A Bluestocking Knits

Thoughts on Dad's Favorite Slipover

My dear husband, who has an internal thermostat roughly equivalent to the Sahara Desert, was puttering out in the garage one late night last winter when he came in slapping his arms and saying, "Honey, I need a sweater!"  This took me so much by surprise that it was some time before I could actually pick up some needles, but here it is at last.  It was meant to be a Christmas gift, although the bronchitis that we all came down with after Thanksgiving delayed the finishing by a couple of weeks -- it wasn't so much that I didn't feel like knitting (although there was that at times), it was that David was sick too, and therefore home and underfoot, and it was meant to be something of a surprise.

He wanted something warm, but not as warm as a full sweater; his only requests last winter were that it be "plain" and "blue".  Regretfully, I had to set aside my dreams of cables or even relatively sober Fair Isles, but these I hope to carefully insinuate into his wardrobe in time, and I was still happy to spend some hours poring over vintage British patterns, delighted by their equally vintage captions.

"Trim and smart because of its extreme simplicity."

"For golfing, gardening or just 'pottering around.'"

As Yorkshire Tweed is, alas, discontinued, Rowan recommends Rowanspun 4-Ply or Scottish/Harris Tweed 4-Ply as substitutions.  Rowanspun 4-Ply, Yorkshire Tweed's previous incarnation, can still be found in some quantities.

"Every man needs a slipover!"

The shaping of this slipover is based on the vest chart given in Ann Budd's extraordinarily useful Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns and on a number of vintage patterns.  Dad's Favorite Slipover, which will shortly be available in the Original Patterns album in the sidebar, is a men's V-neck sleeveless slipover with traditional shaping, sized to fit a 37 (42, 46, 51) in. / 94 (106.5, 117, 129.5) cm chest.

Thoughts on the Pearl Buck Swing Jacket

The Pearl Buck Swing Jacket is a wonderful design -- simple and classic.  It comes together easily, and requires only a bit of care when blocking and piecing together to look very elegant.

The Jaeger Extrafine Merino is beautifully soft on my skin.  The elderberry color is lovely, too, full of depth and drama -- it looks rather more purple in some lights, but usually tends more towards the burgundy with purply-blue undertones.

(Julia, who is usually so camera-shy that she is pouting in all of her school pictures this year, decided that this time she did want her photo taken, and so she refused to move out of range, and in fact climbed into my lap for quite some time.)

The pleat at the back is the most unusual thing about this jacket, but the half-diamond edging at the front and the back yoke worked from side to side are also subtle but interesting details.

I made a minor adjustment to the length of the sleeves as follows: in the first decrease section (at the lower arm), instead of 11 plain rows between the decrease rows, I worked 13, giving a total of 14 rows for the shaping, worked 5 times altogether.  At the "continue even" section just before the beginning of the cap shaping, I worked 12 rows straight, and the piece measured 11 1/4 in. instead of 10 1/4 in. as given.  This kept the stitch count on the needle the same as in the instructions, but added about an inch to the length.  I could just as easily have worked an extra inch straight at that last section before the start of the cap shaping, but this would have made the bell-shape end lower down, and I wanted to extend it closer to the elbow.  (The bell-ness does not show much after blocking.)  If I'd thought about it ahead of time, I might have added an extra inch to the length of the body, so that the sleeve/body proportions would have been the same as in the original -- as it is now, after I lengthened it, the sleeve is just a smidge shorter than the body, and would look a bit better if it was about two inches.  This is a minor quibble, though!

It is also very comfortable, partly from the lovely merino, but also the shaping and fit.  Ten out of ten!

Swing Jacket Monday

Beth writes, "Another crazy busy week - I'm only just finishing up the second sleeve.  Then on to the real business, I'm going to tackle the back."

As for me, I finished knitting on Thursday night, and started sewing up on Friday!

I actually have not had much experience in putting together a fitted garment -- in fact, I'm wondering if this is my first one -- have done drop-shoulders before, and the raglan-like sleeves of the top-down style, but nothing like these beautifully rounded ones.  I was a bit apprehensive, and so I got out my old Vogue Knitting reference for reassurance.

