Summer Fruits Tank Top

I taught myself to crochet because I found it thrilling to create something with my own hands that brought myself and others joy. Unfortunately, I eventually established a box of ridiculous rules for myself around a hobby that I loved (ex: only allowing myself to crochet amigurumi because I crochet too tightly for clothing, projects should take no more than X amount of time, etc). These unreasonable expectations sucked the joy out of creating and caused me to burn out HARD. It’s extra noticeable when I look back in this blog and see what a turn my posts took from the things I was crocheting/making to things I was buying (or eating, but that part will never change). Staying at home due to covid has reignited my want/need to create so I decided to sit down with a pattern I previously would not have allowed myself to attempt - with zero expectations.

I first found the Summer Fruits Tank Top on Ravelry which led me to the website of the pattern creator, Carrie M. Chambers. Not only does she have a ton of gorgeous patterns available, she also has instructional YouTube videos! I felt like this particular top didn’t look too difficult for my first foray into crocheting clothing. Honestly, it ended up being so lovely to crochet a thing that I knew was going to be difficult for me (due to my tight crocheting and lack of crochet clothing experience) and be able to see her doing it on screen to help me on my way. Was it easy? Nope. I struggled hard as anticipated due to my tight crocheting and not realizing I needed to size up a hook (or two or three). Thankfully, the pattern gave instructions on how to create the top to fit your own body and I was able to scale up to work around my gauge issues. It ended up turning out beautifully.

Finishing this top made me want to cry tears of happiness because it helped me find my joy in crocheting again. It’s a little stiff due to my tight crocheting and I made the straps a little too long so I had to cross them (which actually turned out to be quite cute), but I made a thing that fits my own body, looks nice, and I feel proud of it. It just goes to show that coloring outside of your own (stupid) lines can be a good thing sometimes - you might be holding yourself back (or in my cause causing yourself unhappiness). I’m so glad I decided to try crocheting a top.