Beautiful top by Petra Breakstone! I am looking forward to wearing this top during the upcoming heatwave we have in Eastern Washington. Temps above 105 F for almost a weeks, so the loose fit & cotton blend yarn will feel so cool!

Even though I attempted several gauge swathes I “lost gauge” on this project & ended up with a size 56” garment, even though I followed the pattern for a 52” top. I was planning on a top with at least 5” positive ease, so the extra width is not a problem for me.

To be clear, this loss of gauge was no fault of the designer but rather of my yarn choice & personal knitting style (I just knit loose). If you are very worried about this I would encourage you to knit a large gauge swatch, preferably in the round as the pattern is.

I made a few pattern modifications for personal taste, and then a few more to compensate for my loss of gauge. I’ve detailed these mods below.

I really like how this top turned out and am planning on making another with larger needles soon.

NOTES
Cast on 302 stitches using knitted cast on.

Worked 2 purl rows, and first round of pattern flat to avoid twisting. I joined “in the round” prior to beginning the 2nd row/round of the pattern.

Modifications
14 pattern repeats for bottom
Added faux seams
9 pattern repeats after splitting for front/back
9.5” shoulder seam via 3 needle bind-off
Picked up 87 stitches for sleeves

Faux Seam:

I adjusted the pattern to add a 4 stitch faux seam under each arm. At 302 stitch cast on, that is 151 stitches on the front and back. At the beginning of the round knit 1, purl 1, work 147 stitches according to pattern, purl 1, knit 1, slip marker, knit 1, purl 1, work 147 stitches according to pattern, purl 1, knit 1.

When it is time to split for the front & back, keep 4 underarm stitches on a needle holder & your front & back are now worked over 4 less stitches.

Front & Back:

Knit 14 pattern repeats before splitting for sleeves.

Due to faux seams, I worked over 147 stitches, vs 151 stitches.

I only made 9 pattern repeats for the tops. My row gauge had grown by the time I got to 21 lace pattern repeats (14 + 9). I estimate that I have about 40% more stitches on my needles than a size 36” would have at this point. Cotton is heavy & the extra weight is changing my gauge.

Shoulders:

I tried binding off for the shoulders, and seaming them together according to the pattern, but my seam was lumpy & the neck was super wide.

I tried a 3 needle bind-off with wrong sides together, for 6.75” each side (according to pattern), but the neck was still so wide it fell off my shoulders.

Finally settled on a 3 needle bind-off over 45 stitches each side, which equates to about 9.5”. Perfect!

Sleeves:

Because, I knit fewer rows for the front & back, I needed to adjust the number of stitches picked up for the sleeves to avoid a ruffled affect.

When picking up stitches along the edge of my work, I find a good rule of thumb is to pick up 3 stitches for every 4 rows. My front & back each had 9 pattern repeats. The pattern is 6 rows, so 9x6= 54 rows. I only want to pick up 3 stitches every 4 rows, so 54 rows divided by 4 = 13.5 groups of 4 rows. 13.5 groups x 3 stitches each group = 41 stitches a side that I should pick up. 41 stitches from the front, plus 41 from the back, plus 4 from the underarm = 86 stitches. 86 is closest to 87 called for in the pattern for a size 36”, so I picked up 83 stitches across the front & back, then knit the 4 underarm stitches on the holder for a total of 87 stitches.

I wasn’t sure how long to make the sleeves, so I made the first one a bit longer ( following the instructions for the size 36”) as follows: 16 rows straight, 12 rows in pattern, 2 rows hem, bind-off. This looks nice when the garment is flat, but is past my elbows when worn.

The 2nd sleeve I made shorter: 7 rows straight, 12 rows, pattern, 2 rows hem, bind-off. This sleeves is 1.25” shorter than the first and hits above my elbows. I like this better, but have shown pictures of both.