Holding two strands of laceweight together and knitting on 3.5mm needles gave me the correct gauge, hurrah! I’ve blocked the swatch to be sure, haven’t got the dried measurements yet, but it looks good.

Couldn’t wait for the swatch to dry, so have cast on for body already, can always switch sizes as I knit as the no of CO stitches look to be the same for 1st and 2nd sizes.

27th Sept - It’s working out very well so far. Knitted down to bust level following the pattern exactly as written for the 31” size. Thought the armholes looked a bit big, but I’ve tried it on several times and all looks fine. Once I’d reached 1.5” below the armholes, I added some small horizontal bust darts using the method described in the pattern for a B cup. I did four sets of short rows, moving along 5 stitches after each wrap and turn. I’ve now knitted another 1” straight, tried it on and all seems to fit well.

From this point on however, I’ll deviate a bit from the pattern, as I want the waist shaping to be a bit different. I’m planning to knit down until I’ve got 26 rows since the armhole separation (pattern suggests 36) and start the waist shaping there. Rather than separating the right half and left half waist decreases into two parts with 3 rows plain between, I’ll do all the shaping on one row with 6 rows plain between (or perhaps 5 to avoid a purl side increase). For the hip increases, I’ll knit some extra rows between increase rows (12 instead of 8 I think) to make the shaping more gradual, which worked very well on my Wanda Nell cardi.

3.10.11 It’s working out beautifully. I’m knitting the waist/hip shaping as I described above (only with 10 rows between hip increases, not 12), and it’s looking very good. The drape of these two yarns is making a lovely fabric. Looking forward to getting to the lace section.

31.10.11 Done. It’s also blocked and fits perfectly. Just need to sew in the yarn ends and take some modelled photos.

2.11.11 Ends sewn in. It’s perfect :)

15.11.11 First day wearing this and I love it. I’d definitely make another design with two laceweight yarns held together, the fabric feels smooth and has a lovely drape.