Made with stash yarn purchased in 2023.

Preliminary Thoughts:

• I have 875yards of yarn held double- because I’ll need to hold it double to get gauge.

• Technically, I don’t quite get gauge - which is 24st and 32R in 4” but I think I’m close enough using the US3 - if I refine the vertical dimesions to ensure that I get the desired length (armscye and body). Can’t go down or up a needle size from the US3 because, to go up would make the fabric too open and to go down would make the row gauge even more off. So this is something to consider…

• Intended Mods: I do intend to alter this in one specific way by making mine one size smaller (horizontally) than the smallest size because this garment is not fitted and I need to conserve yarn. My CO has 4 stitches fewer than that instructed in the smallest size. Each size has a 4-st CO difference from its neighbours. This will necessitate changing the number of stitches between the second last and last short row, so that my version retains the same number of stitches on either side of the completed short row segments. I’ll also have to knit additional rows to ensure that my garment retains the same vertical depth as the dimensions instructed for the first size.

• About the Yarn: This is one of the stranger fibres I’ve worked with. The yarn is exceedingly slippery (but loves to knot on itself) and it has absolutely no stretch or recovery in the skein. The only stretch in the fabric is imparted by the structure of the knitted stitches. It doesn’t make it easier that I’m knitting it held double, but neither strand is splitty. There’s a ton of sheen to this yarn, it almost looks like silver because of the light reflection on the extremely sleek fabric. And the colourway is a deep grey with mauve undertones. Unfortunately I skeined the first hank and pulled from the inside and outside of the ball and it became a tangled mess that took an hour to fix. And then I had to break the yarn (which may be tricky re: weaving in slippery ends). Now I’m working from both balls simultaneously and both have been wound by hand / pulled from the outside only.

The Knitting:

• The pattern is quite clear and it is not a difficult knit. Made from this tencel, it should be a useful and wearable deep summer garment. I’ve tried to figure out whether this yarn can be machine wash and dried but I can’t find much to confirm. I’m pretty sure it can go in the washer on cold. I also think it can be dried but, if I have any yarn left over, I’ll make a swatch and machine dry it as a test. Otherwise, I may dry it for a short period, on low, to bring recovery to the fabric after wear and washing.

• So I knitted 4.5” of the back body length (measured from the side body/shorter point) and decided to do a bit of math, cuz I can’t get more of this yarn. FWIW, at this point it would appear that my preblocked gauge has become even shorter (10R per 4”).

• I’m not going to fuss overly because this yarn type is very unknown to me and plant fibres always seem to grow, even if a swatch shows otherwise. Instead, I’m going to wet block and see what happens.

• This amount of knitting (the majority of the back yoke) has taken ~20% of my yarn. That sounds like a lot but, if you consider that the yoke of this garment includes the drop sleeves (but not the edging), you’re covering a lot of surface area. Now, before blocking, I do need to knit a couple more inches on the back body and then to work both halves of the front but, even if that takes 60% of the yarn, I’ll have 40% remaining with which to knit the body and a small amount of sleeve finishing. Keep in mind that the body, though measured by circumference, decreases quickly once joined and that circ is smaller than the yoke circ would be (which is, at that point being knitted flat).

• Important - Rav pattern page gives different swatching instructions than the actual pattern: So the pattern page on Rav instructs you to swatch in stockinette. The pattern itself instructs you to swatch in pattern. I didn’t realize this inconsistency and I went with what the pattern page said / swatched in stockinette. That was probably a mistake. And even as I was doing it, I wondered why the instructions didn’t advise to swatch in pattern.

• Having said this, it’s going to be better than alright. My post-blocked gauge is 24st and 34R in 4”. So my stitch gauge is spot on and my row gauge is closer to instructed than I thought. I’m only 6% shorter in length at my gauge than at the instructed row gauge. This should save me some yarn.

• This yarn blocked very strangely. When submerged in water, it became quite stiff and crunchy, and it felt like it had shrunk, though that was not the case. It’s kind of like linen in this respect. On blocking, it actually stretched 5” horizontally (from 24” to the instructed 29”) and the length went from 4.5 to 5” without pinning. And the drape is pretty amazing.

• Note that the term “wing fang” refers to the horizontal span from one sleeve end to the other - it’s one half of the upper yoke circumference. I’d have called it wing span but maybe this is a matter of a term getting lost in translation. Or maybe it’s an English term though not according to what I could find on the internet.

