Camy Tang's Blog, page 98

Terralton Abbey from PRELUDE FOR A LORD

When I wrote Prelude for a Lord, I admit I put Lord Dommick’s home in there deliberately.

I had visited Newstead Abbey in Nottingham, England, and fell in LOVE, and I knew I wanted to have that house and grounds in my book somehow. So when coming up with Dommick’s character and family, I modeled his family seat, Terralton Abbey, after Newstead Abbey, which was the home of the poet Lord Byron.

This is the front of the house, including the circular driveway that Dommick drives up to. I placed the front door a little differently but essentially Terralton Abbey looks the same.



Here is what the front of the house looked like in 1880:


This is the back of the house with one of its lovely gardens:


Here is the square pool and woody lawn area where Alethea plays with Margaret:



And here is the lovely river bank and grotto where Alethea and Dommick kiss:



Sigh! I wish I could go back there again!

Stay tuned for a big PRELUDE FOR A LORD giveaway sometime in mid to late September! If you’ve already bought the book, there will be lots of cool goodies!

A sneak peek at GONE MISSING

I'm working on my romantic suspense manuscript, GONE MISSING, which will be out with Love Inspired Suspense in May next year. Thought I'd post this sneak peek!

The heroine in this story is Joslyn, and this is from the point of view of Clay, the hero.

He looked over at her. She was finally asleep, her head leaning against the window. She looked soft and vulnerable, not like the woman who’d pulled a gun, ready to fire at the two thugs after them and all the Mexican gang members in that parking lot. She’d been scared, but she’d been ready to do what she had to in order to protect them.

If he’d had a normal life and a normal past, he wouldn’t mind getting to know her, all facets of her personality, from her vulnerable side, to the woman with a conceal and carry license, to the woman who had been hurt in her past.

But he didn’t have a normal life—he’d worked for a mob family. He’d done terrible things that he couldn’t undo. He’d gone to prison. He’d even chased away the only person who loved him, his half-sister. He wasn’t someone Joslyn ought to know.

Which was why he hadn’t kissed her, even though everything inside of him wanted to. In everything in his life, he protected people—sometimes the wrong people, like the mob family he’d worked for—but it was what he was best at. And so he knew that in order to protect Joslyn, he had to stay far away from her. There were too many things in his past that would horrify her.

The heroine, Joslyn, is a minor character in my December release, TREACHEROUS INTENT! You can preorder now!

New Christian Regency romance from Camy

Yes, you read that right! I have a Christian Regency romantic mystery novel releasing … tomorrow? I think? Called Prelude for a Lord , and I’m writing it under a pen name, Camille Elliot. Neat, huh? Here’s the back cover blurb:

An awkward young woman. A haunted young man. A forbidden instrument. Can the love of music bring them together . . . or will it tear them apart?

Bath, England—1810

At twenty-eight, Alethea Sutherton is past her prime for courtship; but social mores have never been her forté. She might be a lady, but she is first and foremost a musician.

In Regency England, however, the violin is considered an inappropriate instrument for a lady. Ostracized by society for her passion, Alethea practices in secret and waits for her chance to flee to the Continent, where she can play without scandal.

But when a thief’s interest in her violin endangers her and her family, Alethea is determined to discover the enigmatic origins of her instrument . . . with the help of the dark, brooding Lord Dommick.

Scarred by war, Dommick finds solace only in playing his violin. He is persuaded to help Alethea, and discovers an entirely new yearning in his soul.

Alethea finds her reluctant heart drawn to Dommick in the sweetest of duets . . . just as the thief’s desperation builds to a tragic crescendo . . .

"This very enjoyable book will appeal to fans of Jane Austen and Linore Rose Burkard." —CBA Retailers + Resources

Camy here: I’m so excited for this book! I wrote it originally on a dare. My editor at Zondervan, Sue Brower, loves Regency romances as much as I do and we’re always talking about Regencies we’re recently read and enjoyed. So on a trip to visit my publishing house in Michigan, she tells me, “I want you to write a Regency romance for your next book.”

