Some Ideas

I've been musing about the Bill King Bolero; about the issue with large armholes, but width and length are closely connected.  Most women don't like to wear square shaped tops, it's rarely flattering.  This isn't quite square, but close.  It could use a little length.  But adding length meant adding width.  And sometimes, we want more width but not more length.  How to do these adjustments?

I mentioned yesterday about doing a straight section to get more body length.  What I'm finding when looking at pictures of this being worn, is that the armhole is really long, especially on larger busted women.  But how to get extra width without extra length?  And how to get the width where we need it?  In another version of the bolero that I haven't posted yet, I did start the arm with fewer stitches and increased during the 70 rows, and that helps the arms.  But the armhole....

Then I couldn't sleep last night and started thinking.  The pattern calls for 4 rows for each group of needles.  The first version (which didn't live, since I had half the amount of yarn needed), I tried the suggestion of 6 rows, since Cheryl is a bit taller than me.  I felt the holes were a little large.  But what if you start out that first turn, doing two rows for each group, and when you get about 2/3 way across, switch to 4 rows.  THen, maybe for the last few groups, do 6 rows, but wrap the first two, so the hole is the same as the 4 row one.  This will mean there's fewer rows over near the armhole, and more rows going over the fuller part of the bust.  For the 2nd and 3rd turns, you can keep it at 4 rows.  Then, for the upper back, decide if you need more for the upper back too--some women have some padding on the upper back (often related to thyroid issues).  If you stick with the 4 rows, you might have to ease that shoulder seam...I'd have to take another look at mine.

I haven't swatched this yet; the kids are having a "spa day" and I'm quickly typing this while Meg has a mask on her face, LOL. I just wanted to get my idea out there and documented :)