‘MOHAIR’ BOAT
NECK TOP
BY NELSKNITS
INSTAGRAM: NELSKNITS
YOUTUBE: NELSKNITS
This boat neck top is worked from the top down and in
the round. First the round yoke is worked up, then
stitches are placed on hold for the arms while you work
on the body with bust and waist shaping. Lastly the arms are worked to the desired length. This pattern and the finished product is for private use only and may not be sold.
M E A S U R E M E N T S : G A U G E :
Neckline: 68cm 12st x 40r = 10cm x 10cm
Shoulders: 110cm in stockinette stitch on 4.5mm
Bust: 90cm needles
Underbust: 75cm
Waist: 65cm
I designed this top after my own measurements, I usually wear a size S, sometimes M.
At the end of this pattern I have a section 'size adjustments' for anyone who wants to knit this top in a different size!
M A T E R I A L S A B B R E V I A T I O N S
- fine yarn (e.g mohair or alpaca) I used: st: stitch/stitches
Drops Brushed Alpaca Silk 25g=140m, r/R: row/rows
4 balls for the longsleeve and PM: place marker
Lana Grossa Twin 25g=200m, k: knit
1,5 balls for the short sleeve kfb: knit front back increase - 4,5mm circular needles, k2tog: knit two together
50-60cm (or whatever size needle decrease
to get the right gauge for your size) inc: increase - stitch marker dec: decrease
- spare yarn or stitch holders CO: cast on
(thicker, non fuzzy yarn works the best here) BO: bind off - tapestry needle
- scissors
- tape measure
- optional: DPNs, small crochet hook
T H E Y O K E
INC. SECTION A
cast on 82st, PM and join in the round
R1: k82
R2: *k9,kfb,k9, kfb, k9, kfb, k10, kfb* 2 times
R3: k90
R4: *k10, kfb, k10, kfb, k10, kfb, k11, kfb* 2 times
R5: k98
R6: *k13, kfb* 7 times
R7: k105
R8: k105 Note:
R9: *k16, kfb, k17, kfb* 3 times Make sure to use an elastic cast
R10: k111 on and cast your stitches on
R11: k111 loosely over both needles. The
R12: *k17, kfb, k18, kfb* 3 times cast on edge should be 68cm.
-> 117st
INC. SECTION B
R13: k117 R22: kfb in 10th st
R14: kfb in the 1st st, knit all other st normally R24: kfb in 70th st
R15: k118 R26: kfb in 51st st
R16: kfb in the 59th st R28: kfb in 113th st
R17: k119 R30: kfb in 20th st
R18: kfb in the 30th st R32: kfb in 84th st
R19: k120 R34: kfb in 42nd st
R20: kfb in the 90th st R36: kfb in 106th st
R38: kfb in 43rd st
All unmentioned rows here (odd rows) R40: kfb in 86th st
are simple knit rows with no inc. R42: kfb in 131st (last) st
-> 132 st
Note:
This seemingly ‘random’ placement of increases ensures that they are spaced evenly in the round over the 42r of inc. sec. B. With this method the increases ended up almost invisible on the finished top. It also ensures that the increases stay (more or less) evenly spaced even if you do adjustments and wanna make less increase rows in order to get a smaller shoulder measurement (but be careful!: the following pattern is based on a st count of 132st at the end of the yoke. If you decide to adjust the yoke, you will have to adjust the ‘splitting off the arms’ and potentially ‘bust shaping’ as well as ‘waist shaping’ so I would advise against it if you are not familiar with adjusting patterns and figuring out the calculations.
S P L I T T I N G O F F T H E A R M S
Put the next 24st on some spare yarn using
your tapestry needle (or use stitch holders),
then cast on 12st over the gap and knit the
next 42st normally. Put the next 24st on
spare yarn again, cast on 12st over the gap
and knit the last 42st normally, place your marker.
You now have 108st in the round for the body.
T H E B O D Y
Continue knitting the body of the top in the round, knit until the top reaches the biggest point of your chest, then start on the underbust shaping. For me it was around 35cm from the cast on edge.