I was apprehensive because even though I’ve been reading Regencies since I was thirteen years old and I even read Regency research books just for fun, I never seriously attempted to write one. So I listened to a bunch of Jane Austen novels on audiobook and then dove in to the writing.

My marketing team at Zondervan chose my pen name: Camille since it’s close to Camy and Elliot because my favorite Austen character is Anne Elliot from Persuasion. They wanted to use a pen name because Regency romance is SO different from my normal genres of contemporary romance and contemporary romantic suspense. We didn’t want any readers feeling confused or betrayed if they picked up a “Camy Tang” book but was surprised that it was historical romance, so we decided to print it under a different name entirely. It’s almost like reinventing myself!

Around mid-August, I’m planning a fantastic giveaway here on my blog! I’ll be giving away not only copies of Prelude for a Lord, but also hand-knitted lace scarves made by Moi. :) The knitting patterns are late-Regency, early-Victorian patterns, so they’re almost authentic to my book’s time period. I’m also include Jane Austen tea ordered from the Jane Austen Centre in Bath, and little violin Christmas ornaments, all in keeping with my book’s storyline and setting.

If you belong to my Camy Tang email newsletter, you’ll be sure to hear when the contest goes live! To sign up, go to http://www.camytang.com/ and look for the purple chair. My new CamilleElliot.com website should be up this week, too!

Giveaway - Surprise Box of Christian books

To celebrate the 99 cents sale of our Sealed with a Kiss novella collection, I’ll be giving away THREE Surprise Boxes of Christian Books to three winners! The Surprise boxes will each include non-fiction and fiction, a mix of genres. There’ll be something in there for every taste!

Sealed with a Kiss, 4 novellas by Janet Tronstad, Margaret Daley, Camy Tang, and Lacy Williams now only $0.99 for a limited time! Get yours today! Available on Kindle, Nookbook, Kobo, and iBooks.

To enter the contest:

You must join the Inspy Kisses email newsletter to be eligible for this contest (go to the Inspy Kisses website and look for the form on the right side to sign up for the Inspy Kisses newsletter). Fill out the form below. Be sure to read the rules.

Extra Twitter entries: Get one extra entry per day if you tweet about this giveaway:
Giveaway of Surprise Box of Christian Books! http://is.gd/h7Jq9p @inspykisses
(Be sure to include @inspykisses so we can see your tweet and give you your extra entry.)

Extra Facebook entries: Get one extra entry per day if you share this Facebook post on your own Facebook profile and/or page: https://www.facebook.com/CamyTangAuthor/posts/10152340527732620
(Be sure you share the post at the link above--go to the link and then click "share". Make sure you set the privacy of your share to “public” so we can see that you shared it and give you your extra entry.)

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Camy's Sonoma fictional family tree

I’m over at the Love Inspired Authors blog talking about a new family I’ve introduced to my Sonoma series, the Whelans, and how they’re connected to the Grant sisters from my first 3 Sonoma books! Click here to read the blog post!

Necessary Proof ebook novella now FREE on Nook too!

Free! My romantic suspense novella, Necessary Proof , is free on Kindle, iBooks, Smashwords and Kobo, and now Nook also!

Originally published in First Kisses , a novella anthology with Linda Goodnight, Janet Tronstad, Debra Clopton, Margaret Daley, and Lacy Williams.

After opening his heart to Jesus in prison, Alex Villa has left his criminal past behind him. However, his efforts to take down a gang producing meth in Sonoma have made him a target. Set up to look like he’s being bribed by the gang, the police blame him for the death of a cop. Only the evidence on an encrypted laptop can prove he’s innocent.

Software engineer Jane Lawton has been betrayed by the men closest to her, including a God she thought would protect her. She won’t let Alex down, because she knows what it feels like to be disbelieved and abandoned.

However, the men after them have orders to repossess the evidence and make sure Jane and Alex take their knowledge to the grave. Can they prove Alex’s innocence before time runs out for them both?

** Those of you who have read Formula for Danger will recognize Jane and Alex as minor characters from that book. I was excited to finally be able to write their own love story!

