Summer Squall

According to the dictionary set a neighbor gave to me when I was a child, the Thorndike-Barnhart Comprehensive Desk Dictionary © 1957, Volume 2, page 749, to be exact, a squall is “a sudden, violent gust of wind, often with rain, snow, or sleet.” I’ve never lived in snow country, and so haven’t experienced a truly cold winter, so I can’t speak to squalls accompanied by snow or sleet. However, I have experienced amazing, sudden, violent, warm, rain squalls when on a dive yacht down in the South Pacific. When we first went up on the main deck, where all meals were served in the open air, we wondered about the purpose of the plastic curtains fastened to framework along the sides of the boat. We found out quickly enough. It didn’t take us any time at all to become expert at dropping our forks, and fastening the plastic to create makeshift walls to wait out the violent storm that raged then blew off in the blink of an eye. A few minutes later the stars were out again, and everything was dry. We all felt so alive!

This simple top with its basic stockinette frame, cable back, and split hems, would easily weather a summer squall—or even a winter squall if layered over another top. Top is knit from hem up in pieces. Notes are provided to work the body, neckline, and armholes in the round.

• Yarn: DK weight; 500, 550, 600, 650 [725, 775, 825, 875] yards.
• Model: Baah! Sonoma in Maldives in finished size: 33 inches; 233 yards in 100 grams; 100% merino.
• Gauge: 18 sts and 25 rows to 4 inches in stockinette stitch with larger needles.
• Needles: US 8 (5 mm) needles or size needed for gauge, and US 6 (4 mm) needles for bands.
• Finished size: 30.25, 33, 35.5, 39 [41.75, 44.5, 48, 50.75] inches.
• To fit bust: up to 2 inches larger than finished sweater.
• Stitch instructions: Charted and written.