Thursday, March 06, 2008

purple jacket finished


This one was pretty quick, really. Started some time in February, finished last night.

Pattern: Drops jacket 103-1 mostly, although the cuffs are adapted from Brompton by Alice Bell.

Yarn: 800g of Debbie Bliss Maya, colour 12.

Needles: 6mm straight and circs. (I started on straight because that was what I had, but it was far too heavy and uncomfortable so I bought some circs, which were much better.)

Notes: My gauge wasn't quite right, so I knitted the M size directions (of the finer gauge set of directions), but ended up with the L size. The cuffs were a last minute inspiration, but they suit the adaptable collar well. The buttons came from John Lewis. I think they're rather lovely.

purple jacket  - button detail

The wool's a little bit itchy, so I suspect I'll wear the collar down more than up. I'm pleased with how glam this jacket looks. Sort of Russian or Elizabethan. More pictures on flickr or ravelry.

ETA: I knitted the body as written, but the sleeves were knitted circularly from the top down by picking up stitches round the armhole and using short rows to make the sleeve cap. I first saw this technique on a blog which now doesn't exist. Jenna Wilson's knitty article on sleeve caps has some pointers. I got to something I liked by trial and improvement.

This jacket's quite heavy, so (thanks to the Yarn Harlot's timely advice) I stabilised the shoulder and neck seams with crochet.

8 comments:

Alice said...

the bigger cuffs really work with that jacket - balances the swing of the body I guess. Wonderful buttons!

pacalaga said...

Lovely! The buttons really make the perfect finishing touch.

Anonymous said...

Looks fabulous.

Anonymous said...

I like the smiley pictures better

Pig wot flies said...

You always say that. I always prefer the not-smiley ones.

Octopus Knits said...

Very pretty!

Bekki said...

That's gorgeous, buttons are truly fabulous. night have to consider them for an original 1950's fitted jacket pattern i'm thinking of attempting.

Liz said...

This is lovely. Is this the re-knit of the now-too-big one you finished in the pub that evening?