UNDERBUST SHAPING
R1: k2tog in 1st st (knit the 1st & 2nd st together) R13: k2tog in 6th st
R2: k107 R15: k2tog in 60th st
R3: K2tog in 58th st (knit 58th & 59th st together) R17: k2tog in 92th and 48th st
R4: k106 R19: k2tog in 21st st
R5: k2tog in 29th AND 82nd st R21: k2tog in 68th st
(knit together 29th&30th st, knit until you R23: k2tog in 41st and 78th st
reach 82nd st, knit together 82nd&83rd st) R25: k2tog in 30th st
R6: k104 R27: k2tog in 15th st
R7: k2tog in 11th st -> 90 st
R8: k103
R9: k2tog in 68th st Note:
R10: k102 All unmentioned even rows are
R11: k2tog in 39th and 90th st normal knit rows without
decreasing
After finishing the underbust shaping, simply continue knitting in the round until the top is around 6 cm above your waist, then start with the waist shaping.
WAIST SHAPING
R1: k2tog in 7th st R13: k2tog in 35th st Note:
R3: k2tog in 51st st R15: k2tog in 76th st All unmentioned even
R5: k2tog in 29th st R17: k2tog in 20th st rows are normal knit rows
R7: k2tog in 65th st R19: k2tog in 60th st without decreases.
R9: k2tog in 14th st R21: k2tog in 40th st
R11: k2tog in 56th st R23: k2tog in 79th st
-> 78st
If you have a different row gauge (see pages: 'size adjustments' first for more information on the row gauge) you can calculate how far above your waist you have to start the waist shaping by doing the following calculations with your row gauge:
x rows = 10 cm, divide both sides by x:
1 row = 10cm/x , multiply both sides by 23 (number of rows of the waist shaping):
23 rows = 10 cm * 23 / x
23 rows = 230 / x [cm]
Start the waist shaping 230/x cm above your waist, instead of 6cm!
After finishing the waist shaping, simply knit the top to your desired length and bind off elastically and loosely.
T H E A R M S
To start on the arms, make sure your top is right side out
and slip the 24st from the spare yarn back on your needles.
Attach your yarn and pick up 12st at the underarm area
(in the 12st you cast on earlier when splitting off the arms).
This can be a bit tricky and you can use a crochet hook to
make picking up the stitches easier. Once you have picked
up the stitches, place your marker. You have 36st in the
round for the sleeve.
Simply continue knitting in the round until the sleeve reaches your desired length. Bind off elastically and loosely. Repeat for the second sleeve. Weave in the ends and your top is finished.
Note:
If you want to make the short sleeve or 'sleeveless' version of this top, I would still recommend knitting just a few rounds on the sleeves (3-5r should be enough). This ensures that the top will not ride up when you reach your arms overhead and will result in a better fit.
S I Z E A D J U S T M E N T S
I have to start with a disclaimer that these size adjustments have not been testknit and are simply size adjustments based on working with a different gauge to achieve a different size. They are not separate sizes with individual patterns, stitch counts etc.
If you want to change the size of this top, it is easiest to work with a different gauge which results in different measurements.
For a good fit it is especially important that the SHOULDER and BUST measurements come as close to your own measurements as possible. Underbust and waist can be bigger or smaller with fairly simple adjustments.
If you want to make the top bigger, you could work in one of the following gauges to get the following measurements of the finished top (the bigger the stitches the more see through the fabric of the top will be. If you don't want that, I would recommend slightly thicker yarn or holding the yarn double):
11st=10cm 10st=10cm 9st=10cm
Neckline: 75cm Neckline: 82cm Neckline: 91cm
Shoulders: 120cm Shoulders: 132cm Shoulders: 146cm
Bust: 98cm Bust: 108cm Bust: 120cm
Underbust: 81cm Underbust: 90cm Underbust: 100cm
Waist: 70cm Waist: 78cm Waist: 86cm
You can achieve a bigger gauge by using bigger needles.
If you want to make the top smaller, you could work in one of the following gauges to get the following measurements of the finished top:
13st=10cm 14st=10cm
Neckline: 63cm Neckline: 58cm
Shoulders: 101cm Shoulders: 94cm
Bust: 83cm Bust: 77cm
Underbust: 69cm Underbust: 64cm
Waist: 60cm Waist: 55cm
Note: feel free to skip the waist shaping if you want a more boxy fit or if it fits your own measurements better. If you wanna adjust the underbust size, you can decrease less (to make it bigger) or more (to make it smaller). Keep in mind that if you change the underbust decreasing, you will not have the ‘right’ st count (90st) once you reach the waist shaping. Meaning if you decrease more at the underbust shaping and then follow the waist shaping as described, your underbust and waist size will be smaller.
If you decrease less in the underbust shaping to make it bigger and then follow the waist shaping as described, your underbust and waist size will be bigger.
Your decreases will not be spaced perfectly even for the waist decreasing then. I don’t think this will be too noticeable, but I do not recommend these types of adjustments for beginners, as it is more advanced to make these changes.