Excerpt:

Jane Lawton nearly dropped her steaming pot of Mac-N-Cheese at the sound of a powerful fist knocking at her apartment door. "Coming!" She spooned the gooey, bad-for-you goodness into a bowl, then ran some water in the pot in the sink.

The urgent knocking sounded again. Somehow it didn't sound like one of her neighbors, wanting Jane's help with a computer problem. She looked through the peephole.

She felt a sharp pulse at the base of her throat. "Alex?" She opened the door.

Normally a walking Calvin Klein ad, he now had a grim, serious cast to his face as he hurriedly entered her apartment with a messenger bag slung across one broad shoulder. "Quick, close the door."

"What's going on?" She locked the deadbolt.

It frightened her that he looked so different now, lacking his usual smile and dimples. "I need your help, Jane."

She couldn't control the bitterness that burned the back of her throat. It seemed that was the only thing she was good for, helping the men in her life so they could leave her and move on. She swallowed and said carefully, "Doing what?"

He pulled a laptop from his messenger bag. "There's information on this that I need, but I'm not sure if there's any type of security protecting it."

"Whoa." Jane took a step back. "You're saying that's not your laptop, and you want me to get into it? What's going on?" She knew he had been in prison for a few years, but she thought he'd put his illegal past behind him.

He scrubbed his hand over his high forehead. "It's not what it looks like."

"That makes it sound even worse."

He exhaled and seemed to study her. His intent, dark eyes made her squirm. She knew she'd changed a lot in the past year. She'd only spoken to him once in all that time, a few months ago at the party celebrating his brother's engagement to Rachel, Jane's second cousin but as close as a sister. After a minute or two of chit-chat, he had been quick to leave her to speak to Detective Carter, which had given her a pang even though she hadn't been in a sociable mood. What a difference from when she and Alex had first met years ago. He had seemed interested in her, but she'd been ...

She shoved the memories aside. "I'm only going to ask this one more time. What's going on?"

"I just ... I can trust you, right?"

"Trust me with what?"

Print book:
You can only buy Necessary Proof in print copy in First Kisses , an Inspy Kisses novella anthology.
Amazon.com

Ebook:
The ebook is free on all sites (including Nook!)
Kindle
Nookbook
iBooks
Kobo
Smashwords


Camy's Sonoma series:

#1: Deadly Intent
#2: Formula for Danger
#3: Stalker in the Shadows
#4: Narrow Escape
#4.1: Necessary Proof
#5: Treacherous Intent (coming December 2014)

How can I pray for you?

I’m so honored that so many of you entrusted your prayer requests to me! I am praying for you! Please be sure to fill out the form below with any updates!

For those of you with prayer requests, I would love to pray for you! I asked God to make me a prayer warrior this year, so how can I pray for you?

Prayer requests can sometimes be private things, so to keep your privacy, I’ve made a form you can fill out that will keep your requests just between you and me. :)

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Free! My romantic suspense novella, Necessary Proof , is free on Kindle, iBooks, Smashwords and Kobo!

Necessary Proof free ebook novella!

Free! My romantic suspense novella, Necessary Proof , is free on Kindle, iBooks, Smashwords and Kobo!

Originally published in First Kisses , a novella anthology with Linda Goodnight, Janet Tronstad, Debra Clopton, Margaret Daley, and Lacy Williams.

After opening his heart to Jesus in prison, Alex Villa has left his criminal past behind him. However, his efforts to take down a gang producing meth in Sonoma have made him a target. Set up to look like he’s being bribed by the gang, the police blame him for the death of a cop. Only the evidence on an encrypted laptop can prove he’s innocent.

Software engineer Jane Lawton has been betrayed by the men closest to her, including a God she thought would protect her. She won’t let Alex down, because she knows what it feels like to be disbelieved and abandoned.

However, the men after them have orders to repossess the evidence and make sure Jane and Alex take their knowledge to the grave. Can they prove Alex’s innocence before time runs out for them both?

** Those of you who have read Formula for Danger will recognize Jane and Alex as minor characters from that book. I was excited to finally be able to write their own love story!