• Even if you’re working with a knowable fibre, like a bouncy wool, I would block the upper back, mid knit, to confirm that the wing span is going to be a) aligned with the pattern sizing and b) the dimension you prefer. A person with a narrow frame is going to get a longer sleeve from any given size than someone who’s broader in the back or shoulders. This is one of the reasons that I opted to make mine smaller than size 1 (if only by 4st in terms of the wing span). Note that this small change at the beginning, plus working one extra decrease round aftre the body is joined, produces a full bust circ that’s ~2 inches smaller than that of the first size, and this continues to the hem.

• This is a very clever and elegant design. The application of short rows to produce very specific shaping (like the slope of the v neck - which wouldn’t happen without other short rows that slope the back upper body) requires next level spatial reasoning IMO. This shaping is beautifully re-emphasized by the reverse stockinette “seam” that follows the slope of the shoulder.

• While I can’t say I love knitting in 1x1 rib with 2 strands of slippery skinny rope, it’s creating a beautiful even fabric with great stitch definition and fantastic drape. And the pattern is engaging while also being simple.

• Each front half, just prior to joining in the round, took 33g of yarn and the back body, pre-joining in the round, used up 38g. As of joining in the round, I’ve used up 48% of the yarn. The garment, pre-blocking, is 7.5” deep (folded in half) at the armscye and 8.2” deep in the v neck. That means it’s just below the armscye or about 2.5-3” above the full bust (nipple depth). So there’s still quite a lot to knit in the round but I’m optimistic that I’ve got enough yarn.Update: in the end, given that I used 212g of yarn in total, and 104g was used up getting to the join in the round, I used 108g of yarn from the join - 52% of my yarn went into the bodice. That’s not how I saw this going but, in retrospect, the join in the round happens quite early in this pattern. it’s well above the full bust point. And one is using apex yarn amounts between that join and the end of the decrease segment. I mean, I’d hazard that the first 20R after the join in round use up a substantial portion of the yarn alotted to the bodice.

• I’m going to work one more decrease round in my size to make the bodice 1.25” smaller than instructed. I want to save yarn and I feel I can remove 8 addtional stitches given the drape of the yarn.

• As of half way through the body decrease segment, I have 88g of yarn remaining. This means I’ve used 16g of yarn on 14 rounds. That is a lot… OK, I’ve got to try things on and think about it. On reflection, I still have 48 st to decrease so, by the time I get to the final circumference, I shouldn’t be using more than 1g per R. I’ve opted to wet block the top to see how it’s going to sit in the end. Pre-blocking, I can’t say I love the fit. It’s already wide on me and it will grow more on blocking. The pre-edged “sleeve” comes half way down my arm. It’s also loose under the arm, which is the style. Even with decreases every other round, I think it may be too big. Not sure it flatters me. Better to figure out now if a) I’ll have enough yarn (dealbreaker) or b) if I like it (also dealbreaker).

• So having blocked the upper bodice, here’s what I can say: If I were to make this again (esp in a fabric with little to no recovery i.e. summer yarn), I would take 4-6st off of each side vs the 2 on each side I took off this time. That would prob require me to rethink the GSRs a bit (so that I end up maintaining short row proportions with fewer stitches but it would be easy enough). Once blocked, the fabric became seriously drapey and the size is alright. That’s because, with my yarn and gauge, the wing span from tip to tip is 25” (vs the 29” that the pattern instructs) and that’s absolutely as long as I would want it given that I have a narrow frame. To avoid adding additional length, I will likely not work the “sleeve” edging because my edge, pre finishing, is neat and not rolling / looks adequately finished given the drape and fabric texture. I could also opt for an icord edge.

• If I were to make this again, I might still forego the edging (and, instead, slip the last 2 st (as per the neckline) to elongate those stitches. The sleeve (tip to tip length) is at my outer limit of long. This pattern is drafted for broad shoulders and a taller/wider frame than mine. There seems to be a lot of ease at the underarm also, but given that I haven’t finished the body (which will alter how things sit) and given that this is a flowy design, I’m going to give it the benefit of the doubt.

• In terms of yardage remaining, it’s hard to tell how I’m going to fare till I get to the smallest circ and measure how many grams each round at that circ uses. I’m estimating a bit less than a gram but that’s just guessing right now. I’m probably going to use another 14g before I finish the decrease segment which will leave me with 74g (again, guestimates for now). 74g should get me 74R or, at my gauge, 8 more inches after the ~4” of length in the decrease segment, but that wouldn’t leave any yarn for edging the sleeves. I can’t see a scenario in which I won’t use all of the yarn. But I think I can make it work, so I’m keeping on.

• I’ve determined that each round, at the final circ of 232st, takes 0.6g. (I dec’d 2 more st than I said I would because I wanted the stitches abutting the side purl columns to be knits on all sides.)