I found it much easier to sew in the sleeve cap before sewing up the sleeve and side seams, rather than sewing the sleeve and side seams first as the pattern says.  I speak from experience, having done the first sleeve cap first (the way that VK recommends), and the second cap after the straight seams just now -- it was considerably less awkward doing that curved seam with the sleeve flat, so that I could hold the two pieces together more comfortably and smoothly.

While I doubt that sewing up will ever be my favorite part of knitting a garment, I must admit that I am more interested in it than I ever was.  I took a great deal of pleasure in watching the way that the mattress stitches went from loose ...

to snug with a single smooth pull on the working yarn.  (It's almost like the way an invisible zipper pulls the two sides together.)  I did have a lot of trouble with matching the lengths, and frequently ended up with about half an inch more on one side at the end of a seam -- on average, I think I did each seam three times -- and so I started putting in markers to match up as I went along, usually four on each long seam, so that any extra length would be distributed more evenly.

I also used a safety-pin version of Vogue's and Knitty's marker method of picking up stitches along the curved neckline, dividing the length fairly evenly by 10 (for the 97 stitches -- a.k.a. almost-100 -- to be picked up).

For those who, like me, are still fairly new to mattress stitch, I found myself dropping into this hypodermic position -- oddly enough, it was quite natural, even though I have never actually inserted a hypodermic needle.  It felt much easier on my wrist than holding the needle in the usual manner, since I could aim and scoop up a stitch simply by moving my thumb, instead of my whole wrist.  It wasn't always possible to do it like this, because of the way that some of the pieces fitted together, but it was helpful, and so I pass it along.

I sewed in the twenty-seven ends -- would have been twenty-nine, but I knitted in two of them along with the collar -- last night while watching "Jericho" and "Rosemary & Thyme", two, er, rather disparate mystery series, the one grim and hard-boiled and the other a more typical English "cozy" mystery, light-hearted and not terribly demanding. 

Pictures, as they say, to follow!

Swing Jacket Monday

We have a new face in the knitalong this week, Bec of Glamorouse, who writes, "I'm feeling a bit of a fraud that I'm yet to cast on, but somebody has to be last, right?  My last hurdle is that I'm still waiting on my Bendigo Wool Mills colour card to get yarn (Suse's recommendation and I trust her completely on this one!) but I have the needles, I have the pattern, and I'm returning to my normal job today after three months of an extra-demanding project so hopefully I now also have the TIME to knit!"

As for me, well, I didn't think I had the time this week either, since my choir had not one but two performances of Mozart's Mass in c minor, involving numerous trips both "home" and "away" for rehearsals, and the concerts this weekend.  This was more than a bit of bother, but on the other hand I had Mozart in my head all week, and that can't be bad. 

Now, I can't make any particularly educated statements about the Mozart effect one way or the other -- but I wouldn't be surprised if this time it was just the adrenalin --

as I finished both of the sleeves this week, and everything is blocking.

Pass the Chibi!

Swing Jacket Monday

Beth says, "I've finished the yoke it's blocked and on gauge - hurray! Half way up the 1st sleeve and like you, wondering if I'm liking how big the cuff is.  No pictures yet - I hope to post something this week.  I've just had one of those weeks where everything hits at once."

Fern says, "Not much to report from me although there's a gauge swatch in my near future. I took a class a few weeks ago about knitting to fit properly and part two is in two weeks. At this one we come in with gauge swatches for projects we plan to make and we'll get a little help in tweaking the pattern as necessary to fit us specifically. So I'll be knitting a gauge swatch for the swing jacket. Who knows, I may be casting on before month-end."

Shelagh writes wearily, "This is remarkable, but true, my yarn is still backordered."

Here is another view of the Interweave Knits Swing Jacket --

this photo is from Two Swans Yarn.

