It’s always a nice surprise when samples come back home! Last week Quince & Co mailed me back my Mariana top – this was designed for and published by Quince & Co in the Spring of 2019. And since it’s hot and sunny here in Maine right now, I thought it was a perfect time to try it on again and get some pictures by the scenic Maine water. Whimbrel is their 100% cotton worsted-weight yarn and it was such a pleasure to knit with! When I was originally sketching a design idea for this yarn, I liked the idea of a multi-season layering top – and making it seamless too. I also wanted it to be a bit oversized width-wise and cropped length-wise so it could be easily layered with a tank or a dress. Here are a few more details about this design:
Top-down construction with a raised back neck
Mariana is knit from the top down. You start working in the round with the ribbing and then you work some short rows back and forth in stockinette stitch to raise up the back of the neck. This helps keep the top sitting nicely along your neckline. Here’s a picture of the back of the neck:
The other bonus of having these back neck short rows worked in stockinette stitch is that it makes it super easy to know which is the front and which is the backside of the piece when putting it on!
Easy construction with all-over mesh stitch pattern
The stitch pattern is a simple 4 round pattern that just involves k2tog’s and yo’s – that’s it! Increases are worked at each side of the garment to shape the yoke. When your yoke is complete, you create the armholes by binding-off stitches at each side and then on the next round you cast stitches back on. Then you work the body in the round to the hem – if you want to lengthen it you just work more rounds! The last step is that stitches are picked up around each armhole and worked in rib stitch. When it’s done, it looks like this:
I admit – it looks a little funny when it’s just laid-flat like this! But trust me – you’ll love it once you put it on. Below are some more recent photos we took of me wearing it, but you can also check out some of the finished projects on Ravelry. I highly recommend Quince & Co’s Whimbrel for this piece – the cotton fiber makes this a great warm-weather-friendly layering top and the stitch definition is gorgeous. To purchase Mariana, visit Ravelry.
