I have a hard time naming things, especially patterns. So I was at a loss once more, up until I stumbled upon Bakanasu. Bakanasu is the word for the endemic-to-Japan flower, Solanum nigrum. It literally means ‘stupid eggplant’. Really. It is completely irrelevant to the pattern, but it made me laugh so hard, I thought it would make a good name.

The idea for the design came in 2013 and it was inspired by a top I already own. I wanted to achieve a very lightweight, but detailed result and Tussah silk fitted the bill for this purpose perfectly. The result is very suitable for the climate we experience in Greece, when most of the year, the temperature prohibits us from wearing garments made of wool.

To alleviate boredom from the inevitable pattern repetition lengthwise of the piece, I combined a little bit of lace, color as basic intarsia and beautiful cables.

I also wanted to create a garment that can be used in many different ways. As a long rectangular piece, it can be worn as a stole (when not adding the waist bands) or as a very delicate summer top in different wrapping variations. Below I present one way to wrap, but I encourage you to explore and discover more ways!

Pattern backstory and insights can be found here.

Full, undivided version of the chart can be found here.

Yarn
DyeForYarn Tussah Silk Lace
(100% Tussah Silk; 760yd/695m per 3.53 oz/100 g skein)
(MC) Mother earth is stirring; 1(1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2) skeins
(CC) Blooming acorn; 1(1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1) skeins

Needles
US #1/2.25mm needles for working flat

Notions

• cable needle
• sewing thread in color that matches MC
• fabric ribbon in color that matches MC, 42(45, 46, 39, 42, 47, 53, 60, 66, 73) inches / 108(114, 118, 100, 108, 120, 137, 153, 169, 185) cm cm in length.
• 2(2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3) buttons, approximately half-inch/1cm in diameter
• 2 yarn bobbins for CC for working intarsia (optional)
• stitch markers (optional)
• flexible blocking wires (recommended)
• sewing needle
• yarn needle

Gauge
27 sts/40 rows = 4 inches/10 cm in cable stitch pattern
36 sts/40 rows = 4 inches/10 cm in stockinette stitch, after blocking

Sizes
XXXXS(XXXS, XXS, XS, S, M, L, X, 2X, 3X)

Shown in size XXXS for length (back waist measurement) and M for width (waist measurement).

Finished Measurements
Width: 12.5(12.5, 12.5, 12.5, 12.5, 13.5, 13.5, 13.5, 14.5, 14.5) inches / 32(32, 32, 32, 32, 34.5, 34.5, 34.5, 37, 37) cm

Length: 60(62, 64, 66, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 72) inches / 152.5(157.5, 162.5, 167.5, 172.5, 174, 178, 180.5, 183, 183) cm

©2017 Über den Traum - for personal use.

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