Re-incarnated

Well, this yarn most emphatically did not want to be a halter top. It wanted to be this:


Draped lace shell
Yarn: Be Sweet 100% Bamboo, from Loop; just a smidge more than 3 balls
Needles: 4.0 mm Addi Turbos, used as straights
Pattern: my own

Notes: I love this lace pattern. I got it from my Reader's Digest book of needlework, which calls it horseshoes lace, but I've seen it in lots of other stitch dictionaries. It's easily memorised and executed and goes really quickly once you get into it. The yarn is beautifully soft and feels great against the skin- although in these pictures I'm wearing a nude-coloured camisole underneath (a must for every wardrobe).
I increased stitches to the top front after binding off for the armscye so that I could get a little bit of that draped neck effect. I'd prefer a bit more of it, actually, but that would have required really drastic numbers of increases.
I swatched and calculated how many repeats I'd need for all the different widths and lengths, etc, and then I rounded everything down to some random number of stitches that "seemed right" given that I knew this yarn grew and grew and then grew some more after blocking. This top fits perfectly. Too perfectly. I think I would have preferred a bit more ease and drape. It could probably be blocked to be slightly bigger, if I cared enough.

Because I knew of its growth tendencies, I made this in two pieces, so I'd have the stability of seams to keep it in check.


I love looking at the side seams. I'm fascinated by the way the increases and decreases work themselves so seamlessly (ha!) into the lace pattern.

What I'd do differently: fewer armhole decreases (my upper arm looks absolutely massive in that first picture!); a bit more ease in the finished dimensions; more drapiness on the neckline; wider shoulder spacing.

Heck, this was such a quick and easy knit, and so flattering a shape on me, I may just make another one.


I just thought of something! This would be an absolutely gorgeous lace pattern for a dress! You'd just continue knitting down, shaping as you go. Of course, with this yarn's tendency to grow, you'd end up with quite a saggy ass after a bit of wearing. So maybe more thinking is required for that one.