This week, I reworked the right side, which I decided not long ago that I'd somehow miscaluculated, ending up with an armhole that was much longer than the second one.  While I was knitting, I finished listening to an audiobook I'd impulsively picked up at the library,

an excellent reading of the novel by "Poirot" himself, David Suchet.  His own voice is quite unlike that which he adopts as Poirot (I once saw an interview in which he declined to come out of character, as it took him so long to get back into it), a rather calm, rich baritone instead of Poirot's soft, almost whispery tenor, and the voices he uses for the other characters, including the women, are equally varied and effortless -- except, I must say, that for Col. Race, Poirot's sidekick for this particular novel, who has I thought an extremely annoying upper-class-twit voice ("Bwing hew to the smoking woom immediately!") that only distracted from the easy brilliance of the others.  I'd read this book before, many years ago, but am much more familiar with the delightful 1978 movie with Peter Ustinov as Poirot -- was rather disconcerted for a while at how much had been changed for the movie, but not terribly surprised, as I'm sure it's difficult to pack that much story into two hours -- the audio version runs to eight and a half!  Many of the characters in the book were dropped entirely, such as Mrs. Allerton and her son Tim, and others, like Rosalie Otterbourne and Miss Bowers, were merged with lesser characters to streamline the story.  I think that Suchet's Poirot is brilliant, though, and so I am equally happy with this audio version (except, as I've said, Col. Race, which to Suchet's credit didn't even sound like him!).

But the swing jacket, that's what I was talking about.  I worked the first sleeve yesterday -- yes, you read that right.  I cast on for it Saturday night while David and I watched "National Treasure" -- I had to pull it out, though, as I was so busy watching Sean Bean -- excuse me, I mean paying attention to the complex storyline, that I accidentally picked up the long tail I'd left for sewing up the sleeve later, and began knitting with that, so I had to start again.  Being stockinette, it goes very quickly, even with the cap shaping.

I pinned everything together this morning for a fitting.  The weather has been very grey these past few weeks, and so I wandered around the house rather gloomily, trailing long streamers of yarn like a madwoman.  The gloom, I hasten to add, is due to the weather, not the swing jacket, which is coming along nicely.

This is the sleeve width as written for the 44 in./112 cm size.  The sizing I think is not terribly generous -- this is five inches of ease on me.  The garment tends to hang open about 5 inches or so, just as in the IK photos, which means that most of the ease, as might be expected in a swing jacket, is towards the back.

The shape of the sleeve is somewhat deceptive.  It looks fairly straight when laid flat, as below, but on an arm the weight of the knitted piece make the bell shape much more obvious, as you can see in the photo above. 

If the weather stays this dull, I might even get to wear the jacket before autumn!

Swing Jacket Monday

Beth has been having computer problems, so she hasn't blogged for a while, but has been using the time to swatch -- "I've finally gotten pretty close to gauge - I should probably be doing that needle switch off thing that you are doing to get it perfect, but I'm far too lazy and forgetful.  I liked Suse's idea to start with the yoke since it's the smallest piece, so that's where I'm at right now.  Hope to have some pictures soon!"

Suse writes, "Nary a thing to show off.  Son #3 requested a handknitted jumper as it's coming up for winter here.  Why do the children's needs automatically come before the mother's?  I don't know, all I know is that I have temporarily abandoned Pearl Buck (sadly) and have done the back and two sleeves of a 7 year old's jumper.  In a very similar colour to my Pearl Buck, so at least we'll match when I finish both."

Again with the social life chez Bluestocking!  It's making my head spin.  We had a cousin's wedding on Saturday -- Laura was the bridesmaid.  This photo, from when she was trying on dresses, is especially poignant for me, as the dress made me aware of how fast she is growing up, and the way she is sitting shows how much she is still six.

So, well, I didn't get much knitting done this weekend!

Swing Jacket Monday

Beth writes, "I've finally bought my yarn!  It's Dalegarn Hauk in a pretty shade of olive.  I really wanted to buy some gorgeous Jo Sharp DK in a color called glade, but it was twice the price, couldn't justify it.  I'm swatching right now and pretty pleased with the yarn - I hope to post a picture (at least of my yarn and swatch) soon."

Suse writes, "I've finished the yoke, and am working my way steadily through the first sleeve.  No pics this week; I'll try and do better next week."