Excerpt:

Jane Lawton nearly dropped her steaming pot of Mac-N-Cheese at the sound of a powerful fist knocking at her apartment door. "Coming!" She spooned the gooey, bad-for-you goodness into a bowl, then ran some water in the pot in the sink.

The urgent knocking sounded again. Somehow it didn't sound like one of her neighbors, wanting Jane's help with a computer problem. She looked through the peephole.

She felt a sharp pulse at the base of her throat. "Alex?" She opened the door.

Normally a walking Calvin Klein ad, he now had a grim, serious cast to his face as he hurriedly entered her apartment with a messenger bag slung across one broad shoulder. "Quick, close the door."

"What's going on?" She locked the deadbolt.

It frightened her that he looked so different now, lacking his usual smile and dimples. "I need your help, Jane."

She couldn't control the bitterness that burned the back of her throat. It seemed that was the only thing she was good for, helping the men in her life so they could leave her and move on. She swallowed and said carefully, "Doing what?"

He pulled a laptop from his messenger bag. "There's information on this that I need, but I'm not sure if there's any type of security protecting it."

"Whoa." Jane took a step back. "You're saying that's not your laptop, and you want me to get into it? What's going on?" She knew he had been in prison for a few years, but she thought he'd put his illegal past behind him.

He scrubbed his hand over his high forehead. "It's not what it looks like."

"That makes it sound even worse."

He exhaled and seemed to study her. His intent, dark eyes made her squirm. She knew she'd changed a lot in the past year. She'd only spoken to him once in all that time, a few months ago at the party celebrating his brother's engagement to Rachel, Jane's second cousin but as close as a sister. After a minute or two of chit-chat, he had been quick to leave her to speak to Detective Carter, which had given her a pang even though she hadn't been in a sociable mood. What a difference from when she and Alex had first met years ago. He had seemed interested in her, but she'd been ...

She shoved the memories aside. "I'm only going to ask this one more time. What's going on?"

"I just ... I can trust you, right?"

"Trust me with what?"

Print book:
You can only buy Necessary Proof in print copy in First Kisses , an Inspy Kisses novella anthology.
Amazon.com

Ebook:
The ebook is free on all sites except Nook (sorry about that). Nook owners can download the .epub file from Smashwords and side load it into their Nooks.
Smashwords
Kindle
iBooks
KoboNookbook (not free)

Camy's Sonoma series:

#1: Deadly Intent
#2: Formula for Danger
#3: Stalker in the Shadows
#4: Narrow Escape
#4.1: Necessary Proof
#5: Treacherous Intent (coming December 2014)

Boucle V-neck top knitting pattern

I had some boucle yarn I had bought for another project, and I wanted to get rid of it. I came across the Summer-weight Woolly vintage pattern by Jane Koster & Margaret Murray that called for boucle yarn, so I decided to try it.

My yarn ended up being much thicker than what was used in the pattern and I had to almost completely rewrite the pattern for the yarn and for my larger measurements, so I decided to post the pattern here. Man, what a lot of work! Someone else might as well benefit from it. :)

The color patterning of the yarn kind of hides the subtle texturing of the pattern. This probably would have looked better with a solid color boucle, but I'm stash busting to get rid of this yarn, so I used it anyway. I think it looks okay, even with the patterning colors of the yarn.

The shoulders might be half an inch too wide for me, so maybe I should have aimed for a 35" bust rather than 36". My bust is actually 38” and it fits me fine, with a little negative ease. It's very stretchy and, as written, could probably fit even a 40" bust.

I made this top to be worn with a little negative ease.
Measurements (unstretched):
Bust: 36”
Length: 20.5”
Waist: 34”
Hip/bottom edge: 38”
Armhole length: 7.5”
Shoulder (each): 4.25” wide
Neckhole: 7.75” wide

Yarn:
Jo-Ann Sensations Rainbow Bouclé
1219 Pink Grey colorway
Bulky / 12 ply
88% Acrylic, 12% Nylon
853 yards / 312 grams

Needles:
US 2 - 2.75 mm
US 5 - 3.75 mm
US 7 - 4.5 mm

My gauge:
US 5 needles in band pattern:
3.5 sts/in
6 rows per inch
(about 66 stitches per yard)

8-row Pattern band:
8 rows stockinette, 8 rows reverse stockinette

10-row Pattern band:
10 rows stockinette, 10 rows reverse stockinette

Each band is a little less than 1.25".

