Final Thoughts:

• This pattern is tremendously well-written and so clear. And the design is ingenious. Even if you’re not sure that this design is your “personal style” (it is super feminine), making it is so much fun. And it is a very beautiful garment, personal style-notwithstanding.

• I wouldn’t say it’s optimal for a newbie because, though clear, the entire project has the knitter working multiple techniques “at the same time” (purl ridge row or round, decreases at the same time as the chart and the purl ridge round). “At the same time” pretty well goes on for the entire project. As such, this is not a “mindless” knit. You have to focus to be sure of what happens when. You also need to be comfortable working a chart flat and in the round (not a complicated chart, but given how much else happens simultaneously, I wouldn’t recommend learning how to read charts on this project).

• One thing I would note is that, on many versions, the neckline is quite wide. If you’ve got broader shoulders, I imagine that this neckline would fit as it does the designer. If your frame is narrow, I’d either remove some width from the centre back body or go down a size (if you can do that without needing the circumference at the bust). If you need the bust circumference, I suspect the optimal path is to do what I did - get rid of the back body circumference that you don’t need and add it back in at the underarms. But note this will leave the back body smaller than the front the whole way along, unless you add back in the stitches specifically at the back body. I didn’t do this because my back is narrow the whole way down and my hips aren’t particularly wide (lower front abdomen is where my circ happens).

• When it comes to doing the short row hem (after having made alterations to the sizing per bullet above): you can probably just follow the instructions for the (altered) size you’re making because the short row stitch counts indicate proportions from the side body. If you make large changes that skew more than 3 sizes, you might want to make adjustments. In my case, I just had a few more stitches of circ at the centre of the front and back. The short row proportion instructed is 20% on either side of the front and back panel. So, from BOR marker, 20% of side front st are worked with short rows, 60% at the centre front are not, 20% of the second side / remaining side front st are worked with short rows and the same scenario occurs on the back body.

• The yarn was unlike any I’ve used before. I think it’s pretty perfect for this project - ultimate drape given its composition. It’s got a crunchy but refined sensibility given the linen and silk mixed with alpaca. It’s a light DK for sure. This pattern calls for a sport (or even heavy fingering) weight yarn and I had no difficulty getting row gauge. The colour is spectacular - with a lustre like actual pearl or opal. But… the alpaca is not baby and there are tons of guard hairs plus pokey bits of linen - and I am very sensitive to prickle (if not rustic yarn). This project took me about 30 per cent longer to knit than it would have if I hadn’t had to pull guard hairs from the yarn literally every yard. I actually had to use tweezers because I developed bruises on my index fingers from pulling by hand (and some of the linen staples were so long I needed the leverage provided by the pincers). It also sheds like a bitch - at least when being knitted up (before wet blocking), even after removing as much of the fluff as I did while I worked. So I would likely never use it again but I really hope that it will be enjoyably wearable without prickle, given the effort I’ve gone to. I do think that this yarn will wear well because I was not easy on it while knitting and it held up fine. I also love this yarn because my daughter bought it for me for my birthday, at Knit City Montreal. For that reason alone (and it really is gorgeous-looking yarn), I am very happy to have worked with it.

• Somehow I used much less yarn than most - under 600yards for a tank with cap sleeves, which surprises me. I’m not surprised that I used less yarn than called for (I usually do). But my stitch counts aligned with the size 2 for much of the garment and I am surprised that many people who knitted the size 1 used more yarn than me. I did knit this in a DK-weight (albeit a thin DK) so maybe that had something to do with it? But I got to the required dimensions and used 165 yards fewer than called for in size 2. Make of that what you will…

Modifying the Garment to Change The Neckline:

• I was concerned that the size 2 neck would be too open / boat neck so I did a test run, making the pattern as instructed for size 2, then worked the neck finishing, as instructed, in US3 after knitting only a few rows of front and back (after joining). I wanted to get a sense of how it would fit and I’m glad I did because the back was way too wide and the neckline almost unwearable. It was both a size and shape issue. On this first try working the neck finishing, I actually casted on 122st (vs the 134st called for in the pattern). I then worked a 3st icord (because I knew it would be firmer than then neckline as written and that was my only hope over and above restarting).

