Had a ton of yarn from frogging the queen coverlet that stretched too much for my son to make up his bed in the corner. Nothing to do, so decided to revisit my top down tunics in a winter style. Used a G hook for a tighter weave and alternating rounds of sc and dc because I like that look. Had alternated sc and dc mesh stitches in a spiral for my mobius wraps, so thought it would work fine. Knew i did NOT like the jag when ombre colors follow the break of joined rounds and step up. Or down in this case XD

Worked foundation sc for 60 stitches. Thinking starting in center back I would have 10 to back shoulder, 10 to front shoulder, 20 across front to second shoulder, 10 to back shoulder, and 10 back to center back. Coiled around to form neck circle and began working in first fsc. After several “auditions” decided both the dc and sc rounds would have three stitches in the corners to give that gentle shoulder shaping that works better on me than flat folds. So I established pattern with 10dc, 3dc in same space, 8dc, 3 dc in same space, 20dc, 3dc in same space, 8dc, 3dc in same space, 10dc.

To spiral to the second round, simply work sc into each dc in the round below, with 3sc in the middle of the 3dc
corners. To start the next dc row, I use sc,ch to substitute for the beginning dc, then continue. I found it very helpful to mark the corners and the round end with markers so I could crochet on autopilot.

When the piece looked like it was wide enough to clear my hips from side to side, I stopped the yoke. I counted later to repeat and had 17 two row repeats, ending with an sc row. I wanted sc on the outside if I didn’t trim the arm openings. I worked dc from the center back to the first corner. I worked one dc in the middle stitch, then another joining dc where I drew up a loop in that stitch without drawing through loops on hook, then in the middle of the next corner stitch, then drew through three loops on hook, then completed the dc. Worked a regular dc, worked across the front, then mirrored the joining stitch and completed the round. Worked the body as established, trying on every time I got to the end of a ball, until it looked “right.”

Decided it needed sleeves. Began with a dc in the joining dc and worked around arm border one less round than body length.

Was very happy with everything except neck. Did not know if the neckline looked off because of the spiral or because I was trying a technique of no knot start that I hadn’t mastered. Wore the top to dinner and came home convinced I needed to do something to the neckline. Did not want it any higher, so decided to add a hood. Since the rest of the garment was top down, I wanted to create a hood that was top down as well.

Worked foundation single crochet row of 30. Worked down one side and up the other in dc to establish 60 stitches to match neck. To make the back and forth pattern match the work in rounds, I inserted the hook from the back of the work on sc rows. I worked 17 repeats and joined with a granny square joining technique to the neck. Very happy.

Only thing I am not crazy about is the fact that the row change spirals across beginning in the middle of the back. Forgot it shifts diagonally. Will need to relocate the starting point in future.