I’m working on an Anker’s Summer Shirt and it’s been a bit chaotic for such a simple knit. The pattern mentions that the shirt will stretch about 2 inches when worn. I did a quick swatch and it seemed like the US size 6 needles were the right ones for gauge. I decided I would go down to a US 4 for the ribbed section at the top to keep that from stretching as much.

Once I got past the ribbing, I switched to the size 6 and got as far as the sleeve separation before trying it on. Aaaaaand, it was too loose. I checked my gauge again and was way off. Bleh. I ripped back to the ribbing and decided to leave my gauge as is and do fewer increases. When I tried it on again, it still didn’t work. The needle switch seemed to create a bunch of loose fabric right after the ribbing, so even reducing the number of increases didn’t work. Sigh. I ripped back to the ribbing once more and this time continued from the ribbing with the size 4 needle, which actually got me gauge. Knowing this would stretch a bit, I elected to do one less increase than the medium size specified.

I think it’s finally going to work out this time! The difference in the switch from ribbing to stockinette is much better with the smaller needle. I’m adding some waist shaping to this as well, making mirrored decreases on either side of the side markers four times, spaced about an inch apart.

When all is said and done, I think this is going to be a great summer top. Working with solid cotton (Debbie Bliss DK Cotton in French Navy) is a bit of relief from the previous summer linen top.

I’ve got some gorgeous shawl work coming up next! I don’t think I’ve been this excited and motivated about summer knitting for a few years. It feels great.