Pencil Sketch the Lacy Cami; the design process

Sometimes I'd come across a yarn with some unique personality. Jaeger Trinity, the yarn I used for my Pencil Sketch Camisole, surely is one of them. The yarn looked and felt so rugged that at first I simply wanted to toss it. Fortunately I didn't. Working on my cami, I realized that Trinity is not merino and it'll never be, it's fiercely inelastic and nubby, but if you listen to it then you get something worth to be seen. The finished fabric has a good drape, authentic tweedy surface, and feels like old cotton jersey.

Now comes the design process, I hope you'd find it interesting or useful (it can't be both, I know) ;-)


(another sketch showing the possibilities)

After reading all the comments (here and at KR, thank you all!), I decided on designing a hybrid neckline. Before that, I needed to finish the back. The advantages are:
1. There is always less shaping for the back neckline, so I can focus on shaping the sleeve openings.
2. In the end I can get the number of rows to reach 7" (in this case), and plan the front neckline decreases accordingly.
Now the back is all knitted up:


The bind off stitches at the neck opening were worked in two directions, so that the edge will not get stretched towards one side. The joining at the center can be seen if you click on the photo.

Here's the plan for the front, I just scanned my actual scribbles. You can click for a larger picture; the finished neckline will look like a hybrid between V and scoop, with a tiny "wrap" at the center, over the lace stitches.


The center lace stitches (17 in total) are picked up twice to form the mini wrap. I worked the right front first, knitting through the 17 sts and the rest 26 sts on the right. After the right shoulder has been finished, I turned back to the center 17 sts, pick them up through the back "purl bumps" and purled through the remaining 26 sts on the left.
Although a proper edging awaits to be done, the body of the cami is ready for pictures!


The back looks neat too:

By the way, it fits me perfectly and I love it, I promise to give you modeled pictures next time ;-).

Now that I have made friends with Trinity, I have my eyes on another yarn with personality, which is Zodiac from Berroco:


Not Wren, no plan yet. Maybe I should get myself familiar with them first...