For this tunic, I chose an earthy pale blue shade of Louet Gems yarn and embraced the simplicity of Walker’s square-set template (one she describes as “ the easiest of all to knit” and requires practically no shaping). This allowed me to focus on the subtlety and beauty of the King Charles Brocade (found in Walker’s Treasury of Knitting Patterns), and to carefully shape the V-neck to follow its angle and lines. In the process, I discovered that the brocade benefits greatly from blocking and that either lightly steaming or wet-blocking the tunic when done goes a long way to help define the stitches and set them smoothly.