655 Gallica Shell - Top Knitting Pattern for Women in Valley Yarns Valley Yarns 2/14 Alpaca Silk

655 Gallica Shell – Top-Down Lace Shell Knitting Pattern for Women by Kirsten Hipsky

The 655 Gallica Shell, designed by Kirsten Hipsky and published by Valley Yarns, is a sheer, fitted sleeveless top for women featuring an original rose lace motif at the neckline. The pattern is rated advanced beginner and is available as a downloadable PDF. Finished bust measurements range from 32 to 56 inches across seven sizes (32, 36, 40, 44, 48, 52, and 56 inches), with the sample shown in size 36 inches.

What Is Being Made

The Gallica Shell is a sleeveless, fitted pullover top designed for women. Its most distinctive feature is a rose lace yoke at the neckline, inspired by the velvety petals of an original rose motif — the "Gallica" of the name referencing the classic Gallica rose. The body below the yoke is smooth and sheer, making it an elegant layering piece or a standalone warm-weather top. The overall silhouette is close-fitting and feminine, and the construction is designed to be easy to lengthen or shorten to suit the knitter's preferred style.

Construction and Techniques

The Gallica Shell uses a combination of construction methods that give knitters a well-rounded experience of multiple techniques within a single project:

• Top-down construction: The garment begins at the neckline and is worked downward, which allows for easy length adjustments before finishing.
• Worked flat (in rows): The front yoke and back yoke are each worked separately, flat, in rows. This allows the lace motif to be set up and shaped precisely before the body is joined.
• Worked in the round: Once the front and back yokes are complete, the lower body is joined and worked in the round on circular needles, making the stockinette body quick and straightforward to knit.
• Seamed construction: Because the front and back yokes are worked separately and flat, the garment involves seaming at the shoulders or sides to join the two pieces before continuing in the round.
• Lace knitting: The front yoke features an original rose lace pattern with yarn overs, decreases, and increases worked in a repeating motif. This is the most technically demanding section of the pattern and is what gives the shell its signature look.

Stitches Used

The pattern draws on a range of knitting stitches and techniques, including both basic and more advanced lace maneuvers:

• Knit and purl — the foundation of all stockinette and reverse stockinette sections
• Yarn over (yo) — used extensively in the lace motif to create decorative eyelets and increase stitches
• k2tog (knit 2 together) — a right-leaning decrease used in lace shaping
• k3tog (knit 3 together) — a double right-leaning decrease for more pronounced lace shaping
• k3togtbl (knit 3 together through back loops) — a double left-leaning decrease
• ssk (slip, slip, knit) — a left-leaning single decrease
• ssp (slip, slip, purl) — a left-leaning decrease worked on the wrong side
• p2tog and p3tog — purl-side decreases used in the lace pattern
• m1 (make 1) — an increase worked by knitting into the back of the running strand between stitches
• (k1, yo, k1) in one stitch — a special increase that creates 3 stitches from 1, central to the rose petal motif
• Stockinette stitch — used for the body of the shell below the lace yoke
• Stitch markers — placed to delineate the lace panel from the plain side sections throughout the yoke construction

Materials – Yarn

The pattern is written specifically for Valley Yarns