What I'm Making: Cap Sleeve Lattice Top With Size Adaptation

Welcome to the first installment of What I'm Working On. This is where I'll share the things that I'm making. It'll likely be mostly knitting, but also some other crafts.

Today I'm going to show off my work-in-progress Cap Sleeve Lattice Top, which is from the Purl Bee.

I've adapted the pattern, however. the original only comes in sizes S, M, and L, with only a two-inch difference between each size. Not a very inclusive system! Fortunately, it's a pretty straightforward pattern to size up. It just took a little math.

The largest size on the pattern is a 38-inch bust. I decided to make a 44-inch bust, and with two inches in between each size, I guess that makes it a 3X. All I did was take the gauge that they provided (six stitches to the inch) and multiply it by how many additional inches I needed. Since I wanted an extra six inches for the bust, I needed to cast on an additional 36 stitches. The instructions for size L say to cast on 115, and 115 + 36 = 151. The instructions say to cast on a multiple of three plus one, and fortunately 151 stitches fits that.

So, for a 40-inch bust (XL/1X), you would cast on 127 stitches, and for a 42-inch bust (2X), you would cast on 139. To go larger than I did, cast on as follows:

46-inch bust = 163 stitches
48-inch bust = 175 stitches
50-inch bust = 187 stitches
52-inch bust = 199 stitches
54-inch bust = 211 stitches
56-inch bust = 223 stitches
58-inch bust = 235 stitches
60-inch bust = 247 stitches


Simply adding six stitches for each inch you want to increase should work out for the multiples of three plus one pattern, but it's easy math to check.

From there, you can follow the pattern the same. All you're doing is ribbing, then stockinette, then lattice. You'll have to do some more math at the neckline, though. I haven't gotten to that point yet, so I haven't done it. Maybe in another installment I'll figure out the neck for larger sizes as well. I'm just getting into the lattice section now. It's a really simple pattern, and I think it's going to turn out really cute!

I decided to do all one color instead of switching at the lattice section, but that's just a personal aesthetic choice. I looked through the project gallery on Ravelry (you may have to be a member to view that) to see what color schemes I liked, and I was the most drawn to the ones that were monochromatic. So that's what I did! But you do you. Go wild if you want.