Preliminary Thoughts / Mods:

• I’m going with a US9 as my main needle because I get stitch gauge (and the fabric is less open / more appealing) than with the rec needle size. I’m slightly short in row gauge (which often happens to me so I’ll add a few rounds, as necessary to get to the vertical measurements). Note that my yarns are both lace-weight (though one is fluffy, if not like mohair).

• I have a minimal amount of the brushed cashmere and while there were 6 skeins of inventory in this colourway when I bought it (and it had been this way for a while), as luck would have it, now all of them are gone. And though more has been ordered in at one of the locations I called, it may take more than a month to arrive. And then there’s the reality that this is hand-dyed so every lot will be its own colour and a new skein may cause pooling. So I’m rethinking my original plan of knitting the size M (which has more positive ease than I’m technically comfortable with, even if circular yokes tend to require more ease to fit well and the version I tried in a M fit me well), given that I can always use the raglan incs as a way to add more ease at bust and arms as required. I want to be able to prioritize length and I only have 630 yards of the Moondrake. That means I am limited to CO the small. And, if I use more yarn than the pattern indicates, I may actually double up on the lace-weight Luna at the collar, hem and cuff ribbing to maximize what I’ve got.

• I wouldn’t be making this sweater if I hadn’t tried on a sample and realized that it is very cute and a good summer evening layer. I don’t knit circular yokes because they are not my preferred shape but this one is a yoke meets raglan, which is why it fits so many bodies better than a standard yoke design.

• I don’t know if I love the lace motif or its positioning on most versions so I’ve decided to go with 1.5 repeats (vs the 2 rec for my size) and to raise the height of the lace by knitting fewer rounds before starting it. I’ll add back in the rows below the lace panel and before starting the raglan. I want the full lace panel to fall at the upper bust so that I don’t need to wear something underneath unless I feel like it.

• I will also include GSRs at the back neck, as many others have done. Knitters of this garment have tended to do this in one of 2 ways: adding the rows after provisionally casting on the neckline - like one or 2 rows in or waiting till when they pick up the provisionally held stitches and working GSRs before doing the decrease round that comes before starting the ribbing. The diff is in the direction of knitting, which does impact the shape of the wedge, if subtly. These posts speak more about it: https://www.susannawinter.net/post/2020/06/12/improving-c... and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bhvx8wtWkw8.

• I’m going with the first option and working “lengthened” short rows, adding them to the body after prov cast on. Lengthened short rows work the first DS closest to the BOR marker and then move outwards towards the side body / shoulders with each subsequent GSR. Many have opted to work them “shortened”, which is to say that they work the first GSR by knitting to the farthest point and then making additional DSs closer to the BOR marker, picking up the DSs on the final round.

• I realize that I could add the GSRs anywhere on the yoke before the split for sleeves to achieve the same impact, but doing it at the start will involve working them with fewer stitches overall (which can get fussy with short rows in the round ). Once you work the incs, there are a lot more stitches to manage. I do understand that the back short rows (which the instructions indicated create a longer back) might also contribute to moving the front neckband down (my objective) but I am not convinced that it will work as well after split for sleeve.

• I was initially considering working a few side body decreases after the full bust because I generally don’t go for more than a couple of inches of positive ease and oversized is not my sweet spot. But now that I’ve opted to make the S, instead of a M which I tried on (though I only wore it for a couple of minutes), I’ll prob stick with a straight body. I’ll have to see how things look as I go. Update: I did do decreases in the end…

• Not sure if I’ll use Espace Tricot version / shape of sleeve or if I might make mine more fitted / shorter, if for no other reason than to save yarn.

Yoke:

• Back neck short rows: CO for small (92st) provisionally. K1 round and then did 8 “lengthening” GSRs (4 on each side of the back neck / BOR marker) as follows:

• K8 st, DS, turn work, P 16st (to get to 8st on the other side of the BOR marker), DS, turn work, K to 3 st past the the last DS, picking it up as you work, DS, turn work, purl to 3 st past the last DS, picking it up as you go etc. This creates a DS on both sides of BOR marker at 8st, 12st, 16 st and 20 st. With a CO of 92st, you have 23st on either side of the BOR / back neck marker before you get to the side body.

• I opted to keep the GSRs within the back body, not going over the side body (which starts at 23st on either side of the BOR marker). I worked “lengthening” short rows, moving from the point closest to the centre back BOR marker on each side outwards / pick up the prior GSR every row as I got to it. I think this will integrate the DSs optimally, based on the info in that post I linked to.

• Then I worked 4 more rounds before doing the increase rounds. (Pattern calls for 8R before starting inc rounds). This will raise the lace panel up above my bust.

• To ensure the lace isn’t too deep - because it is really open - I worked 15R of lace pattern (1.5 repeats instead of 2). Thereafter, I worked in plain stockinette the 3 extra rounds left out before the incs (and one more to make up for my slightly shorter gauge) and the 5 rounds to make up for the lace I didn’t do before.

