Witchy Tube Top

This witchy-striped tube top is ribbed and knitted in the round. Easy to knit: no seaming, grafting, or blocking.

What you need

– approximately 400 yds / 370 meters sportweight wool or wool blend yarn or 200 yds / 185 meters each of two colors. Photo shows Lion Brand Wool-Ease Sportweight. Plymouth Encore DK can be substituted.

– US 4 / 3.5 mm circular needle with 30”- 40” / 76.5cm-102cm cable for knitting in the round, or size needed to obtain gauge

– 54”- 60” / 138cm-152.5cm narrow 1/8” or 3mm satin ribbon

– yarn needle

Instructions

It features a narrow satin ribbon threaded through the ribbing at the top to provide a secure fit as well as a bow. It’s great for Halloween, and it can be made in other holiday, piratey, or school colors.

The Witchy Tube Top was designed to coordinate with Witch Warmers, another Amanda Steves pattern including ruffled armwarmers, legwarmers, and a neckwarmer, available here.

Sizing women’s size small waist: 26.5”/67.5cm (med. 30”/76.5cm, lg. 34”/86.5cm), 1”/2.5cm negative ease

Finished Measurements unstretched, women’s size small is approx. 10”/25.5cm (11”/28cm, 12”/30.5cm) long and 25.5”/65cm (29”/74cm, 33”/84cm) circumference

Gauge 20 st x 16 rows = 2.5” x 2.5” / 6.5cm x 6.5cm in K1P1 rib (unstretched flat swatch)

Pattern Notes

U.S. knitting terms

Sizing – cast-on numbers are given for a women’s size extra-small, with small, medium, and large in parentheses. Measure your waist to find the size that’s right for you: 24”/61cm is size extra-small, 26.5”/67.5cm is size small, 30”/76.5cm is size medium, and 34”/86.5cm is size large. This is a very stretchy tube top.

Ribbed Cable Cast-On – provides a neat-looking, stretchy edge on the ribbed tube top. It’s a ribbed variation of cable cast-on, which is all knitted. There’s a great explanation of this with pictures in The Knitting Experience Book 2, by Sally Melville, published by XRX Books, p. 108.
Cast on the first two stitches in the standard way. The next stitch will be a purled cable cast-on

Bring the working yarn forward. Instead of inserting the right needle into the top cast-on stitch, insert it between the top two stitches you just cast onto the left needle, from the back of the work straight through to the front. Wrap the yarn over the right needle tip and proceed as if purling a regular stitch, taking the loop created on the right needle, over to the left needle.

For a knitted cable cast-on stitch, bring the yarn backward so it’s behind the work. Insert the right needle between the top two stitches on the left needle, this time from the front of the work straight through to the back. Wrap the yarn over the right needle tip and proceed as if knitting a regular stitch, taking the loop created on the right needle, over to the left needle.

Alternate knitted and purled cable cast-ons until the desired number is reached.

Knitting in the Round – you might need to leave a loop of cable between the first and last stitches in the round as you work. This is sometimes known as modified magic loop.

Striping – this pattern is worked in 3-row stripes. The standard procedure when making narrow stripes is to twist the 2 colors together at the beginning of each row. The color that’s not in use is carried up the work on the wrong side, until needed.

A quick-and-dirty (easy) striping method is to work the second stitch of each round with both colors held together, which produces a multi-colored seamline.

Ribbing for this Pattern – To accommodate the use of my quick-and-dirty striping method, the pattern calls for a P1K1 rib. Starting each round with a purled stitch looks better with quick-and-dirty striping.

Ribbed Bind-Off – for each stitch of the bind-off round continue the P1 K1 rib pattern as you bind off.

Directions

Using the ribbed cable cast-on method, cast on 162 (176, 204, 232) st with black yarn. The 3rd cast-on stitch should be purled, then alternate knit and purl cast-ons to the end.

Tie the working yarn to the tail to join the round, being careful not to twist the work.

All rounds: [P1, K1], repeat. For stripes, work 3 rounds in black alternating with 3 rounds in purple. Continue for at least 10”/25.5cm, or to desired length.

Bind off in P1 K1 rib pattern (not loosely).

Ribbon Thread a yarn needle with at least 54” / 138cm of narrow ribbon. Starting at center front in the middle row of the top stripe, draw the ribbon through the knit ribs all the way back around to the front, leaving one knit rib empty between the start and end of the ribbon. Adjust the ribbon so the ends are of equal lengths.

To Wear The “seam” line can run up the back or under one of the arms, as needed. When you have it on, tie the ends of the ribbon in a bow to secure the top.

Shown with Witch Warmers (neckwarmer and armwarmers):