Lace Top Knitting Pattern

How to knit the Lace Top:
Sizes: US 6–8 / UK 10–12 / EU 36–38
Materials:
200 g (7.1 oz) yarn (70% mercerized cotton, 30% viscose, 383 yd/3.5 oz); US 2½ knitting needles (3.0 mm).

Ribbing Pattern: work alternately 1 knit stitch, 1 purl stitch.

Lace Pattern:
Work according to chart, which shows right-side rows only.
On wrong-side rows, work stitches as they appear and purl the yarn overs.
Repeat Rows 1–12 throughout.

Gauge: 18 stitches and 26.5 rows = 4 x 4 in (10 x 10 cm).

Back:
Cast on 83 stitches and work 6 rows in Ribbing Pattern.
Continue in the following distribution: 1 edge stitch, 5 knit stitches, 70 stitches in Lace Pattern, 1 purl stitch, 5 knit stitches, 1 edge stitch.
At 4 in (10 cm) from the cast-on edge, for waist shaping decrease 1 stitch at each side 3 times in every 6th row = 77 stitches.
At 17¾ in (45 cm) from the cast-on edge, for the dropped shoulders increase 1 stitch at each side in Stockinette Stitch 8 times in every 2nd row = 93 stitches.

At 19¾ in (50 cm) from the cast-on edge, for the neckline bind off the center 21 stitches (when calculating the stitch count, use the number of stitches in Row 12 of the chart) and finish each side separately.
For neckline shaping, bind off at the inner edge in every 2nd row 3 stitches once, 2 stitches twice, and 1 stitch twice.
At 24½ in (62 cm) from the cast-on edge, bind off the remaining 27 stitches of each shoulder.

Front:
Work as for the Back, but with a deeper neckline.
For this, at 17¾ in (45 cm) from the cast-on edge, bind off the center 15 stitches and finish each side separately.
For neckline shaping, bind off at the inner edge in every 2nd row 2 stitches 3 times and 1 stitch 6 times.
At 24½ in (62 cm) from the cast-on edge, bind off the remaining 27 stitches of each shoulder.

Finishing:
Sew shoulder and side seams.