After completing my Elowen Raglan, amongst several more simple knits, I decided I wanted to try my hand at lacework. Lace is one of the most interesting fabrics out there, it has an air of romance and femininity whilst still being edgy. It is one of my favourite fabrics to wear, and yet, I had never tried lacework in my knitting! I stumbled across the Noelia pattern by Mimi L whilst researching patterns for our February Pattern Round Up and I instantly fell in love with this beautiful crop top, with an all over lace motif that is knitted from the bottom up.
The pattern is knit in a DK weight and suggests cotton for a light, summer top. I had 4 balls of MoYa 100% Cotton in Bordeaux left over from a frogged project last summer which I thought would be perfect! I was so excited to start my first piece of lace work, that I made the rookie mistake of not doing a tension swatch. I then made a second mistake which was not measuring my bust before beginning, and just knitting the size I thought I was.
I first knitted the size 2 and whilst my tension ultimately was correct and my finished top was the correct measurements it was just too big for me. Noelia is supposed to have 2-4 inches of negative ease, and my Bordeaux version has about 1 1/2 inches of positive ease.
Rather than frog this yarn for a second time, I decided that I would gift it to a friend whose measurements it would fit and start again. I had less than half a ball of MoYa 100% Cotton Oregano left from another previous project, and decided to use this as a contrast colour against Seafoam which is a pale greenish-blue toned neutral.
The second time I knitted the size 1 which turned out to be a much better fit, with the desired negative ease at the bust. It is slightly more open towards the waist but this helps to keep the top light and airy for summer!
The pattern is very beginner friendly and is a great introduction to lace work knitting, with a simple 19 / 20 stitch repeat for the entire top which is very easy to memorise. The top is lovely and soft thanks to the Moya yarn, which will keep me comfortable and cool on those hot summer days. We took these photos on one of the hottest days of the year so far and I can definitely say that this top kept me cool, especially as someone who is not particularly accustomed to the heat!
If you would like to add contrast to the pattern in the same way as I did see the instructions below:
- CO in the CC and knit rows 1-3 before changing to MC for rows 4-18.
- Change back to CC for row 19 of the chart, and began the repeat again, knitting 1-3 in CC before changing to MC for rows 4-18.
- Repeat step two for as many charts as you want the CC.
I ran out of Oregano halfway through a CC section (on row 2), hence why the third stripe is thinner but I actually prefer this as it looks like the green is fading out. I think it would be interesting to make a version with the CC striping through the entire piece and I’m very tempted to make myself a 3rd version using Stone as the MC and Hydrangea as the CC!
Until Next Time… Happy Knitting!
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