Tank FINISHED!

I am soooo happy!  I finished my tank and it turned out so well :-D

It seems that I can only insert four pics into this blog but I had more views than that so the pics are posted here. 

It may be just a little short, but not too bad... and there are quite a few loose ends, especially at the shoulders, but they are mostly hidden well.  Otherwise I am so pleased how well it turned out.  I think it's truly wearable!  

I didn't use a particular pattern, but a hodge podge of patterns, techniques and things that were in my head...  I did keep good notes though, mostly here on the blog, so here is the full pattern, in one place :-)

Using Berroco Touche, I cast on 226 stitches (making about a size XL).  I knit row 1 and k1, p1 row 2; repeating this pattern until the body was the desired length.  My length turned out to be about 15 1/2 inches.  

Then the work was split in two, one with 112 stitches and the other with 114 stitches.  112 is the back, which is worked first.  Row one begins with binding off the first 10 stitches, then K2, slip 2 and then insert the L needle from the front into the back of the slipped stitches, knitting them together (SSK).  Continue knitting until the last 4 stitches, K2tog, K2.  Row two also begins with binding off the first 10 stitches, then k3, use the same pattern as previously but backwards (P1, K1) to the last 3, K3.  Repeat these two rows 5 times.  Then decrease approximately every 4th row, doing so about 4 or 5 times.  The pattern row will have a lead off of knit stitches either 3 or 4 depending on how it works into the pattern.  After doing that to 75 remaining stitches (which was my desired length of about 6 inches) I began the cast of for the neck.  I knit 25, BO 25, knit 25.  I then knit each 25 a couple times around, using the P1, K1 pattern every other row.  

Moving to the front section of 114...  I again BO 10 for the first row, knitting the remainder of the row.  BO 10 on the next row, K3, pattern of P1, K1, until the last three, K3.  I then used an additional pattern (6 rows repeated) for interest on the front.  

1. k20, yo2, k14, yo3, k13, yo4, k13, yo3, k14, yo2, k20
2. k, dropping all yarn over's
3. k
4. k4, yo2, k10, yo3, k9, yo4, k9, yo3, k10, yo2, k10, yo2, k10, yo3, k9, yo4, k9, yo3, k10, yo2, k4
5. k, dropping all yarn over's
6. k

I repeat 1-6 two times and then did 1-3 one more time.  This completed the pattern and I began to bind off, K25, BO44, K25.  Row 1 was knit and row 2 was P1, K1, until 3 remaining, then K3.  I repeat these two rows until each shoulder was long enough.  

Once I had the four shoulder pieces I needed to get them together.  I had read about the three needle cast off but wasn't really sure how I was going to accomplish this melding together...  I did use three needles but my own way of casting everything off...  I had two needles facing the same direction and used a third needle thread through one at a time knit-wise.  I began to cast off at the second stitch.  Somehow it worked out and created a pretty nice seam.  I did work my cast off on the inside of the piece.

I think this is my first pretty from scratch pattern (since I had to make up my own cast on to get a size most patterns aren't created for) and I hope the directions aren't too confusing!