… or rather: my new knitted coat 😉
I had actually planned a jacket, but then….
Storytime:
I had almost finished the body when I realised that I didn’t like the lower part of my planned decorative pattern at all. But I did like the upper part!
So I started to ponder. Some people advised me to unpick everything and start over, at least the majority did. But something inside me was resisting, because as I said, the upper part turned out exactly as I had imagined it visually. Unfortunately, the pattern just didn’t work for my taste towards the bottom.
I had to unpick a whole section anyway, just to get back to a point where I could change the decorative pattern, but all of it? I thought about it for a few days and then decided to unpick one part, try out a new decorative pattern and see how I like it. If I again don’t like it, I can still unpick it completely, right?!
However, the new decorative pattern I had in mind needed considerably more rows than I would have needed for my planned jacket. Well, luckily I had enough wool – because I always buy wool according to the motto: Better save than sorry! So it got longer and then became what I had been thinking about for a while and would also soon need.
A warm undercoat for my raincoat, because it is completely unlined and normally only used in summer, but I live in Hamburg, so I actually need a raincoat at any time of the year, especially in autumn and winter. Unfortunately, my normal jackets all have wider sleeves than the raincoat, so I had been thinking about knitting a lining-coat out of warm wool for a while, because a raincoat is naturally wind- and waterproof anyway, but it doesn’t keep you warm.
And yay, the knitted coat resulting from my design mistake fits perfectly for this purpose. The sleeves fit beautifully and the length (approx. 10-15cm shorter than the raincoat) is just right!
But don’t get me wrong, I’m currently wearing this coat without anything over it, I don’t want to hide it and for the current temperatures, especially in the morning and evening hours, it’s just perfect.
Information on the material used:
Wool: Portobello
Material composition: 60% Cotton, 28% Polyacrylic, 12% Wool
Gauge: 19sts x 27rows
Buttons: button, 4-hole with edge, 20mm (approx 0,79 inch), colour: army
(both no paid advertising, but information about my project)
How I made it:
I am very reluctant to sew anything by hand for my knitting projects.
That’s why I knitted this coat from the top down in one piece. I started with the back, then picked up stitches at the shoulders for the fronts and joined all 3 pieces into one by casting on new stitches at underarm and knitted the cardigan down to the hem. After completing the body, I knitted the collar on directly by picking up stitches along the neckline. The sleeves are also knitted in directly with short rows. I also knitted on the button plackets along the front edges. The buttonholes consist of 3 cast-off stitches and 3 in the next row newly cast on stitches, which I stabilised at the end with the buttonhole stitch. The buttons – unfortunately a must for jackets – were sewn on with a normal sewing thread in a matching colour and the remaining threads were woven in.
And what do you think, do you like it? 🙂
from Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/DAQQvOVtOBJ/