This pattern is for any gauge/weight, from fingering to bulky!

This comfy drop-shoulder tank top can be buttoned at the shoulders in different ways for your choice of styles; you also get to choose whether or not to give it pockets! And it’s your style choice whether to make it all in one color, or to make the top part and/or pockets in a contrasting shade.

When made in a cool fiber, like cotton or linen, it’s a warm-weather sleeveless top, but you may instead choose to make it in something wooly and wear it as a warm vest type layer.

The modular pattern is for any gauge, custom fit to your measurements, so pick out yarn in any weight to get the kind of look you want.

This project requires a little math before you start knitting - just basic adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing (very easy with your calculator app). To customize the pattern for your yarn and body, you will make two gauge swatches, one in stockinette and one in garter stitch, and take a few measurements on yourself; then you’ll fill out a worksheet to find all the numbers to plug into the pattern, making it sized just for you, in whatever yarn and gauge you want to use.

You can either make the whole thing in one color, or use a contrasting color for the top part and/or the (optional) pockets. If you like pockets but don’t want them to stand out so much, make them in the same color as the body. You may also choose to sew the pockets down in a curved shape instead of straight up.

There is very little finishing - the only sewing is on the optional pockets, which are knit onto the bottom and then sewn to the piece up the sides. The top section is knit flat, sideways (in garter stitch), modularly to connect to the body without picked up stitches, which is then knit in the round down to the bottom, with a ribbed bottom edge.

This is part of the leethal Full Body Trio - 3 different patterns for versatile garments. (Each single pattern is $6; the whole trio is $12.)

The pattern includes a detailed schematic, a diagram showing how to measure yourself, 9 process photos showing how the piece is constructed and some details, notes & photos on how to fasten the shoulders 7 different ways, and instructions for the cast-on/bind-off used and the buttonhole loop method.

Find video tutorials on leethalknits.com for the cable bind-off, the buttonhole loop, and cabling without a cable needle.

You need
‣ enough yarn in any weight - vague (very approximate!) estimates given in the grid below the photos are the total yardage for an average length
‣ needles sized to match your yarn, a medium-length circular (24” or 32” / 60cm or 80cm depending on your size), used to knit the top flat (while holding sideways stitches) and work the body in the round
‣ click the PDF preview link at the bottom to read full you need details

Weight / gauge
Any weight will work, but something for warm weather wear is recommended, so linen or cotton blends, and/or a yarn that works well knit very loosely (unless you want to make it as a cold-weather vest instead). A light weight (fingering-sport) is a good fit, but a heavier weight can work if the fiber content is cool and the fabric is airy; like a loosely-knit aran weight cotton, for example, should be a good fit.

You can preview the first few pages of the PDF here to get a sense of the pattern style and see some of the details, techniques, etc.