Crochet Wattle Stitch, Tank Top and Pretty Cotton Yarn

I love receiving yarn from Wool and the Gang to play with. I’ve worked with their Shiny Happy Cotton yarn before and loved it, so I was excited to receive the same yarn in their new “Out of Space Dyed Yarn” colors. After taking time to play with some different options, I decided what I wanted to do with the yarn, and I used it to crochet myself a beautiful wattle stitch tank top that I’m absolutely loving. Here’s that journey …

Out of Space Dyed Yarn

Shiny Happy Cotton is 100% Pima Cotton Yarn. Out of Space Dyed Yarn is their set of new colors; while their solid colors are great, it’s a lot more fun to play with this variegated yarn. I got two different colors: Breathing Space Blue and Space Cadet Colors and I really loved the color combinations of both of them.

This yarn is considered a worsted weight yarn and the company recommends a hook size between 5 and 8 mm. I had previously used a size H (5 mm) hook with this yarn but before getting started wanted to play around with what different sizes would look like. I checked out what it looks like in F, H, and K hook sizes and I could see using any of these for different reasons.

I also played with double stranding, using one strand of each of the two colors to make an even bolder variegated yarn. I loved the effect.

How to Crochet Wattle Stitch

I just recently learned how to crochet wattle stitch, which is a really simple stitch pattern that somehow I’d overlooked in the past. I decided that this was the stitch that I wanted to use with this yarn. Here is how to crochet wattle stitch:

Crochet a chain. The length should be a multiple of 3.

In the 3rd chain from the hook work 1 sc, ch 1, 1 dc

Skip two chains. In the next chain, again work 1 sc, ch 1, 1 dc.

Repeat previous step across row.

End with one single crochet in the last stitch.

Chain one to turn.

Work into the first chain space (created between the dc and sc of the row below): 1 sc, ch 1, 1 dc

Continue working into each chain sp, working 1 sc, ch 1, 1 dc into each.

End with sc into the turning chain stitch.

Repeat previous four steps to continue adding rows.

Making a Crochet Tank Top

I used this yarn to make myself a crochet tank top. Although I loved the double-stranded color effect, it felt too heavy for the summer shirt I wanted to make, so I used a single strand approach instead. I made wattle stitch rectangles, one in each of the two colors (Breathing Space Blue and Space Cadet Colors) to create a tank top that can be worn with either side facing the front.

Above you see the two rectangles each folded in half. They are each just a tad wider than I am across and I crocheted them to a length that covers approximately from my armpits to just below my waist. I seamed the two rectangles together on the sides to create the body of the tank. I then added straps to give “arms” and create the tank top shape. I did use double stranding to create the straps for the tank top, adding extra strength to the straps while getting a chance to incorporate that detail that I loved so much.

Finally I added some stitching to the top, between the straps, on both the front and back to give a less square, more decorative neckline to this crochet tank top.

BONUS: OVEN MITT FREE CROCHET PATTERN

I had additional yarn left over from this project, which I used to make a free oven mitt crochet pattern that can be found over on The Spruce.