For decreases (dec) below, use any method you like to decrease 1 stitch. I did either k2tog, ssk, or p2tog depending on the pattern. The boucle also hides a lot so you can pretty much use any stitch to decrease.

Knitting flat versus knitting in the round:
I thought about knitting the body in the round up to the armholes because the patterning in the yarn may cause a sharp color contrast at the side seams (pink/black), but the colored stripes will be closer together and I don't want that type of effect, I like the larger blocks of color when knitted flat. If I were knitting this with a solid color boucle, I'd knit this in the round up to the armholes, no doubt about it. There might be a slight jog at one side where you switch from purl to knit and vice versa, but the nature of the boucle yarn hides that a bit.

Back:
Cast on 60 stitches (16.75"). I did a Tubular Cast On with US 7 needles.
Garter stitch for 1 inch. I have wide hips, so I kept with US 7 needles for the garter stitch band. If you want a narrower hip/lower edge, then switch to US 5 needles.

After garter stitch band, switch to US 5 needles.

Do 2 8-row pattern bands (16 rows). The piece should measure a little less than 3.5".

Waist:
Switch to US 2 needles. Do 10-row pattern bands for 20 rows, about 2.5 inches. Piece should measure 6" total.

Increases:
Switch back to US 5 needles and 8-row pattern bands. Increase 1 stitch each end of the needle. Increase again 36 rows (about 6") after this. 64 stitches.

Continue until piece measures 13.7" (should be about 10" from start of waist section). End after row 8 of reverse stockinette stitch pattern band. There should be 10 pattern bands total.

Armhole shaping:
Keeping in pattern, cast off 2 sts beg of next 2 rows.
Dec 1 st each end of the next 2 rows, work 1 row even, then dec 1 st each end of the next row (54 stitches).
Continue without shaping until armhole is 7.3" long, which should be about 44 rows from start of armhole shaping, ending on row 4 of reverse stockinette pattern band. Laid flat, piece should measure 21".

Note: Rather than keeping the proportions the same between the vintage pattern (and smaller size) and my measurements, I kept the shoulder widths of the front sections the same as the vintage pattern (a little more than 4") and widened the neck hole.

Shoulder shaping:
Rest of pattern is reverse stockinette.
Row 1: pattern to last 5 sts, wrap and turn.
Row 2: pattern to last 5 sts, wrap and turn.
Row 3: pattern to last 10 sts, wrap and turn.
Row 4: pattern to last 10 sts, wrap and turn.
Row 5: pattern to last 15 sts, wrap and turn.
Row 6: pattern to last 15 sts, wrap and turn.
Row 7: Cast off center 24 stitches for back of neck. Leave sts on needles (15 sts each side) to graft to shoulders of front piece.

Note: The pattern calls for a reverse stockinette yoke of several inches, which I forgot to do, so only the last 12 rows are the reverse stockinette section.

Front:
Same as for back up to armhole shaping. End after row 8 of reverse stockinette stitch pattern band. There should be 10 pattern bands total.

Armhole shaping (it's the same as for the back):
Keeping in pattern, cast off 2 sts beg of next 2 rows.
Dec 1 st each end of the next 2 rows, work 1 row even, then dec 1 st each end of the next row (54 stitches).

Neck decreases:
Divide stitches in half, 27 stitches for right and 27 stitches for left. Put right front stitches on spare needle or waste yarn.
On left front stitches (RS), work to 4 stitches from end (neck edge), dec 1 st, work 2 stitches garter stitch neck edging.
Next row: Work 2 sts garter stitch neck edge, work to end.
Decrease 1 st neck edge every 4th row until 17 sts left on needle (total of 10 decreases). You should end on row 3 of reverse stockinette pattern, 43 rows after start of armhole shaping. Complete next row, row 4 of reverse stockinette pattern. Work should measure 21".

