Laneway Top

It is finished! Hoorah! My Laneway Top is off the needles and ready to wear. This is my second Laneway and I really like the design (written by Veera Välimäki, with whom I am not affiliated). You can find the pattern here.

Laneway is a top-down design: it is knitted all in one piece, without any seaming. The top has an asymmetrical shape in the front while the backside is straight. The yarn is fingering weight cotton in colors NEVADA + NATURAL (2 x 100 gr skeins of the gradient + 1 x 100 gr of the solid color). Yarn kits are here.

I like top-down projects because one can easily try them on and adjust the fit as needed: When the pattern tells me to separate body and sleeves, for example, I put all the stitches on an extra long knitting needle (or even two needles if there are too many stitches). This allows me to pull the project over my head to see if I have knitted enough for a comfortable knit. More often than not I need to add a few extra rows as I don’t like it when the arm openings are too tight - which is what I did with my Laneway. I knitted some extra rows straight down, no more increases, to add extra length to the chest portion.

When finally separating body and sleeves, I use extra needles to park the sleeve stitches. Using spare needles rather than scrap yarn is easier and quicker. That’s where a large needle collection comes in handy!!

Then I usually knit a few rows of the body portion - enough to get an inch or two past the armholes. The body is now established and just needs to knitted until it reaches the desired length. Before I do that, however, I turn my attention back to the sleeves. Remember those parked stitches on the extra needles? Using needles instead of scarp yarn is easier but has one disadvantage: the needles tend to dangle around. Luckily, there is an easy solution: I finish the sleeves first. This has two advantages: I eliminate the extra dangling needles and the sleeves are done ….. which leaves me with the body to knit and makes for a relaxing and portable project.

The designer adds pockets at hip level, which I didn’t do. I wouldn’t use them and don’t need extra padding in those areas.

The length is a matter of preference. Bind off when the top is long enough or you run out of yarn. Since the sleeves are already finished, the only remaining task is to sew up any ends. I don’t find blocking necessary with this yarn, so my Laneway top is READY TO WEAR. Yeah!!

Happy knitting!