• After giving it a bit of time I realized that the best plan would be to decrease the number of stitches cast on at the centre back (by 10 st) and then to add them back in at the underarm (potentially along with even more stitches still than the pattern recommends so that I could get to 39.5” at the full bust). As such, I ripped back the garment and started again making that alteration. The fact is that my upper back is narrow and the pattern is drafted to be loose fitting, esp at the upper back and neck. I prefer the shape and openness of the neckline with less ease. Effectively I casted on the number of st in the back as for size 1 but maintained the instructed shoulder proportions of the size 2 - by simply removing 10 st at centre back.

• Using US3, I worked the neckline a second time, having reknitted the yoke with the smaller back circumference, and it was a much better fit. And second time I only casted on 116 st for the neck finishing! In truth, I could have cast on 5 fewer stitches and been happy but this yarn does shrink slightly so I’m going to keep it as is for now. If I determine, in the end, that I’d prefer more snugness, it will be easy to redo. I didn’t want the neck to be too small, so I picked up the stitches more closely together than strictly required. Note that the removal of back body stitches changes the proportions of the garment such that the shape of the neckline goes from a wide boat to a gentle scoop.

Join at Underarm:

• When I joined front and back I had 200 st because I added 10st under each arm (5 on either side of the marker) vs the 4 st called for on either side. 200 st = 95 st front body, 85 st back body and 20st underarm cast on. The objective was to add back in, at the underarm, the 10 st on the centre back body that I had removed (to better shape the neck), to ensure enough circumference for full bust. In the end, though, I opted not to bias the underarm stitches towards the back body because I felt there was enough room in the back panel and I wanted the circumference at the front (where my boobs are). In fact, I thought I’d add 8 more stitches thereafter (over 2, 4-st increase rounds). BUT, as I might have expected, this alpaca, silk and linen blend has little recovery and stretches a lot. So, instead of working the first 2” (above the full bust) increasing to meet 39.5” circ (which would have put me at 208 st), I decreased 2st in the 3rd or 4th round after splitting for sleeves. Happily, this brought me to 198st, the st count recommended for size 2, the size that I chose to make with modifications. I knitted the sleeves before continuing with the body so that I had an accurate idea of how the sleeves and neck would lie.

• As of 2” below split for sleeves I had 40” of circumference so I continued with this stitch count (198st) for another 3” (5” below split for sleeves) before beginning the waist decreases. My reason for beginning decreases so much lower than instructed is that my breasts are very projected and I require that circumference to continue over the contour of my breasts until I get to about 1” above the under bust, at which point it’s the right depth, given my dimensions, to start the decreases. Decreases began on Repeat 4, R15.

• I’m wondering if I’ll do a 5th repeat of the 20R chart repeat - that will be determined when I get closer to the 4th repeat because I need to see where I want the lace panel to end (likely at natural waist or a bit above). At my gauge, each repeat yields ~2.5” of additional depth and the final segment (above the repeat in the pattern / below the repeat in the garment) yields ~3” (23R that I may modify to 21R by leaving out the last 2 garter rounds because I want a more delicate end to the panel). I usually make things as long as instructed - or longer by a couple of inches - even though I’m short and short-waisted - because the boobs eat up a lot of depth. Update: No need to do an extra repeat of the chart. Also, I sense that the reason that the bottom of the chart has 5 rounds of purl bumps is because the designer wants to align the final row of lace-panel purl bumps with those in the non-panel part of the pattern - those that happen every 11th row/round…

• My intent was to do the 5, 4-st decrease rounds (20st total which would bring the garment to a 34” circ). I started these decreases as of chart repeat 4, round 16 at which point the depth from armhole to ~1” from underbust was 5”. My aim was 14.5” of length from underarm to hem. Pattern calls for starting the Rounded Hem section when 1.5” away from desired depth.

• To meet the objective I intended to work to 13” on body before starting the hem. 13” - 5” gave me 8” of depth over which to work the decreases. To be safe, I worked them over 7” or 56R at my (changed) gauge) and I’m glad I did. 4 decrease rounds (of 4st each decrease round) over 56R meant that I should work a decrease round every 14 rounds. Having said this, I didn’t realize that instructions start the hem on the first round after a purl round and I didn’t think I could work another 11R before starting the hem (I felt that would make things potentially too long). So I ended up starting the short row hem at ~12” below armhole.

• Also, because I removed 2 of the purl rounds at the end of the lace chart (I felt the panel looked more balanced with fewer purl rounds), my first full purl round, post chart, didn’t line up with the final purl round of the lace chart. Effectively, there would have been one knit round (first round after the end of the lacework chart) followed by a full purl round, followed by a full 10R of knits. I feared that it would have looked like a rogue batch of purls at the end of the chart. So I worked the purl round with knit stitches in the lace panel section on this one occasion. Thereafter, I worked the full purl round as intended.

