Alba Top in Adriafil Cheope - Downloadable PDF

Alba Top in Adriafil Cheope – Crochet Pattern Summary

The Alba Top is a beautifully textured crochet garment designed for women, worked in the elegant Adriafil Cheope yarn. This downloadable PDF pattern produces a lightweight, openwork top with a refined lace-like appearance, making it an ideal project for warm-weather wardrobe additions. The design is available in two sizes: 40 and 42, and is suitable for crocheters who are comfortable working with repeating stitch patterns and basic garment shaping.

What Is Being Made

The pattern creates a women's sleeveless top — known as the Alba Top — featuring structured armhole shaping and a classic silhouette. The garment is worked in separate panels (back and front) and seamed together, following a traditional construction method common in European crochet fashion design. The finished top has a clean, sophisticated look suited to both casual and semi-formal occasions.

Materials Required

• Yarn: Adriafil Cheope, shade white no. 02 — approximately 250 g required
• Crochet Hook: Size 3 mm
• Tapestry needle for seaming and weaving in ends

Adriafil Cheope is a DK weight yarn, making it a versatile choice that works up with good stitch definition — particularly important when working the intricate block stitch central to this design. Its smooth texture allows the openwork pattern to drape beautifully and display the stitch structure clearly.

Stitches and Techniques Used

• Chain stitch — used for the foundation chain and within the block stitch pattern
• Double crochet — used as a structural stitch throughout the garment
• Treble crochet — a key component of the block stitch repeat
• Block stitch — the primary decorative stitch pattern, worked over a multiple of 7 stitches + 5

Block Stitch Pattern Explained

The block stitch is the defining feature of the Alba Top, creating an elegant, lattice-like texture across the fabric. It is worked as follows:

• Row 1: Work 1 treble, skip 2 stitches, then into the next stitch work 2 trebles, 2 chains, and 2 trebles (forming a shell or block); skip 2 stitches, 1 treble. Repeat across, ending with 1 treble.
• Row 2: Begin with 3 chains, skip the first treble, then work 1 treble into the next treble, followed by 2 trebles, 2 chains, and 2 trebles into the 2-chain space; skip the next 2 trebles, 1 treble into the following treble. Repeat across, ending with 1 treble into the last chain of the previous row.
• Row 3 onwards: Continue repeating Row 2 throughout the body of the garment.

This stitch creates a rhythmic, symmetrical pattern that is satisfying to work once the repeat is established. The combination of treble clusters and chain spaces gives the fabric an open, airy quality — perfectly suited to a summer or transitional-season top.

Tension and Gauge

Achieving the correct tension is essential for a well-fitting garment. The pattern specifies:

• 10 cm × 10 cm in block stitch using a 3 mm crochet hook = 32 stitches and 13 rows

Crocheters are encouraged to work a tension swatch before beginning and adjust hook size as needed to match this gauge precisely.

Construction and Shaping

The back panel begins with a foundation chain of 124 (131) stitches, with the block stitch pattern commencing from the 5th chain on the hook. The