Friday, March 23, 2018
Free Pattern Friday! 02-23-2018
Monday, March 19, 2018
Long Awaited Results
Way back in December I shared a vintage knitting book, and a Google assisted translation of the pattern on the cover. Well, I finally got around to knitting it up myself, and here is the result:
So here is my version, made using Loops and Threads Barcelona yarn in "Berry." As per the pattern instructions I used two strands, and needed U.S. size 10 1/2 needles to get the right gauge. The pattern is quite simple despite the complicated look of the pattern stitch, and it worked up pretty quickly because of the large gauge. The body of the jacket has no shaping at all until the armholes, so it's pretty simple to work. Based on my measurements and those given for the finished garment in the book, I made the largest size, and it fits me well. I did add a pair of chain stitch belt loops though, as I wanted a way to keep it closed. The red belt is borrowed from another sweater.
I used a crochet hook and chain stitch to sew all the seams and that was way easier than sewing with a needle. If I was really enterprising I might alter the pattern so the body is knit in one piece to the armholes. I knit the whole thing on a pair of straight needles, except for the picked up border around the front edge. For that, get as large of a circular as you can find. The 19" one I had was a royal pain to knit that many stitches on. The pattern says to pick up about 8.5 stitches per 10 cm, I tried that and found it was too few, and my border was too tight. I unraveled that and picked up one stitch every other row, and that worked great.
With the two strands of yarn and the big gauge the whole sweater is thick and warm and wonderfully comfy. It is a bit on the heavy side, and it took a lot of yarn (~1500 yards), but it is a wonderful sweater for chilly early spring days. With it done, I guess it's time to find my next project :)
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