Shoulder shaping:
(In reverse stockinette stitch) Work 1 row even, keeping the 2 garter stitches at neck edge. Work to 6 sts from armhole edge, wrap and turn. Work 1 row even, keeping the 2 garter stitches at neck edge. Work to 11 sts from armhole edge, wrap and turn. Work 1 row even. Leave stitches on spare needle to graft to back shoulder.

Right front:
Attach yarn to neck edge. Work 2 stitches garter stitch neck edging, dec 1 st, work to end.
Next row: work even, including garter stitches at neck edge.
Decrease 1 st neck edge every 4th row until 17 sts left on needle (total of 10 decreases).You should end on row 3 of reverse stockinette pattern, 43 rows after start of armhole shaping. Complete next row, row 4 of reverse stockinette pattern.

Shoulder shaping:
Work to 6 sts from armhole edge, wrap and turn. Work 1 row even, keeping the 2 garter stitches at neck edge. Work to 11 sts from armhole edge, wrap and turn. Work 1 row even, keeping the 2 garter stitches at neck edge. Leave stitches on spare needle to graft to back shoulder.

Shoulder seaming:
With RS facing, put 2 garter stitch neck edge stitches on safety pin, then do 3-needle bind off of 15 remaining front shoulder and 15 back shoulder stitches. Repeat for other side.

Neck edging:
Take two garter stitches from safety pin, put on needles.
There are two ways to do this.
1) Sewn neck edging:
Pick up a stitch between garter stitches and body (3 stitches on needle), then continue in a garter stitch strip until you reach the back of the neck. Repeat on the other side garter stitches. Kitchener the live stitches together, and sew the edging to the back neck.

2) lace graft:
(RS): k1, slip 1, pick up a stitch from the body, pass slipped stitch over picked up stitch, turn.
(WS): k2, turn.
Repeat until neck edge reaches other 2 live stitches on safety pin, and kitchener stitch together.

Cap sleeves (make 2):
Tubular cast on: Provisional CO 23 stitches using US 7 needle, k 2 rows, pick up 46 stitches in knit stitch (13"). Switch to US 5 needles. Garter stitch for 1 inch.
Dec 1 st each end for 4 rows.
Dec 1 st at beg of next 2 rows
Work 2 rows even
Repeat 4 times, total 16 rows.
Dec 1 st each end for 4 rows.
Bind off 4 sts at beg of next 4 rows (6 sts left)
Bind off.

Seaming:
Seam sides and fit sleeves into armholes. I used a worsted weight black yarn to seam up the sides and the sleeves, rather than seaming with the boucle yarn.

If you make this, please be sure to message me on Ravelry and let me know how it turned out!

Free! My romantic suspense novella, Necessary Proof , is free on Kindle, iBooks, Smashwords and Kobo!

Lacy Red Bolero knit pattern

I’ve been trying to get rid of yarn in my stash this year. I came across these two red yarns that look similar but are slightly different. I didn’t have enough of one yarn for a scarf, and while I had enough of the second yarn for a scarf, I have TONS of scarves.

So I decided to use both yarns to make a lacy bolero that I can wear over tank tops to make them into T-shirts (it’s still a little chilly here in California, not quite tank top weather).

I wrote down the pattern here. I based it off of the Anthropologie-Inspired Capelet pattern by Julia Allen.

This is a good pattern to use if you have between 250-300 yards of a worsted/Aran weight yarn, or between 150-200 yards of a worsted/Aran weight yarn and about 90-100 yards of another yarn to use for the ribbing and edging. I think this might look really good with a contrasting color for the ribbing.

The yarns I used were a wool worsted/Aran weight (I’m not sure since I got it when my mom cleaned out a friend’s house for her, but I think it was a Zaol yarn since the colors match exactly) and Zaol Canon (Aran weight). I used about 164 yards of worsted weight yarn and 86 yards of Canon (Aran weight).

