Clara Eyelet Striped Top in West Yorkshire Spinners Exquisite Lace - DBP0272 - Downloadable PDF

Clara Eyelet Striped Top by Chloé Elizabeth Birch – Pattern Summary

The Clara Eyelet Striped Top is a beautifully crafted knitted top designed by Chloé Elizabeth Birch and published by West Yorkshire Spinners as a downloadable PDF pattern (reference DBP0272). This design combines delicate eyelet detailing with classic striped construction to create a lightweight, elegant top that is ideal for knitters with an intermediate skill level. The pattern is compiled by Helen Birch and edited by Jill Gray and Tricia Gilbert, reflecting the careful craftsmanship West Yorkshire Spinners brings to all of its pattern releases.

What Is Being Made

The finished project is a striped top for women, featuring decorative eyelet detailing worked throughout the fabric. The eyelet stripe motif adds a lacy, open texture that gives the garment a refined, feminine quality while remaining a wearable, structured top. The combination of stripes and eyelets creates visual interest without requiring complex lace chart reading, making it an accessible yet rewarding project for intermediate knitters looking to develop their skills.

Techniques Used

• Eyelet construction: Eyelets are small decorative holes formed by pairing a yarn forward (yfwd) increase with a corresponding decrease. When arranged in rows or columns, they create the signature striped eyelet effect that defines this top.
• Stocking stitch (st-st): The main fabric is worked in stocking stitch — knit on right side rows, purl on wrong side rows — providing a smooth, classic ground for the eyelet pattern to stand out against.
• Raglan and semi set-in sleeve construction: The pattern references both raglan and semi set-in sleeve finishing techniques, with guidance on how to match rows when seaming a raglan sleeve and how to ease a semi set-in sleeve into the armhole by folding it in half and matching the fold to the shoulder seam.
• Mattress stitch seaming: West Yorkshire Spinners recommends mattress stitch for all seaming on this garment, a technique that creates an almost invisible join on the right side of the fabric, keeping the finished top looking neat and professional.
• Blocking: Once complete, the garment is pinned to the stated measurements, covered with a damp cloth, and left to dry. Blocking is described as essential to achieving the correct size and to opening up the eyelet details fully, which is particularly important when working with lace-weight yarn.
• Tension management: Knitters are advised to work a tension square before beginning the garment. If fewer stitches than stated are achieved, a smaller needle size is required; if more stitches are present, a larger needle size should be used.

Stitches Used

• Knit (K) – the foundational stitch used throughout the right side rows and in stocking stitch fabric
• Purl (P) – used on wrong side rows to create the reverse of stocking stitch
• Yarn forward (yfwd) – the key stitch movement used to create each eyelet opening by bringing the yarn to the front before a knit stitch, forming a new loop and a decorative hole
• Decrease (dec) – paired with yarn forward increases to maintain stitch count while forming the eyelet pattern
• Stocking stitch (st-st) – the primary fabric structure of the top

Materials – Yarn, Needles, and Hooks

The Clara Eyelet Striped Top is designed specifically for use with West Yorkshire Spinners Exquisite Lace yarn, a lace-weight yarn chosen to complement the delicate eyelet striped design. West Yorkshire Spinners caution that quantities given in the pattern are based on average usage and are approximate, and they do not accept responsibility for finished items knitted in any yarn other than the one specified. Knitters should refer to the full pattern PDF for precise needle size recommendations, yarn quantities by size, and full tension details.

Difficulty and Suitability

Rated as intermediate in difficulty, the Clara Eyelet Striped Top is best suited to knitters who are comfortable working with lace-weight yarn, managing yarn forward eyelet techniques, and completing garment finishing including seaming