Instead of purchasing the very expensive Artwarns Beaded Silk Yarn for the yolk, I used one ball of Trendsetter yarns’ Luna held with the Regal Silk for thedecorative Front V-Neck Band. When adding Luna, I dropped one needle size to size 5. It is very pretty.
The front was way too low and the shoulders were not wide enough so I picked up stitiches along the front and added 21 rows using the directions for the back. These rows could easily be added without b inding off so try it on before binding off to see if it is too low for you. For me, it would have had to been worn with a camisole.
The sleeves are very tight and so tend to pull the shoulders down so I would make them wider next time. I did purchase one more ball of yarn than the pattern called for after reading what others had done and used every bit of it since I add the 21 rows to the front.
My basic pattern stitch was to knit 7 rows and purl the 8th. It gives a nice ridged look.