A friend has given me a fine black yarn with a lovely sheen, it would suit a Chinese style top with a mandarin collar and cut out sleeves, I can’t find anything similar, has anyone seen anything?
Chinese style
Here ist the first Mandarin collar knit I have found in 15 min.
Ladies Sweater with Mandarin Collar on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/listing/846187795/ladies-sweater-with-all-over-eyelet?ref=share_v4_lx
Thanks for that, not a sweater though, a top with cut out sleeves, similar style to these…
I saw lots of beutiful crotchet tops in this style. Not so much knitting
Google mandarin collar knitting pattern and enjoy your visit down the rabbit hole of lacy chinese style gorgeousness. Many links head off to sites I don’t use so I did not reach the actual patterns.
This one is knit, may need some size adjustments for your fine yarn.
What about this fabulous top?
Looks like a free chart to follow for the whole knit - there is a pic of the finished item if you follow the link
You can try looking for cheonsam or qipao rather than mandarin collar.
You might also want to try keyhole collar for a more western type design
I can’t make any assumptions about your heritage or who the top is for, but I will say that traditional dress worn by people not of the appropriate heritage can cause offense to some.
There are also some beautiful slip overs, tabard and vests which might suit your yarn wonderfully.
Have you tried any swatches? Sometimes I get a yarn planning one thing, say stocking stitch, and the yarn turns out better suited for lace, or I buy planning on lace but it works better for cables or traveling cables. It might be worth a few swatches to see what the yarn wants to be?
Hope you find the perfect thing.
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Those are more like it thanks, nothing like that came up on my search! (I’m in the UK). Yes, doing a swatch is a good idea, thanks for the tip.The label says 50g = 100m and recommends 4mm/6 needles, its a silk/viscose mix, so I guess it would be a bit thick for lace work.
I’m also in the UK. I just got lucky on my search.
Not that I am greatly experienced with patterns but I’ve made a few lace tops which have all been DK yarn on 4mm needles. They are not so fine as a thinner yarn lace pattern but the stitches are well defined and the patterns have worked out well.
This top is in DK with 4mm needles. It has sleeves but you could make is sleeveless and just put a nice knit edge on the arm hole. I’ve done that before with patterns for tops with sleeves.
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/846187795/ladies-sweater-with-all-over-eyelet?gpla=1&gao=1&&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=shopping_uk_en_gb_e-craft_supplies_and_tools-other&utm_custom1=k_CjwKCAiAqt-dBhBcEiwATw-ggFAHhuIHO1QBVJ2619C8EFQIqMMFXyxn5-zCFD1-7PxlxAAp6ppmexoCwiYQAvD_BwE_k&utm_content=go_12604174030_122820585314_508715490201_aud-463075091998:pla-295462056907_c__846187795engb_469672466&utm_custom2=12604174030&gclid=CjwKCAiAqt-dBhBcEiwATw-ggFAHhuIHO1QBVJ2619C8EFQIqMMFXyxn5-zCFD1-7PxlxAAp6ppmexoCwiYQAvD_BwE
That link looks wrong but fingers crossed it works (edited to add, it does work, its an etsy page). This could be the one.
This is a nice top but I can’t hunt down a copy of the pattern
It has a lovely structure and detail in the neck.
Hmmm, love the medieval style jacket top right……on the Etsy link
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Given that the yarn is black with a sheen, thinking of something a bit sexier……the dress pattern above is more like it 
Maybe you’re after a dress rather than a top…
…that dress certainly is stunning.
There are lots of slinky dress patterns out there too.
Aah, I’ve only got 600m!
Ooh that’s a little vest then.
Perhaps you could double the amount by buying another black perhaps less shiny and mix the two? Or even three different blacks.
One of the pieces I have made which I like is made with 3 different greys and an orange- the greys are very similar in tone but one is just slightly darker and one is shiny, one is more matt, the effect is sooo nice, much nicer than if I’d had all one colour.
Good luck with your search and decision making. I get lost for hours looking at patterns!