Needle: US 9 (5.5 mm)
Gauge: Honestly, this stitch pattern is super stretchy so I couldn’t get a consistent gauge number. In the Aran weight yarn, k2 p2 ribbing was 4 stitches per inch.

In worsted yarn, CO 52 stitches using provisional cast on (on waste yarn) since you will be picking up stitches later for ribbing (using Canon/Aran weight yarn).

To increase the size, you could simply add repeats of the pattern stitches (within parenthesis below) in each section of the set up rows.

Set up rows:
Row 1:
Left front: k1, (YO, ssk, k2,) YO, ssk p1, k1, place marker,
Left arm: p1, (YO, ssk, k2,) YO, ssk p1, k1, place marker,
Back: p1, (YO, ssk, k2) 3 times, YO ssk p1 k1, place marker,
Right arm: p1, (YO, ssk, k2,) YO ssk p1 k1, place marker,
Right front: p1, (YO, ssk, k2,) YO ssk k1.

Row 2:
Right front: p3, (YO, p2tog, p2,) k1, sm,
Right arm: p1, k1, p2, (YO p2tog p2,) k1, sm,
Back: p1, k1, p2, (YO p2tog p2) 3 times, k1, sm,
Left arm: p1, k1, p2, (YO p2tog p2,) k1, sm,
Left front: p1, k1, p2, (YO p2tog p2,) p1

Then begin pattern increases:

Row 1:
Left front: k1, (YO, ssk, k2) until 4 stitches before marker, YO, ssk, kfb, k1, sm;
Left arm, back, Right arm: [purl into front and knit into back of one stitch, (YO, ssk, k2) until 4 stitches before marker, YO, ssk, kfb, k1, sm,] 3 times;
Right front: purl into front and knit into back of one stitch, (YO ssk k2) until 3 stitches to end, YO ssk, k1.

Row 2:
Right front: p1, p2, (YO p2tog, p2) to 2 sts before marker, p1, k1, sm,
Right arm, back, Left arm: [p1, k1, p3, (YO p2tog, p2) to 2 sts before marker, p1, k1, sm,] 3 times;
Left front: p1, k1, p3, (YO p2tog, p2) to 1 st before end, p1.

Row 3:
Left front: k1, (YO, ssk, k2) until 5 stitches before marker, YO, ssk, k1, kfb, k1, sm;
Left arm, back, Right arm: [purl into front and knit into back of one stitch, k1, (YO, ssk, k2) until 5 stitches before marker, YO, ssk, k1, kfb, k1, sm] 3 times;
Right front: purl into front and knit into back of one stitch, k1, (YO ssk k2) until 3 stitches to end, YO ssk, k1.

Row 4:
Right front: p1, p2, (YO p2tog, p2) to 3 sts before marker, YO p2tog, k1, sm,
Right arm, back, Left arm: [p1, k1, (YO p2tog, p2) to 3 sts before marker, YO p2tog, k1, sm,] 3 times;
Left front: p1, k1, (YO p2tog, p2) to 1 st before end, p1.

Row 5:
Left front: k1, (YO, ssk, k2) until 2 stitches before marker, kfb, k1, sm;
Left arm, back, Right arm: [purl into front and knit into back of one stitch, k2, (YO, ssk, k2) until 2 stitches before marker, kfb, k1, sm] 3 times;
Right front: purl into front and knit into back of one stitch, k2, (YO ssk k2) until 3 stitches to end, YO ssk, k1.

Row 6:
Right front: p1, p2, (YO p2tog, p2) to 4 sts before marker, YO p2tog, p1, k1, sm,
Right arm, back, Left arm: [p1, k1, p1, (YO p2tog, p2) to 4 sts before marker, YO p2tog, p1, k1, sm] 3 times;
Left front: p1, k1, p1 (YO p2tog, p2) to 1 st before end, p1.

