The Surplice Lace Top

Pattern: Surplice Lace Top by Gayle Bunn
Size: medium
Needle: US 6, 2 & 4

Yarn: Elann Den-M-Nit Pure Dark Indigo Cotton

The pattern called for knitting a front, back and three pieces for the top. I knit this in the round in one piece only seaming the shoulders and setting in the sleeves. I hate sewing seams in sweaters, I don't do a very good job of it, so I try to figure ways around it when I can.

I used size 6 needles for the lace section and knit an extra row of pattern to make it a little longer. I knit 3/4 of the top in size 6, then tried it on and found it was way too big. Sorry Deb, you aren't getting this one! I guess when I knit with cotton I tend to knit looser and so my gauge gets out of whack. I needed the top to be about 4 inches smaller around so I ripped down to the top of the lace section. I reknit the band on size 2 needles and I knit the top on size 4 needles. I knit the sleeves on 4’s but they were too small. So I knit two more sleeves on size 5 needles. The overall fit is good. I could have used another inch in length to the top portion but it looks ok. It may have shrunk a little in the washing, it said to estimate 10-15% in length.

The blue dye from this yarn rubs off a lot on your hands when knitting because it is heavily dyed on the outside with a white core, the way denim is dyed.. After the sweater was finished I washed it on delicate with two rinses using synthrapol to help get as much loose dye out as possible. The color of the yarn did not change that much but it did start to get a little of the speckling and irregularity of color that one sees in denim. I look forward to seeing it age, like a good pair of dark jeans.