How to measure yourself correctly:
Shoulders: measure around your shoulders and torso at armpit height. Don't take this measurement too tightly as you need a bit of slack for a good range of motion for your arms.
Bust: measure the widest part of your chest
Underbust: measure around your body right under the bust
Waist: measure the smallest part of your waist
R O W G A U G E
The size adjustments only focus on the stitch gauge so far (12st=10cm in the original gauge) but not the row gauge (40r= 10cm in the original gauge).
During most of the pattern it is said to 'knit even until the top reaches the widest part of your bust' or 'knit to your desired length' so the row count doesn't really matter there.
The part where it does matter is the yoke! ( & the waist shaping but I have explained that earlier in the pattern on page 4) So in order to get this right I suggest doing the following:
- knit a gauge swatch for the size you want to knit (based on the previous page)
- if you get the stitch gauge correct, measure out your row gauge (how many rows make up 10cm?)
- calculate how long the yoke would be if you work it according to the pattern in your gauge:
Example:
your gauge:
13st x 23r = 10cm x 10cm
How long would your yoke be?:
23 rows = 10cm , divide both sides by 23 (in general: divide by your number or rows that make up 10cm) to know how tall 1 row of your knitting is:
1 row = 0,44 cm, multiply by 42 on both sides (because the yoke has 42r if you follow the pattern):
42 rows = 18,48cm
- take your tape measure and measure the distance from where you want the boat neck to sit to your armpit (orange line in the drawing below, kind of your 'ideal yoke length')
Now there are three possibilities:
- your 'ideal yoke length'/measurement
and the calculated yoke length are more
or less the same - your 'ideal yoke length'/measurement is
longer than the calculated yoke length - your 'ideal yoke length'/measurement is
shorter than your calculated yoke length
Possibility 1:
You will be able to follow the yoke instructions as they are written without any adjustments and you should end up with a yoke that's identical in length to the ideal yoke/measurements you need for your body.
For Possibility 2 and 3 it's helpful to calculate how many rows your ideal yoke should have. Calculate it as follows:
How many rows should your ideal yoke be?: example from earlier:
take your row gauge: 23r = 10cm, divide both sides by
x rows = 10cm, divide both sides by 10 10
x/10 rows = 1cm, then multiply both sides by 2,3r = 1cm. multiply both sides
your ideal yoke measurement in cm, by your ideal yoke
let's call this measurement y measurement in cm, let’s say
x/10 rows * y = 1cm * y this measurement here is 21cm
2,3 r * 21 = 1 cm * 21
48,3 r = 21cm
This ideal yoke should be 48
rows. 8 rows more than the
original pattern. So your options
are to add those 8 rows after
finishing the yoke or scatter
those 8 rows as evenly as
possible throughout INC SEC B.
Possibility 2:
If you need the yoke to be longer than what you calculated, there are two options on how you can achieve that:
- Simply knit the yoke after the instructions until you finish it and then add more non-inc rows until you reach your needed nr. of rows for your ideal yoke.
- Scatter the missing nr. of rows you need evenly through the already existing rows in INC SEC B.
Possibility 3:
If you need the yoke to be shorter than what you calculated, you need to do less non-inc rows when knitting the yoke:
Calculate how many rows your ideal yoke has and subtract that number from the original yoke row count (42r).
example: yoke rows:
INC SEC A:
23 r = 10cm, divide both sides by 10 1 21
2,3 r = 1 cm, then multiply both sides by your 2 22
ideal yoke measurement in cm, let's say this 3 23
measurement here is 13cm. 4 24
2,3 rows * 13 = 1 cm * 13 5 25
29,9 rows = 13cm 6 26
7 27
This ideal yoke should be 30 rows. 12 rows less 8 28
than in the original pattern (42-30=12). So you 9 29
need to skip 12 of the non-inc rows as evenly 10 30
as possible over both INC SEC A and 11 31
INC SEC B. 12 32
INC SEC B: 33
13 34
14 35
15 36
16 37
17 38
18 39
19 40
20 41
42
With this guide on how to adjust the size you should be able to knit the top successfully in different sizes ranging from bust size 77cm to 120cm. If you still have any problems with the math or other parts of the pattern, just reach out to me on Instagram and I'll try my best to help out (@nelsknits on Instagram).
If you share your process of making this top or the finished result on Instagram, please make sure to tag me (@nelsknits) and use the hashtag #mohairboatnecktop or #boatnecktop so I can see and share your beautiful versions of this top <3
This pattern and the finished top is for personal use only and may not be sold.