Mountainberg is a breezy, oversized, lace tee, worked top down. First, the upper back is knitted, working down toward the underarm. Then stitches are picked up at the shoulders to form the left then the right front pieces. The front and back are joined and worked in the round before being split to create side vents. The back is a little bit longer than the front. Garter stitch is used at the shoulder, bottom hem, and worked on the sides of the sweater throughout. Stockinette stitch at the center of the front makes increasing for the v-neck easy as pie and contrasts nicely with the lace.

The lace pattern is a chevron repeat and outlined in the chart below. Note that while the pattern for the lace remains the same throughout, the instructions differ slightly between working flat and working in the round. Also, I didn’t write this out in the pattern, but I slipped the first stitch and knitted the last stitch on every row that was worked flat. Doing this creates a nice even edging on the sides, which you may want to include in your project.

The actual size of the garment is about 30” wide (60” around) and 22” long after blocking. It is meant to be worn with generous ease, and could fit a range of bust sizes. It’s pictured here with a about 25” of positive ease. Because the garment is made with alpaca and designed to be worn in the summer, you’ll want it to be big, loose, and breezy to keep it wearable in the warmest months. The generous size makes it great for showing off your other summer knits, such as this halter top or this crop top. If you want to make the project larger, I would recommend that you cast on an additional 24 stitches on the back (working two more lace repeats here), and pick up an additional 12 stitches at the shoulders (working one additional lace repeat on each edge).

Finally, while the pattern calls for 5 skeins of DROPS Alpaca, I only used about 800 yards (210 grams or 766 yards, to be exact). This could be handy if you are planning to sub with a different yarn. I think the top would be really lovely in a single ply merino or some kind of linen blend. For some reason the manufacturer says this yarn is sport weight, but it’s much closer to a fingering weight, imho. BUT, I absolutely love this stuff. It’s so breezy, soft, and totally economical. It pairs really well with linen, and is a total winner for summer sweaters.

This pattern is available for free on my linked blog, or you can purchase a handy PDF from my Ravelry shop. :)