Tahki Yarns Rockaways Racerback Tank Knitting Pattern

Tahki Yarns Rockaways Racerback Tank

What is Being Made

The Rockaways Racerback Tank is a sleeveless pullover sweater designed by Pam Grushkin. This garment features a fitted racerback construction with a modern, athletic aesthetic. Available in four sizes—Small, Medium, Large, and XL—the tank offers a range of bust measurements from 36¼ inches to 49 inches. The finished length ranges from 25½ to 27 inches, creating a cropped to standard tank silhouette suitable for layering or wearing as a standalone piece during warm weather.

Techniques Used

This knitting pattern employs several essential techniques to construct the garment efficiently:

• Worked in the Round: The tank begins by being knitted in the round using a circular needle, which allows for seamless construction of the body and creates a smooth, continuous fabric without the need for side seams in the initial stages.
• Stockinette Stitch: The primary stitch pattern used throughout the garment, creating a smooth, flat fabric with a classic appearance suitable for a versatile tank top.
• Armhole Shaping: The pattern includes structured armhole decreases worked both at the beginning of rows and through strategic decrease rows, creating a fitted silhouette that accommodates the racerback design.
• Three-Needle Bind-Off: A special seaming technique is employed to join pieces together while binding off simultaneously, creating a secure and decorative seam. This technique can be worked with right sides facing for a functional seam or wrong sides facing for a decorative effect visible on the right side of the fabric.
• Decrease Shaping: The pattern uses both skp (slip, knit, pass slipped stitch over) and k2tog (knit two together) decreases on right-side rows, along with their purl-side equivalents (p2tog and ssp—slip, slip, purl), to create tapered armholes and shoulder shaping.

Stitches Used

The Rockaways Racerback Tank utilizes fundamental knitting stitches that create a clean, wearable fabric:

• Knit Stitch: Forms the foundation of the stockinette stitch pattern on right-side rows.
• Purl Stitch: Creates the reverse stockinette appearance on wrong-side rows when working flat.
• Slip Stitch (Sl): Used at the beginning of rows for edge definition and as part of decrease techniques.
• Skp (Slip, Knit, Pass): A left-leaning decrease used for armhole and shoulder shaping.
• K2tog (Knit Two Together): A right-leaning decrease used throughout the garment for shaping.
• Ssp (Slip, Slip, Purl): The purl-side equivalent of skp, used when decreases fall on wrong-side rows.
• P2tog (Purl Two Together): A decrease worked on the purl side for maintaining shaping consistency.
• Bind-Off: Used to secure stitches and finish edges, including the specialized Three-Needle Bind-Off technique for joining shoulder seams.

Materials

The Rockaways Racerback Tank is designed to be knitted with Tahki Yarns RIPPLE, a 100% mercerized cotton yarn. The yardage requirements vary by size: Small and Medium sizes require 4 balls, while Large and XL sizes require 5 balls. Each ball contains 1.75 ounces (50 grams) and yields 142 yards (130 meters), providing approximately 568 to 710 total yards depending on the selected size.

The pattern is worked on size 8 (5mm) circular needles, specifically a 32-inch (80cm) circular needle for the main construction. An additional size 8 (5mm) needle is required for the Three-Needle Bind-Off technique used to join shoulder seams. The recommended gauge is 15 stitches and 27 rows per 4 inches (10cm) in Stockinette Stitch, and checking gauge before beginning is essential for achieving proper fit.

Additional materials needed include waste yarn for holding stitches, four stitch holders for managing the front and back pieces during armhole division, stitch markers for tracking pattern repeats and shaping points, and a yarn needle for we