Row 7:
Left front: k1, (YO, ssk, k2) until 3 stitches before marker, k1, kfb, k1, sm;
Left arm, back, Right arm: [purl into front and knit into back of one stitch, k3, (YO, ssk, k2) until 3 stitches before marker, k1, kfb, k1, sm] 3 times;
Right front: purl into front and knit into back of one stitch, k3, (YO ssk k2) until 3 stitches to end, YO ssk, k1.

Row 8:
Right front: p1, p2, (YO p2tog, p2) to 1 st before marker, k1, sm;
Right arm, back, Left arm: [p1, k1, p2, (YO p2tog, p2) to 1 st before marker, k1, sm] 3 times;
Left front: p1, k1, p2 (YO p2tog, p2) to 1 st before end, p1.

Repeat rows 1-8 until sleeve section is circumference of arm), in my case, 12". End with a WS row. I made it easy on myself and ended after row 8.

Knit in pattern (without increases at marker, no kfb or purl/knit into one stitch) to first marker (sleeve), put sleeve stitches on scrap yarn, knit in pattern (without increases) across back to second marker (sleeve), put sleeve stitches on scrap yarn, knit in pattern (without increases) to end.

Pattern without increases for as long as you like or until worsted weight yarn is used up, end after WS row. In my case, another 14 rows. You could knit only another 4 rows in pattern and make a super short bolero, or you could go even longer.

My bolero ended up being 11” from neck band to bottom band. The ribbing was 1 inch at neckband and bottom band, so the patterned portion was 9” long from provisional cast on to when I started the ribbing for the bottom band. For me, 11” was a little short, I probably would have liked it to be around 13”, but I ran out of worsted yarn at 9”.

Switch to Canon (Aran weight yarn) for ribbing on bottom band. If you’re not using a separate yarn for the ribbing, you can just continue with your yarn.

You will be picking up stitches on the ribbing for the front edges. You don’t need to, but I wanted an extra selvedge stitch at each end for when I pick up stitches fro the front edge ribbing. I wanted to begin and end with k3 (k2 plus 1 stitch selvedge), then do p2 k2 rib for the rest of the bottom band, so I wanted to make sure the total stitches I had was a multiple of 4. I ended up adding 2 stitches for a total of 100 stitches (you might have a different number if you don’t do the same number of rows as I did). k3, then p2 k2 rib until last 5 stitches, p2, k3.

Do ribbing for one inch, then bind off loosely using Knit Lace Bind Off (through the back loop variation)--k2, transfer stitches back to left needle and k2tog through the back loop, then ** k (or purl) next stitch, transfer stitches back to left needle and k2tog through the back loop. Repeat from ** to the end.

Pick up stitches along right front edge. You are going to pick up stitches for neckband, so you may want k3 stitches near the neck band (k2 plus 1 stitch selvedge), and k2 stitches at the bottom end. You will be picking stitches that are a multiple of 4 + 3. With RS facing, I picked up 39 stitches total (you might have a different number if you don’t do the same number of rows as I did). Then did ribbing:
WS: p3, (k2 p2) to the end.
RS: (k2 p2) to the last 3 stitches, k3.
Do ribbing for one inch, then bind off using standard bind off (not Knit Lace Bind Off as for bottom band).

Repeat along left front edge.

Take neckband stitches off of waste yarn. You will pick up stitches along the front bands also so the neckband ribbing will go all around the top. If you want to start and end with k2, you need a total number of stitches that are a multiple of 4 + 2. With RS facing, pick up a total of 62 stitches (you may have a different number if you started with a different cast on number of stitches). Do k2 p2 ribbing for one inch, then bind off using standard bind off (not Knit Lace Bind Off as for bottom band).

For the sleeves, pick up the stitches from the waste yarn, and make sure you have a multiple of 4 stitches. I picked up a few extra stitches from the armpit to make the join nicer and ended up with 44 stitches in the round (you may have a different number depending on your sleeve circumference, or if you are knitting flat and then seaming the ribbing). Do k2 p2 rib for 1 inch, then bind off using Knit Lace Bind Off.

The bolero stretches a LOT and is not meant to button in front, but you can add buttonholes or toggle loops if you want. You can also increase the number of stitches for the left and right front segments to allow them to cover your front.