Leaf Yoke Top

One of my patterns is in the new Spring/Summer 2009 issue of Knit.1!  The Leaf Yoke Top is sleeveless and is worked in the round from the top down, starting with the lace yoke.  It's a fun knit, and goes quickly in a worsted weight yarn-- I highly recommend it! 

When I first started thinking about the design, I was picturing a wide, ornate circular collar like those shown in drawings of ancient Egyptian royalty; you can see from the submission sketch (below) that I tried to pose the model and draw her head in such a way as to suggest an Egyptian influence.  Originally I wasn't sure whether I would try a Fair Isle or a lace pattern for the yoke, and I wasn't planning to work from the top down-- but then I discovered Marianne Kinzel's First Book of Modern Lace Knitting (originally published in 1954).  This book contains lace patterns worked from end to end as well as square and round lace patterns worked from the center out, and shows them used as tablecloths, placemats, doilies, curtains and bedspreads-- but not in any type of garment!  Nevertheless, I immediately thought that if I could omit the very center of one of the round  lace patterns, I could adapt it for use as a wide collar.

I decided to try "Primula," a lace design intended for use as a coffee cloth (whatever that is!).  The instructions in the book call for crochet cotton, which is much finer than the yarn I wanted to use, and I knew I would only be using a small part of the entire lace pattern, so I really wasn't sure how the yoke would turn out until I swatched it.

First I tried Filatura di Crosa Brillante, a sport weight cotton/rayon blend with a slightly metallic sheen, which I happened to have in a light gold color.  I loved it!  I then made a bigger swatch so I could figure out how to transition from the yoke to the body, which I did using short rows.  (The large swatch I made is pictured draped over my shoulder.)  I also made a swatch using Sublime Organic Cotton DK, just to see how it would look in a heavier yarn; after doing some calculating, I then decided that the pattern wouldn't work in a heavier yarn, because the yoke would just become too large, meaning that I wouldn't be able to do enough repeats to make a circle without the diameter getting too big, or else it would have to start too high up at the base of the neck, and perhaps end up coming down too far over the top of the arm.  

Of course, Knit.1 then decided they wanted me to use a worsted weight yarn (Tahki Nova)!  So I did some more calculating, and although you can see that the yoke does start higher up than with the Brillante, it works just fine.  The yoke is bound off and then stitches are picked up along the bound off edge and worked down, in stockinette; I shaped the waist using decreases and increases along the sides, and used a turned hem to give the bottom edge enough body to balance the wide yoke-- and voila.