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So I went home last night and swatched the Linen Drape like I promised. It was fun! I tried three different openwork patterns, and I'm still not sure which way I'd like to go.

They all have good points and bad points. And honestly, I'd like the top with any of the three swatches that I knit up. So, I'd like to hear your opinions.

The top I'm making is inspired by the tank on the right. It's from VK Summer 04. It's hard to tell, but the top portion is stockingnette with occasional purls sticking out to give it just a bit of texture. The bottom part (from below the bust) is made up of a meshy knit pattern. It's one of the three I swatched.

In case you're wondering, I'd lace up the top all the way from the bottom. I wouldn't wear it so it could flap open like the model is. At least, not this summer :)

Here are the swatches:

click to enlarge

The top one is the stockinette swatch with bits of purl stitches. I know it's hard to see it, but it's there. This is my gauge swatch.

The second swatch (we'll call it option 1) is the original meshy openwork that Vogue Knitting used. It's very pretty and makes up almost diamond-like holes. It is also the most open of the three. In terms of knitting it, it's also the hardests of the three. It has quite a few k2tog's which slow you down - particularly with Linen Drape. The wrong side row on this one is actually easier and quicker than the right side row.

The third swatch (we'll call it option 2) is a chevron pattern that I borrowed from a Rosie's pattern that they were giving away this weekend. I like the edge this one makes and if I use it I may even do a picot edge below it. The lefthand portion of it has 3 knit stitches. I would reduce this to 2 for the lace up part. Three just seems too thick and heavy for the design. It's the fastest to knit of the three swatches. I modified the center decrease to be a centered double decrease (learned this when doing that Domino top in March). It's easy and fast: slip 2 as if to k2tog, k1, psso (both, as once). The other cool thing about this pattern is it's a 2 row repeat, with wrong side rows being straight purls.

The bottom swatch (we'll call it option 3) is also pretty. It's from IK Summer 04, this top:

I didn't do this stitch pattern justice though. I should have cast on for three repeats as you need at least that many to get the full effect of the swooshes. It's a 4 row repeat, pretty straightforward. It also makes a slightly wavy bottom edge.

I am leaning toward one of the three right now, but I'm not going to tell you which. I'd love to hear your thoughts - including why you think I should go with a particular one.

Note: I did wash and dry all the swatches before their photo shoot. In particular, this helped swatch #2 considerably - evening out the knits between the yo's.