• As of 7Rs into the body at full circ, I have 70g remaining. This enables me, at 0.6g per round, to knit another ~115R - but I need to use a bit of this to knit an icord around the sleeves, should I decide I want to do that. 115R comes to another 12.75” of bodice length at my gauge. On paper that’s more than enough. But I’m going to measure my yarn usage in another 5R to confirm that it’s 67g before I get too comfortable with this idea… Update: 5R later, I was at 67g.

• Also, as of 7R into full circ, the top fits me at the full bust (nipple-depth), though only part of the fabric in the round is blocked. This is 3” below the join in the round (prob more like 4” when the full depth is blocked) and ~13” (when blocked) from the centre back neck. I want 9-10” more of length in this garment - and I will stop shorter that that because this is going to stretch with the weight of the fibre and gravity.

• In the end I worked another 9” and I could have worked 2 more rounds (prob don’t have enough for 4 more rounds). The length blocked to ~10” from where the sleeve and side body meet, which is just long enough. I’d probably like 1” more in length but there’s no way I’m going to get that in this version.

• It’s farily tricky to determine the armscye depth in this garment, as it depends on where and how the shoulder top sits on your shoulders. But it’s not a fitted sleeve. There are probably a couple of inches of space between my armpit and the garment underarm.

• I may have enough yarn remaining to work an icord around the sleeves but I don’t think it’s necessary. The edging looks edgy. And the sleeves are as long as I’d like them to be, but also not as long as I was concerned they’d be.

Final Thoughts:

• Well this is an ode to yarn chicken math. In future, I would think carefully before making the smallest size if I had less than the recommended amount of 984y. I used 848 yards and it wasn’t fun worrying. I also made mine smaller than the smallest size and about an inch shorter than I’d prefer (though longer than the pattern instructs). So I agree that, to ensure an optimally enjoyable time, have about 950-1000y of yarn to knit the smallest size. Having said this, I’m going to make this again soon with 985y of Tynn Line held single - which is somewhat finer than the doubled up yarn I used this time. I hit st gauge but row gauge is quite off. I guess that’s where all of my extra yardage will go.

• I really like the finished garment. It’s very chic and the shape suits my body well. This will be comfortable and, hopefully, easily washable in the deep summer. I will use the final 4g of yarn to make a test swatch to throw in the washer and dryer.

• Were I to make this again (with some Tynn Line I’ve got), I might not work the extra decrease that I included in the bodice this time around, nor would I remove any stitches at the cast on. That’s because that yarn is a fine fingering and I’m going to want the extra width to compensate for the lighter yarn weight. Otherwise, I likely would remove at least 8st at cast on (yarn-depending) to keep the sleeves from being too long on me. For myself, I’d prefer that each shoulder top (from the high points at the back neck to the sleeve edge) be 12.5” at the longest, not including the edging instructed. 12” would be best for me if I want to work the instructed edging. The pattern shoulder top is 14.5” after edging. Keep this in mind if you are proportionately narrow in the shoulders and/or don’t have thick upper arms.

• Working the sewn bind off was not the most fun part of the project. This yarn has no give so it was like using actual thread. I haven’t yet blocked the bind off edge - which I worked after blocking the garment. So that edge still needs to adjust itself, which it will. Too bad the pics were taken before doing this but oh well.

• Cost of Yarn: This is quite affordable at $72.00 but I found it at Knit City Mtl, which I paid to attend (and to travel to). This yarn has been discontinued, though I can’t find confirmation of this on Ravelry. When I bought these skeins, I overheard someone talking about how this brand was closing shop. This was corroborated at an LYS that used to stock the brand. Apparently, they’re just dyeing up the last of their bases and selling them to vendors that they’ve worked with over many years.

Post-blocked Dimensions: I forgot to take measurements before wet blocking.

Full bust circ: 37” (but yarn has lots of drape and little recovery)
Hem circ: 33”
Shoulder top (half of the wingspan): 13” I’d prefer that this be 12.5”, including edging, in future versions.
Armhole circ: 15”
Vneck depth: 8.25”
Length of underarm (decrease) segment: 3.5”
Full length from centre back neck to hem: 20.5” In future versions, I’d prefer the length to be 21.5”
Length from underarm to hem: Scant 10”, but this will stretch with wear. I’d prefer that this be at 11” depth in future versions.

Gauge Swatches:

Held Double - Stockinette:

Preblocked Gauge US2.5: 26st and 36R in 4”
Postblocked Gauge US2.5: 25st and 40R in 4” (swatch is small so hard to est row gauge after blocking)

Preblocked Gauge US3: 25st and 34R in 4”
Postblocked Gauge US3: 24.25 and 36R in 4”

Held double - Broken rib pattern:

Preblocked Gauge US3: 27st and 39R in 4”
Postblocked Gauge US3: 24st and 34R in 4”