My family has a wonderful habit of buying me gift cards to yarn shops for the holidays and 2020 was no exception. Instead of filling my basket with yarn, I ended up using most of the gift card to purchase supplies for my cricket loom (another heddle and a pick up stick). Included in this order was some red valley yarns Amherst — I “needed” a new cowl and headband to match a pair of fingerless mitts that I made last winter — and some superwash merino sock splash by Cloudborn Fibers in black sea (no link, sorry the yarn has been discontinued). My intention with the Cloudborn was to weave a thick and long wrap, so I only purchased 2 skeins. By the time I received the yarn and fell in love with it, Webs had completely run out of the black sea colorway. Womp. Womp.

The thing is, this yarn screamed to be a top of some kind. Before realizing I couldn’t get any more, I thought it would look perfect as a V-Neck Boxy. After realizing that compromises needed to be made, I began searching for the perfect t-shirt pattern. Spoiler alert: Whatever I was looking for doesn’t exist.

Noni, by Megan Nodecker is a beautiful short sleeve pattern that had been sitting my queue for at least six months. There is beautiful texture along the neckline and it seems to look good on everyone who made it. Combine that with it was the correct gauge and yardage and we had a winner!

Now I tried, in good faith, to knit the pattern exactly as it was written. The lace would have been beautiful if I hadn’t gone cross eyed while knitting the first row. Then I decided to knit the body shorter (12 inches instead of 17) and add ribbing along the neckline. There were fleeting thoughts of adding sleeves with any extra yardage that were thrown out the window when I decided that I needed to wear the garment asap. Honestly, I think I’ll be making it again with the texture and love this top so much that I don’t feel bad for the changes that I made.

In the end, I made myself the top that I was hoping to — even if it wasn’t my original plan. This project also helped me come around to the way that drop sleeves look (I always thought the style would make my shoulders look extra broad).