Cabled Tank Top - Knitting Pattern for Women in Debbie Bliss British Wool Aran by Debbie Bliss

Cabled Tank Top Knitting Pattern for Women by Debbie Bliss in British Wool Aran

This Cabled Tank Top is a women's sleeveless knitted garment — a classic slipover style designed by Debbie Bliss and worked in her signature Debbie Bliss British Wool Aran yarn. The pattern is a downloadable PDF, rated at an intermediate difficulty level, making it an excellent project for knitters who are comfortable with basic techniques and ready to explore textured stitch patterns such as cables.

What Is Being Made

The finished garment is a cabled tank top — a sleeveless, fitted or semi-fitted women's top featuring prominent cable detailing across the body. As a slipover, it has no sleeves and is designed to be worn on its own or layered over a shirt or blouse. The design is worked in a warm, classic Cream 01 colourway, giving it a timeless, versatile aesthetic suited to a wide range of wardrobes.

Construction and Techniques

The tank top is constructed using a seamed, worked flat method. This means the front and back panels are knitted separately as flat pieces on a pair of straight needles, then joined together using seaming techniques to create the finished garment. Working flat is a traditional approach that many intermediate knitters find approachable, as it avoids the need for circular needles or complex in-the-round shaping. The seams also add structure to the finished garment.

• Cables: The primary decorative technique is cabling, specifically a honeycomb cable pattern. Honeycomb cables are created by crossing groups of stitches over one another at regular intervals, producing a deeply textured, interlocking pattern that resembles the cells of a honeycomb. The pattern references a cable abbreviation such as C3L (slip stitches to a cable needle and cross them), which is characteristic of traditional Aran-style cable knitting.
• Reverse Stocking Stitch (rev st st): The background fabric is worked in reverse stocking stitch — where the purl side of the fabric faces outward — which creates a soft, slightly raised texture that makes the cable panels stand out in sharp relief.
• Seaming: Once the flat pieces are complete, they are joined using standard seaming methods to construct the body of the tank top.

Stitches Used

• Knit (k) and purl (p) — the foundational stitches used throughout
• Reverse stocking stitch — used as the main background fabric
• Honeycomb cable pattern — the central decorative stitch panel
• Make one (m1) — an increase stitch used for shaping, worked by picking up and knitting into the back of the loop between stitches
• Slip stitches (sl 1) — used within cable manoeuvres and other shaping details
• Knitting together (tog) — used for decreases in shaping

Tension and Sizing

The pattern provides two separate tension (gauge) measurements, which is typical for garments combining different stitch patterns. Over reverse stocking stitch, the tension is 18 stitches and 24 rows to 10cm using 5mm needles. Over the honeycomb cable pattern, the tension is a tighter 25 stitches and 29 rows to 10cm using the same needles — reflecting how cables pull the fabric in horizontally. Matching these tensions is important for achieving the correct fit across the multiple sizes offered by the pattern.

Materials Required

• Yarn: Debbie Bliss British Wool Aran in Cream 01 — a 50g/1¾oz ball weight yarn. The quantity required ranges from 11 to 16 balls depending on the size being knitted, reflecting the range of sizes the pattern covers.
• Needles: A pair of 5mm (US 8) knitting needles — straight needles suitable for flat, seamed construction.

About the Yarn