Let me start off by saying that although I love the look of this top, the pattern has, shall we say, “issues.” When I got to the point of joining the round and beginning the front lace panel I did not have the right number of stitches to work the lace panel. After an unsuccessful attempt to locate my mistake I ended up ripping out what I had done and starting over. Before casting on for the second time I went over the pattern with a fine-toothed comb, pencil, paper and calculator, and discovered that I had not made a mistake in following the pattern the first time. The pattern just does not arrive at the correct number stitches for the front panel by the time you are supposed to join the round and begin the lace. (At least it doesn’t for the size I was knitting. I didn’t check the numbers for all sizes.) Once I knew what the problem was it was an easy enough thing to fix.

Another error I found in the pattern was that part of the instructions for row 6 of the lace pattern was missing. It’s pretty obvious from what is there what the missing part should be, but since the lace panel is just the common Horseshoe Lace stitch pattern I was also able to confirm it in a stitch dictionary. (In case you were wondering, you need to add P2, K5, P2 to the end of row 6.)

Another error is just prior to casting on the stitches for the front and joining the round. The pattern instructs you to purl 1 round after having just completed a Wrong Side purl row. Eliminate this row of instructions.

Also, the instructions for the short row shaping in the sleeves does not take into account that different sizes will have different numbers of stitches. I had to reduce my total number of short rows by 2 repeats, so I suspect that the instructions are for the largest size. If you want to work the same number of short rows as the pattern dictates and you are making any other size then you will have to adjust the placement (reduce the number of stitches between the turns) to make them work with the number of stitches that you have. (I’m not entirely convinced that they are necessary at all, at least not where the pattern has them placed. Higher up on the sleeve, maybe, but right above the sleeve ribbing? Really?)

One change I made for the sake of symmetry was in the location of the beginning of the round. Worked as written, you would have two consecutive rows of plain knitting (without the raglan increases) on one side and not the other because when you cast on the additional front stitches and join the left and right front in the round the pattern has you relocate the beginning of the round to the back of the sweater, putting an extra row of plain knitting on the right sleeve. This would not be noticeable if the raglan increases were invisible increases, but they are yarnover eyelets, so it seems to me that it would show. I set the BOR after the left sleeve and prior to the front lace panel (much closer to where the join actually takes place). If you make this change you must remember to take it into account for the remainder of the pattern.

If I make this top again I will make two changes to the front panel. First, I will reverse the direction of the traveling cable on one side of the panel to make the cables mirror images. Second, I will use a Centered Double Decrease in the Horseshoe Lace in place of sl1, k2tog, psso (just because I like the look better).

The Alpaca Dance yarn from the Premier Yarns Deborah Norville collection is very soft and makes a nice fabric, but it behaves very much like mohair in that it sheds worse than a sheepdog while being knit. If you are sensitive to breathing a fog of floating fibers then you might want to wear a mask. This same characteristic also makes ripping out nearly impossible. (For me it actually involved a pair of scissors to trim the fuzzies that banded together in solidarity in defiance of my plan to undo their union. Evil little buggers.)