February Girlie Top

I wanted to do a quick project and I had this one ball of Sirdar Spree, so the idea of a top for my daughter was born. For the lace part, I finally decided on the gull lace pattern (originally used in February baby sweater, I believe and more recently in Feb lady's sweater, which I also knitted a few months back). Hence, I nmaed the top February Girlie top. Although, it is winter right now, weather can turn quite warm here in Pakistan and quite soon too. So, DD should be wearing this in two to three months, inshaAllah.

FEBRUARY GIRLIE TOP

Materials:
· Sirdar Spree Cotton Rich Chunky 100gm ball(149 yards/136 m) 1, 2, 2 balls
· 2 stitch markers.
· Knitting needles 6.50 mm.
· A crochet hook for the cast on.
· Buttons…4 larger (2 cm diameter approx) for the strap and 4-5 small ones (1.25 cm diameter approx) for the back band.

Gauge:
12 sts x 20 rows = 4 inches in garter st.
Sizes:
To fit chest sizes 18, (20, 22) inches.

Abbreviations and Pattern:
Yo: yarn over
K2tog: knit 2 together
Ssk: sl 1 st knitwise, k the next st, pass the slipped st over.
Gull Lace Pattern: worked over 7 sts and 4 rows:
Row1: k1, k2tog, yo, k1,yo, ssk,k1, repeat across.
Row 2and 4: purl.
Row 3: k2tog, yo, k3,yo,ssk, repeat across.

Knitting:
With crochet cast-on, CO 56 (62,68) sts. Work 4 (4,6) rows in garter st,
Next row (RS): Cast off first 14 (15,17) sts, k to end.
Next row (WS): Cast off first 14 (15,17) sts, k to end. [28 (32, 34) sts]
Next row (RS): K1, k2tog, k to last 3 sts, ssk, k the last st.
Next row (WS): k all.
Repeat the last 2 rows another 5 (6,6) more times. [16(18,20) sts remain]
Next row (RS): K1 (yo, k2tog) rep till 1 st remains, k1.
Next row (WS): K.
Cast off all sts.
Lace Portion:
RS facing, carefully unravel the crochet cast-on and get live sts on the needle, starting from right end to the left.
Next row (WS): k all, increasing 1 (2,3) sts evenly spaced across the row. [57 (64, 71)sts]
Next row (RS): K 5, (yo, k2tog) rep till the last 4 sts, k4.
Next row (WS): K 4, PM, K 49 (56,63), PM, k4.
Start working the gull lace pattern, working the first and last 4 sts on each row in garter st.
Work 10 (11,12) repeats of the lace pattern or until the top measures the desired lenth (I made in on the longer side).
Next, work 8 rows in garter st, cast off.

Straps:
With the RS facing, and the piece held upright, join yarn along the upper edge, 7 sts in from the right centre back, pick up and knit 5 sts. Work in garter st till the strap measures 7 (7.5, 8 ) inches. (The strap will stretch quite a bit).
Repeat on the other side for the second strap.

Finishing:
Weave in ends. Sew the buttons along the right back band and two larger buttons each on each strap –for 2 adjustable strap positions. (No buttonholes were made because with the thick yarn and large needles, it is east to create a buttonhole between yarn loop as such, standard buttonhole would be too large anyway.) Block.