to end.
Rounds 3-4: [P2, k2] to end.
Repeat Rounds 1-4 until work measures 5[5, 5, 6, 6, 6, 7, 7, 7] inches, ending with Round 2 or 4.

P 1 round.
K 1 round.
P 1 round.
K 1 round.

THIRD BAND (Linen Rib Stitch)
Round 1: [K1, sl 1 purlwise with yarn held to front of work] to end.
Round 2: K all sts.
Repeat Rounds 1-2 until work measures 7.5[7.5, 7.5, 9, 9, 9, 10.5, 10.5, 10.5] inches, ending with Round 2.

P 1 round.
K 1 round.
P 1 round.
K 1 round.

FOURTH BAND (Hindu Pillar Stitch, from Connie Chang Chinchio's Trellis and Keyhole Tank)
Round 1: [K1, work 3-st cluster] to end.
Round 2: K all sts.
Repeat Rounds 1-2 until work measures 10[10, 10, 12, 12, 12, 14, 14, 14] inches, ending with Round 2.

P 1 round.
K 1 round.
P 1 round.

Sizes A, C, D, E, F, H, J Only:
K 1 round, evenly increasing 2[-, 1, 3, 0, 2, -, 3, 2] sts. 130[-, 145, 155, 160, 170, -, 195, 210] sts. Proceed to Bust Section.

Sizes B, G Only:
K 1 round, decreasing 1 st. -[135, -, -, -, -, 175, -, -] sts. Proceed to Bust Section.

Next Round: BO 6[6, 6, 7, 7, 8, 8, 9, 10] sts, k44[46, 51, 55, 57, 60, 62, 71, 76] (45[47, 52, 56, 58, 61, 63, 72, 77] sts on right needle after bound off sts), BO 6[6, 6, 7, 7, 8, 8, 9, 10] sts, k to end. Upper front will be worked back and forth over last 73[76, 81, 85, 88, 93, 96, 105, 113] sts worked; place remaining 45[47, 52, 56, 58, 61, 63, 72, 77] sts on st holder for upper back.

UPPER FRONT
Note: Upper front and back are worked in Lace Rib pattern as established. Work RS rows in pattern as set. On WS rows, p all sts. Shaping is worked on WS rows. See Pattern Notes re. shaping in lace pattern.

Work 1 RS row in pattern.
Next Row [WS]: P2tog, p to last 2 sts, ssp.
Repeat these 2 rows 0[1, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 5, 7] times more. 71[72, 75, 79, 82, 85, 88, 93, 97] sts.

Continue in pattern until work measures 4[4, 4.5, 5, 5.5, 6, 6.5, 7, 7.5] inches from beginning of armhole shaping, ending with a RS row.

Shape Neckine:
Next Row [WS]: P14[14, 14, 16, 16, 16, 18, 18, 20] and place these sts on st holder for right strap; BO next 43[44, 47, 47, 50, 53, 52, 57, 57] sts, p to end. Left strap will be worked over remaining 14[14, 14, 16, 16, 16, 18, 18, 20] sts.

Left Strap:
Work 1 RS row in pattern.
Next Row [WS]: P2tog, p to end.
Repeat these 2 rows three times more. 10[10, 10, 12, 12, 12, 14, 14, 16] sts.

Continue in pattern until work measures 8[8, 8.5, 9, 9.5, 10, 10.5, 11, 12] inches from beginning of armhole shaping, ending with a RS row. Place sts on st holder.

Right Strap:
Place held sts of right strap on needle and join yarn with RS facing.

Work 1 RS row in pattern.
Next Row [WS]: P to last 2 sts, ssp.
Repeat these 2 rows three times more. 10[10, 10, 12, 12, 12, 14, 14, 16] sts.

Continue in pattern until work measures 8[8, 8.5, 9, 9.5, 10, 10.5, 11, 12] inches from beginning of armhole shaping, ending with a RS row. Place sts on st holder.

Sizes A, B, C, D, E, F Only:
Work 3 rows in pattern.

Next Row [WS]: P2tog, p to last 2 sts, ssp.

Repeat these 4 rows 2[1, 0, 0, 1, 0, -, -, -] times more. 39[43, 50, 54, 54, 59, -, -, -] sts.

All Sizes:
Work 1 RS row in pattern.

Next Row [WS]: P2tog, p to last 2 sts, ssp.

Repeat these 2 rows 5[7, 9, 9, 8, 10, 13, 15, 16] times more. 27[27, 30, 34, 36, 37, 35, 40, 43] sts.

Work 3 rows in pattern.

Next Row [WS]: P1, inc1, p to last st, inc1, p1.

Repeat these 4 rows 1[1, 1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 4, 4] times more. 31[31, 34, 38, 42, 45, 45, 50, 53] sts.

Work 1 RS row in pattern.

Next Row [WS]: P1, inc1, p to last st, inc1, p1.

Repeat these 2 rows 10[10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 11, 11, 11] times more. 53[53, 56, 60, 64, 67, 69, 74, 77] sts.

Continue in pattern until work measures 8[8, 8.5, 9, 9.5, 10, 10.5, 11, 12] inches from beginning of armhole shaping, ending with a WS row.

It is a good idea to check length before working next row. Pin front straps to upper back and try on top; garter stitch ridge at base of bust section should sit just below bust. Adjust length of upper front and back as necessary before continuing.

Next Row [RS]: Work 10[10, 10, 12, 12, 12, 14, 14, 16] sts in pattern, BO next 33[33, 36, 36, 40, 43, 41, 46, 45] sts, work in pattern to end. Two sets of 10[10, 10, 12, 12, 12, 14, 14, 16] sts remain.

Graft each set of sts to held sts of corresponding front strap.

FINISHING
Weave in ends and block.

Julie Crawford lives in Toronto, Canada, with her husband and two cats.  She works for a nonprofit by day, and knits like crazy at night.

She can be found at knittedbliss.com.