Suplice Lace Top

Pattern: Surplice Lace Top designed by Gayle Bunn in The North American Designer Collection No. 4 by Nashua Handknits
Materials: 7 skeins of Dale of Norway Svale color No. 7432 to make size small (used all but 1 yard!!!), Susan Bates circular needles in sizes 3 and 5.

Finished Measurements: Bust 33.5", underarm to hem length 12.25", total length 20.25"

Modifications: Substituted the Svale for the Nashua Handknits Natural Focus Ecologie Cotton and went down a needle size. Knit back and front each in one piece rather than casting off lower bodice and seaming together. (**see below for specific instruction).

Comments: I couldn't be happier with this sweater. The fit, the yarn and the pattern (with all of my tinkering) all came together perfectly. Even though the Svale was quite splitty, the drape is well worth it. I'm not even going to block it!

** How to knit front and back each in one piece (numbers given are for the size small, actual numbers will be different for other sizes):

For Back, when the pattern says to bind off lower body stitches, instead proceed to instruction for Back Bodice all the way to shoulder bind off (I didn't make any changes to shoulder shaping)

For Front, after the last row of the lower body stitches, instead of binding off 90 stitches, knit 35 stitches and place on scrap yarn for holder. On the next 55 stitches, work Right Front Bodice all the way to shoulder bind off. Pick up the 35 stitches held and then pick up 20 stitches from the back of the Right Front through the purl loops of the same row, counting this as row 1 or first RS row. Proceed to knit Left front as instructed through shoulder bind off. [For other sizes, all you need to do is figure out the difference between the total number of lower body stitches and the total number of stitches for each front. For example: for size Medium, the total number of lower body stitches is 94. The total number of bodice front stitches is 116 (58 + 58). 116-94=22. Subtract this number from the total left front bodice: 58-22=36. So, when you start the top bodice section, you would knit across 36 stitches and put them on a holder and then proceed to knit the remaining 58 stitches for the right front.]

Sew front to back at shoulder seams as instructed. For Neckband, begin picking up stitches from Right front as instructed, but pick up 1 stitch less. Continue picking up stitches but pick up twoe less stitches on the left front, then cast on one stitch extra. For the remainder of the neckband, on RS rows, pick up one extra stitch from top of lower bodice for the right front. On WS rows, increase one stitch on the left bodice front. When binding off, when you get to the last stitch of the right front bodice, pick up one more stitch from the top of the lower bodice and bind it off. Cut yarn and securely weave tail on the wrong side. Use scrap yarn to sew the edge of the left front bodice neckband to the wrong side of the lower front.