“Ornata” from Latin means “covered with ornaments” and I think the name suits this design very well. The design is very much inspired by traditional Ukrainian embroidered blouses, in which most of the embroidery is done on the sleeves. It might not be an everyday garment, but definitely a special one, especially for those of us coming from Eastern Europe.

The blouse has a relaxed, slightly oversized fit with a bit of exaggerated wide sleeves. Both body and sleeves are worked top down in the round and gathered at the hem/cuffs. There is also an option to finish the body with a folded hem with picots.

You can take a closer look at my sample and discover the design process in this podcast episode.

Sizes

• The pattern is written for nine sizes 1 (2, 3, 4, 5) (6, 7, 8, 9) with a finished bust circumference of ca. 94 (104, 116, 126, 139) (149, 161, 167, 177) cm // 37.25 (41, 45.75, 49.5, 54.75) (58.5, 63.25, 65.75, 69.5) in incl. ca. 20 cm (8 in) of recommended positive ease.

• The sample is shown in size 2 on a 160 cm (5.3 ft) tall model with ca. 84–66–94 cm (33–26–39 in) body measurements.

Yarn

• MC: ca. 300 (325, 375, 400, 460) (500, 550, 585, 600) g or 3 (4, 4, 4, 5) (5, 6, 6, 6) skeins of Yarnadelic yarn from John Arbon Textiles, 100% Falklands Corriedale with approx. 333 m (364 yds) per 100 g skein, shown in colourway Pink Moon;

or ca. 999 (1082, 1249, 1332, 1532) (1665, 1832, 1948, 1998) m // 1093 (1184, 1366, 1457, 1676) (1822, 2004, 2131, 2186) yds for a cropped version (with 26.5 cm (10.25 in) finished body length) of any other sport/heavy 4ply/light DK weight yarn with a matching gauge.

Make sure to have extra MC yarn if you wish to add body length.

• CC: ca. 65 (65, 80, 80, 95) (95, 105, 105, 105) g or 1 (1, 1, 1, 1) (1, 2, 2, 2) skeins of the same yarn, shown in colourway Galleta Guitar;

or ca. 216 (216, 266, 266, 316) (316, 350, 350, 350) m // 237 (237, 291, 291, 346) (346, 383, 383, 383) yds of any other sport/heavy 4ply/light DK weight yarn with a matching gauge.

Needles and notions

• 2.5 mm (US 1.5) and 3.0 mm (US 2.5) circular needles;
• spare cables, spare circular needles or scrap yarn to keep stitches on hold;
• a few stitch markers;
• scrap yarn for a provisional cast-on;
• a tapestry needle to weave in the ends and sew the folded hem in place.

Gauge

• 25 sts & 32 rnds in 10 cm (4 in) on 3.0 mm (US 2.5) needles measured over stockinette stitch worked in the round after blocking;
• 24 sts & 28 rnds in 10 cm (4 in) on 3.0 mm (US 2.5) needles measured over colourwork pattern worked in the round after blocking;
• 28 sts & 32 rnds in 10 cm (4 in) on 2.5 mm (US 1.5) needles measured over 1x1 ribbing worked in the round after blocking;

Adjust the needle sizes if necessary to obtain the correct gauge.

John Arbon Textiles will be offering kits for this design as well as a 10% discount on their Yarnadelic yarn with a code ORNATABLOUSE till the end of June.