• Hem: I really didn’t know whether I wanted to work this as instructed, just given my concern that it would highlight the profile of my stomach. But the design is so pretty and feminine and the hem goes perfectly with the credibly vintage look of the garment. So I opted to give it a go. Having said this, my stitch counts were not as instructed. The pattern has equal number of stitches on front and back. My 182st (not the number called for) were 95st on front and 87st on back. I looked at the other sizes (and worked the process out on paper) and decided to stick with the hem, as instructed (no changes to when or where I started the GSRs).

• Keep in mind that both sets of hem short rows are set up to align with the purl round that happens every 11th round. So if you opt to change the number of short rows you’ll need to remember to work that purl round into your alteration.

• I note that some people have worked only the first set of short rows instead of both. It’s actually the second set that gives the rounder shape to the hem so if you opt to do only one of the short row hem sections, you might want to do the second one.

• I finished the hem according to pattern but I’m not sure if it will roll (I’ve got to block it to see). If it does roll, I’ll rip back the k-wise, standard BO and work a 2st icord. What I will say is that the BO, when worked loosely on the same needle size (US5) created enough ease in the hips. I wonder if failing to work the final decrease round assisted in this fit. FWIW, It would prob have worked size-wise, even with the extra 4-stitches decreased - and many stretchy bind offs would provide more than enough ease, as required.

• Sleeves: This is a great construction which provides a lovely cap sleeve. I do wonder how someone making the second size would have enough circumference to pick up 76st at the cast on. I knitted to the instructed armscye depth for the size 2 and I found that 70st is optimally what I had room to pick up. That stitch count aligns with the Size 1. I don’t think that removing back body stitches should impact this, though I may be wrong. As it happens, my arms are proportionately compact so the Size 1 stitch count worked fine. I did opt to undo the original bind off and the knit round that precedes it because I wanted a slightly less firm bind off than I originally achieved. When I re-knitted the last round and bind off again, I went up from a US3 to US4 needle and focused on keeping the BO loose. This gave me the additional ease I was looking for. I do imagine that a looser type of BO might work better for those who tend to prefer more ease in the upper arm. But the BO knitwise leaves a lovely finished edge, even if it is quite firm by nature.

Preblocked Dimensions:

Length - Underarm to hem (at centre body / longest): 13.5”
Length - Underarm to side hem (shortest): 12”
Bust Circ: 38”
Hip Circ: 36”
Armscye Depth: 6.75”
Length - Back neck to centre front: 21”
Neck Opening (flat from edge to edge): 8” (this is much smaller than it would have been if I hadn’t removed 10st from the back body)
Length of lace panel: 13.5”
Width of cap sleeve at thickest point: 2”

Post-blocked Dimensions:

Length - Underarm to hem (at centre body / longest): 15.5”
Length - Underarm to side hem (shortest): 14”
Bust Circ: 38”
Hip Circ: 36”
Armscye Depth: 6.5”
Length - Back neck to centre front: 21.75”
Neck Opening (flat from edge to edge): 7”
Length of lace panel: 13.5”
Width of cap sleeve at thickest point: 2”

Gauge Swatches:

US 4 Gauge Swatch Preblocked: 21 x 38st? in 4” - it would appear that my row gauge is way smaller than recommended, preblocking - like 30R in 3” vs 30R in 4” (Let’s see how it blocks.)

US 4 Postblocked: 23st and 40R in 4”

This is way off. I’m going to have to swatch with a US5 to see if that works better… It would appear that this yarn shrank by 9 per cent horizontally but the length didn’t change appreciably.

US 5 Preblocked: 20st and 36R in 4” - This should shrink vertically to get the 21st stitch gauge. It’ll still be quite off on the row gauge but I can manage with math…

US 5 Postblocked: 21st and 34R in 4”

So this swatch does appear to have shrunk vertically by about 5%. But the impact is that this gets me closer to intended gauge. I’m going to go with US5 for this project. Update: As so often happens, my row and stitch gauge have changed over the course of the knitting process. Preblocked gauge is now 20.7st and 32R in 4”. Preblocked stitch gauge has become just slightly tighter (like 1.5%) and preblocked row gauge has become quite a bit larger (like 12%). I assume the extra length is because this fabric has a ton of drape and it gets heavier as it gets longer.