• Raglan Shaping: I blocked the yoke having finished the to get an accurate sense of its depth. As of the beginning of the raglan incs (done at depth instructed for S, in pattern) the yoke depth is: 6” and the yoke circ is entirely adequate. I’ll likely do the neck finishing before I split for sleeves (but after doing the raglan incs) to ensure that it’s long enough once the neckline pulls up the yoke.

• FWIW, it would appear that, as the pattern is written, the yoke depth, pre-raglan shaping, is the same for both S and M.

• At size I’m knitting the yoke at (S), the pattern indicates that the raglan shaping starts after R24. In terms of stitch count - as per instructions - 204st on the needles at end of lace panel - 34st for each sleeve (68st total), 68st for front and 68st for back (136st total))

• I also want a body circ of ~42.5”. Given that I get instructed st gauge at 4st per inch, that means I’ll want 170 st on the body once I start the straight knitting.

• I started the raglan shaping with body circ of 136, see above. So I need to inc 20st on body over 22R at max and potentially much sooner (given that the raglans are worked every row on this pattern, likely for a reason I’m not considering at this point). At 4 st inc on body per inc round, that’s 5 increase rounds. Size small calls for 4 raglan incs but I’ll need to do one more, as per the size M, to get to the instructed depth and circ. The question is, will I thereafter need to knit plain before splitting cuz the depth will still be short? ** Update: I knitted 2 extra rounds before splitting for sleeves. I could have done 2 more but I think this will work. ** I’ll have to try as I go and I may also choose to knit the neck band before I split for sleeves, to get a sense of how this is going to impact overall fit…

• Numbers as of Split for Sleeves: I want ~170st on body and 44st on holders for each sleeve. 14 of the body stitches will be casted on body at split so I’ll need to have 156st on body by end of raglan incs.

• I also want the sleeves to be about 13” circ (for flowy look, between S and M). That means I’m going to need 52st per sleeve. Stop sleeve increases when you get to 44st as you’re instructed to increase 8 st at underarms when you start working the sleeves. You’ll need 10st of raglan incs on each sleeve or 5R of 2st inc per sleeve per inc round.

• My first ball of the cashmere ran out as of 4.25” below split for sleeves (and this includes neckband). I feel it went reasonably far. I’m hopeful I can get to the preferred body depth and sleeve length on the remaining ball. I may have to alter fit of sleeves to save yarn (but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it).

• Side Body DecreasesI did opt to do 2 decrease rounds (4st per dec round), separated by 6 rounds. Started this a couple of inches below the under bust. It’s really bigger in circ than it needs to be and I don’t have endless quantities of yarn. So if I save a bit, I can apply it to length or sleeves.

• Didn’t do lower back short rows, mainly cuz I don’t love a high-low shape (to my eye it mimics the effect that happens when a sweater is too small because the bust is large and pulls up the fabric) but also because I don’t have enough yarn.

• On my first row of 1x1 hem rib, I slipped the knits and purled the purls to mitigate flipping up of the hem, which can sometimes happen when stockinette goes into rib, depending on fabric characteristics. First time I knitted it, I didn’t do this and I was a bit concerned that blocking wouldn’t be enough to keep it from flipping at will. So I ripped back and made the mod.

• Neckband: I opted to work the neckband before continuing on the body. It was a strangely irritating part of the process. I started off by following the instructions - I used US6 instead of US7 because that’s 3 sizes down (what is recommended). The neck was almost too tight to put over my head and I did bind off with the larger needle size (US9). I eventually went back to the decrease round and decreased from 92 to 74 st (10st fewer than recommended at that size). I used US7 to work 6 rounds and then bound off loosely with the US7 needle. I feel that the band may be a just a smidge deeper and the stitches a bit more open than I’d prefer but the fit is objectively good. I may choose to redo this neckband at the end, using a US 6 (same 74st count) but only 5R before binding off. At this point, I have no perspective so I’ll leave things as is till after wet-blocking the finished garment.

• Sleeves: I casted on 52st - 44 held and 4 picked up on either side of the centre of underarm. Worked 1 round. Then decreased 2 st to get to 50st - the number of st associated with the small. Though I originally intended to keep the extra 2 st, I did this for 2 reasons - I want to conserve yarn (though not sure I’ll save any yarn to speak of by diminishing 2 stitches) and I think narrow sleeves with a wider body works best for me.

