Terrific Tube Top!

Inspired by Christine's Lelah! Christine also has a matching Lelah skirt. You should definitely visit Christine's pages to see this knit in a wide variety of yarns, and a different lace pattern. She provides directions for knitting bottom up; I knit top down. However, even if you knit bottom up, you can insert the numbers in the top down directions into her version. It's work like a charm.

Generator written by Lucia Liljegren, The Knitting Fiend.

Other sweater styles are illustrated at my sweater pattern index page. Tops are illustrated at my tops page. Get updates about my new patterns and generators at my blog.
TubeTopFrill

Here is a list of features available with this generator:

The toggles are preset for the style and size shown.
As always, you enter your stitch and row gauge. You can knit out of any yarn weight, from fingering to chunky.
Shape: tube top with lace skirt knit from top down. The toggles let you make the lace skirt slimmer or fuller. They also let you pick a different stitch repeat for the lace.
The yarn estimator is set to stockinette but also gives a second estimate for lace.
The size is set to Woman's size 4. You can change that to Women's 4-22.
Click this pop up pattern button to get your pattern. (I advise clicking it now. Really.)
If the window doesn't pop up, make sure your pop-up blocker is turned off and javascript is turned on.
This pattern generator is a program that creates a pattern. If you want to customize for your size, your yarn or anything else, click the go-away box on the pattern window that popped up. Then, scroll down, and make changes. Then click any the pop-up window button you find on this page. opening. That will create your customized pattern.

If you've used my pattern generators, you know you can get directions in nearly any gauge and use the needle diameter you think is appropriate. But, some of you may want to imitate my sweater. Here is what I used for the sweater illustrated on this page:

Sinfonia mercerzied cotton and Omega gold tone metalic crochet thread; both obtained at Hobby Lobby. (I used about 400 meters.)
4 yards of gold cord. I folded this in half and threade it through the eyelets when I finished the top. (You could substitute a ribbon or I-cord.)
Denise circular needles with size 5 tips for top. I started the lace bottom with size 5 needles but slowly increased to size 7's as I approached the hips. (Bear in mind, I knit loosely. Other knitters may want to use 7's or 8's to get the gauge I get on 5's!)
A crochet hook to fix occasional mistakes.
Long enough length of 5/8" wide elastic to wrap around the top of your chest.
A tapestry needle to mattress stitch and weave in ends.

Tutorials discussing aspects of this top:

Provisional cast on.
How to knit a casing. I knit the casing closed. You'll end up with a little opening you can thread the elastic through.
How to increase or decrease evenly over a row. (You'll need to increase evenly once after knitting the casing, then either increase or decreasse once when switching form the tube top portion to the lace skirt portion. Most pattern just say increase evenly, but you can calculate at the web page.)
How to knit short rows. I used these to make the front tube top portion longer than the back.
Yarn over eyelets. This makes little holes for the gold cord.
How to knit vine lace. You need to knit some lace pattern; this is the one I used.

Lucia

The Pattern Generator

Enter your specifications to create your pattern. Just type over my numbers, the directions will automatically change. After reviewing your entry, click "pop up pattern" below. Your full pattern will appear.

Enter Your Swatch Data

Knit a swatch in the stitch pattern you plan to use for the body of the sweater. Measure the lenght and width both before and after washing the swatch, and enter them here. I don't force you knit a ribbing swatch or garter stitch swatch; I estimate the gauge based on the stockinette swatch. However, I discuss the ribbing at the blog.
Enter number of rows and stitches knit in stockinette.	stitches by rows.
Enter dimensions measured after washing and blocking. These are used to calculate the number or rows and stitches required to knit the sweater.	inches wide by inches long (or tall).
If this yarn shrinks (or grows) after washing and blocking, select "different" in the pull down menu here: . If it doesn't shrink or grow, toggle "same" If you picked "different", enter dimensions measured before washing and blocking in the boxes to the right.	inches wide by inches long (or tall).
The program has calculated the gauge of your swatch after washing and blocking. This is show to the right.	stitches/inch and rows/inch.

Pick the sweater size.

Pull down to select the size range, then use the appropriate menu below. The program will recommend values for top. You may also select 'custom' within any size range. If you want to customize, I suggest you first pick the size that fits best, for example "Misses 12". Let the form fill the boxes; then go through the form and set the toggles to the value you want. That will fill in all my recommended values for that size and style. Afterwards, scroll back up, toggle back to 'custom' and modify the body or sweater measurements you wish to modify. If you are customizing, you can find handy size information here: Women and Men's, children & teens.
Misses's size:
According to the standards table, the a person who wears the currently selected size is about inches tall and weighs about lbs. (If the boxes say '??' it means the standards table didn't suggest the height and weight for the size you selected.)

Sweater Design Data.

Body
Enter the chest circumference of the sweater in the box to the right. This should equal the wearer's chest size. The main part of the tube top will be as wide as indicated to the right. The casing that is smaller than indicated to the right, because casings should be snug.	inches.
Enter the length of back of solid part of the tube top including casing:	inches.
Enter length of front of the solid part of the tube top, including casing. Short rows are used to lengthen the front.	inches.
Casing depth: This needs to be slightly wider than the elastic.	inches.
Total length from top of casing to hem.	inches.
Select stitch multiple: The program has to round when calculating the number of stitches for the lace skirt. I used "vine lace" which has a stitch multiple of 9 stitches. Christine's original used "Horseshoe lace" which has a stitch multiple of 11 stitches.	stitches.
Tell the program how to round: Tell me whether you want to round up or down when fitting in the knitting the lace stitch pattern. This program makes sure there are an even number of repeats, so the front and back are identical. To mimic the gathering on Christine's Lelah, choose "up and add". To mimic my more trim fit, pick "down". Be aware that rounding is involved. The exact fit also depends on the stitch multiple. Based on the current selections, theres will be pattern repeats for your lace stitch; if you maintain the gauge in stockinette (which you may not), the hem will measure inches around. Tip: I changed needle, increasing diameters as I knit down; this widened the hem gradually.	Round

Get your pattern:

This design window prints the knitting directions for garment in a pop up window. You must have javascript running, or this page won't pop up. If you have a pop-up blocker, you also need to adjust it to permit the instructions to appear in the pop-up window. (You can always change both settings back after you get your pattern. However, the only pop-up windows at my site are windows containing patterns. So, if you visit a lot, it's worth changing the setting to let my site pop up windows.)
You pattern and this page both have a time stamp. If you are making changes to the pattern, make sure they match. (I added the time stamp so you could be sure the pop-up window used the information contained in this form when you clicked "pop up pattern". )
I advise clicking the pop up button now, even if you still need to modify the button bands. Examine the pattern and the date in the following box. . These need to match. If you edit any information on this page after popping the window open, just click the pop-up box again. Notice the times should change.
If you pattern window is closed, or the times don't match, click this button once or twice: