I made this top for the occasions (and they are quite a few!) when I want something fluide to wear that shows off some bare skin, without having to fit myself into something clingy, with bare shoulders and deep neck-lines. Mind you, I love to wear those tops, too - but once in a while I want to wear something different.

With a souple A-line, lots of adorable lace and centered eyelets this top looks good with almost anything: a pair of jeans, a summer skirt, bermudas… And above all: it gives a beautiful “swing” around your body, as well as great comfort!

Having an unusual construction this tunic was so fun to work!
Back and front are worked in seperate pieces and side-ways. Lace borders towards the neck and bottom are integrated in the knitting, there are short-rows to create the curved A-line and centered eyelets along the way. Shoulders are seamed and sleeves are worked top-down from picked up sts. You could work the sleeves flat or in the round, I give instructions for both possibilities. The finishing work is limited to a couple of straight seams: shoulders and side-seams.

There are 4 generous sizes to choose from: 38”/42”/46” and 52”. Each size should easily cover 1 size up and down. If you fall between sizes it is VERY EASY to adust to measurements by adding or subtracting rows from the beginning and end of back and front.

I used a fingering weight in pure linen to work the tunic:
“Kalinka” from the Swedish brand Karin Oberg. This linen comes in skeins of 320m/350yards and is divine to work. Take a look at the color-card:). You will need 3/4/4/5 skeins of 100gr/3.53oz.

You could substitute above wool as long as you stay true to gauge:

Gauge working in st st 22-23 sts and 32 rows = 10x10cm/4x4”
I used needles 3.5mm/US4 to achieve this.

Knitting skills Finishing work is limited to straight seams.
Abbreviations used in the pattern: k, p, yo, ssk, k2tog, sl1k2togpsso, m1r.
Other skills: picking up of sts (for sleeves), short-rows. I use Japanese short-rows for the short-rows worked from the RS, and a similar method worked out by me for short-rows from the WS:
both methods leaving a nearly inviible result.
I explain both methods thouroughly.

The pattern is in English with cm and inches, lots of stitch-counts. Full chart for the borders, as well as row-by-row instructions. There is also a simple schematic to give you the knittingdirection of the pieces.