• Not sure how long I’ll be able to make these sleeves but I hope to get to 3/4 sleeves… Update: I only got to ~11” of depth so it’s more like a 2/3 sleeve but it will be fine… BO number of stitches = 28st

Final Thoughts:

• I have mixed feelings about this pattern. It’s very clear and it’s an enjoyable, super fast knit - certainly the 11,000 finished projects prove that many people have enjoyed it. There’s nothing like knitting something up on huge needles from a speed perspective (it’s actually hard to make this last longer than a week given how chip-knitty it is and how open in gauge and potentially cropped). The lace is not complicated (but gives a bit of interest). And I definitely think that a yoke plus raglan brings out the best in both of those constructions. But I’m not sure that, in larger sizes, it’s optimally drafted. And, in every size, there’s a tendency for the lace to fall too low IMO, over the bust.

• Given how open the lacework is, when situated directly over the bust, it pretty well makes an under layer necessary, something that isn’t required with (let’s say) the Ranunculus (another circular yoke design with raglan sleeve shaping), which is less open.

• Not only that, but I don’t find the lace particularly pleasing. It has a tendency to look stringy and droopy. That’s one of the reasons I didn’t consider making this pattern till I tried a finished version on my own body.

• I would recommend that this be knitted with the following alterations to remediate the challenges noted above: short rows to raise the neck at the back body and to slightly lower the front neck (which is designed to be quite high and snug), raising the lace by at least 4 rounds and making the lace panel no larger than 1.5 repeats unless your bust is low or you are very long in the upper bust area.

• I note that many versions show a more open neckline - obviously something that can be easily achieved by casting on a different number of stitches than called for. The challenge with this, IMO, is that the more open neck encourages a droopy line of lace (which is already drafted to sit low). I do think this design works best with a snug crew neck because it pulls the lace up and in, highlighting shoulders and lace work above the bust.

• I think that this works better knitted up in a very airy weight (as recommended). I can’t use mohair (allergic) but if ever there were a project for it, it’s this one. While matte (though not as matte as brushed suri), the brushed cashmere I used gives good stitch defn (and not too open a fabric) while being very light-weight and warm. I also think that, knitted in a thicker single-yarn (like a DK), esp if worsted-spun, is likely to lead to a heavy garment that will pull down the lace segment toward the bust that much more. I actually opted for a lace-weight 2-ply mixed with a lace-weight brushed cashmere. I still got stitch gauge by going down only 1 needle size and I love how light-weight the garment is. I do think the cashmere, while less hairy than mohair, plumps up a lot to fill in the open space between stitches.

• I used up every last yard of the Moondrake (which is what limited the size of the garment / I still have 34g of the Luna remaining). So I did make this sweater, at a smaller but not super-small size, out of 630y held double. That makes this not only quick to knit but also fairly cost-effective (unless you spend $125CDN on brushed cashmere). This is equivalent to about 2.5 skeins of DK-weight yarn held single.

• About the Yarns: I have to say that this has been a yarn win - and I’ve used 2 new-to-me yarns. I managed to get a combo S/M sweater out of 72g of lace-weight BFL and 100g of the brushed cashmere. That’s unbelievable given that this is not a snug garment. I love Sonder yarns and their Luna base is FANTASTIC. I love the crimp of the very fine BFL. It’s a 2-ply (my fave). Their hand-dyed colours are all gorgeous and tonal (but quite consistent in my experience). This is my new go-to lace-weight yarn for sure. It’s soft and elegant but it has an innate durability. In fact, given how cost-effective it is (you get 875 yards for 40 CDN before shipping and tax), I may buy some to hold double as I can likely get a fitted fingering sweater out of 2 skeins. To make this sweater I used 72g of the Luna. The Moondrake was a bit of a novelty purchase and I’m more impressed than I thought I would be, esp given that it cost a lot of money. It appears to be less matte and furry than suri. I do feel that suri has too heavy a vibe to work as a mohair alternative in most instances. The cashmere is very light, not ridiculously hairy or halo-y. And it sure does feel like cashmere, but it’s extra durable given that the core is a 2-ply merino. One skein is def more dense with cashmere than the other. I suspect the less-dense skein is the outlier here but I can’t confirm that. I would use this, under the right circumstances, as a mohair alternative in future.

Pre-blocked Dimensions:

Underarm to hem depth: 12” (block to 12.5”)
Full length from back neck (not incl neckband): 18.5”
Underarm to cuff length: 11”
Width from (top) lace to (top) lace over neckband: 13.5”
Depth from front below neckband to start of lace: 1.5” from closest tip of lace - Do not block this longer.
Depth of lace section: ~2.5” - Do not block this longer.
Circ upper arm: 10.5”
Circ cuff: 5.5”
Circ full bust: 39”
Circ hem: 35”

Note that there’s a lot of give in this yarn given the gauge it’s knitted up in and the airiness of the fabric.

Gauge Swatches
Pre-blocked US9: 18st and 24R in 4”
Post-blocked US9: 16st and 25R in 4”

Pre-blocked US10: 17st and 21R in 4”
Post-blocked US10: 15st and 24R in 4”