As for me, I cast on for the first sleeve a while back, and after only a few rows wondered if I should make the sleeves narrower than written.  I am, I'm afraid, one of those people whose sleeves drag in whatever happens to be around to have sleeves dragged in.  (Is this a mommy thing? am I just more susceptible now that I have small children in the household who leave messes around for me to drag my sleeves in?)  The sleeves are much wider than they appear in the IK photographs, due to the way that the model is holding her arms.  The easiest way to do it is, of course, simply eliminate the sleeve shaping, by casting on the same number of stitches needed at the point where the sleeve cap shaping begins.  But would this alter too dramatically the lovely swinginess of the garment?  I'm still pondering ....

Swing Jacket Monday

Good morning, all, and here we are with another Swing Jacket update!

Anne says, "I am such a bad knit-a-longer. I have a swatch just about done :)" -- I must add here (partly in my own defense, as well as Anne's) that there is no such thing as "good" or "bad" here, just "focused" or "distracted"!

Suse writes, "Hooray, my yarn arrived!  I chose 8ply pure wool, from Bendigo Woollen Mills, in Cranberry.  The colour is just delicious and I'm looking forward to getting properly started" --

"I've swatched, not something I normally do (shock horror) and have decided to go up one needle size.  I'll start with the yoke I think, for a gentle introduction."

I myself have been distracted with current and upcoming birthday parties, and the whirl of gaiety that is a kindergartner's social life.  I cast on for the first sleeve last Sunday, and there it sits yet --

But perhaps I will find some mommy-time somewhere this week, and add another row or two!

Swing Jacket Monday

Suse writes happily, "I have chosen my wool!  Da-dah!!!  8ply DK in cranberry.  Am ordering it tomorrow so hopefully this time next week I will have cast on, or at least swatched ..."

Theresa has in fact finished!

I had put off the back piece, a bit dismayed at the prospect of working that wide piece on regular-sized straights (one US2 and one US3, not being in a situation at the moment to use Philippa's brilliant suggestion of interchangeable circulars), but it proved not such a bother as I had thought.  The pleat lines showed up almost immediately, to my amusement.

The markers are not absolutely necessary, as long as you pay attention towards the middle of the rows.  I never moved my markers from the first row, except once, when I knitted instead of purled one and didn't feel like tinking back through the cable section, so I moved the pin up to keep myself from missing it again, and simply reset that stitch as I worked the next row.

The points of the diamond gave me some pause, until I realized that the crossing lines do not actually line up, giving a sort of "twisty" effect, instead of the expected Xs.

Some people have voiced a bit of nervousness about the pleat on the back piece.  It's one of those things that looks a bit daunting and wordy when written out, but when you actually do it, it goes together almost effortlessly.  Here is mine after folding at the pleat lines for the first half, on the right side (the sections will make a kind of S shape) --

Just be sure to hang on to the working needle!  I was so busy folding the pleat that that needle kept sliding out.  Working the K3tog section is but the work of a moment, being only 6 sts long -- it's fiddly, rather than difficult.

And here is the other half of the pleat, which will make a vaguely Z-shaped arrangement --

The last K3tog --

and a finished pleat!  Mine tended to make a bit of an hourglass shape, due I suppose to the loose binding-off, but this came out in the blocking.

Voilà!

Swing Jacket Monday

Another week gone by, another Swing Jacket update!  I've been bit slow thanks ("thanks") to a hayfever attack over the weekend -- but Theresa writes, "I just seamed up the sleeves and attached them to the body today and wove in most of the ends.  She's doing a little bit more blocking so that I can see if I can get that pleat to hang right before I take any pictures.  The shaping is nice, although I think that "bracelet" length is an optimistic name for the sleeve length.  Mine came just below the elbows and I don't have unusually long arms."

I ran into a little difficulty when I compared the left front on the needles to the right front that I'd blocked earlier, and found that the length is remarkably different, so my next job is to count the rows and see if I can figure out what happened -- it could be a blocking quirk, after all.  In the meantime, I cast on for the back, on straight needles as I couldn't bear the idea of having to use two circulars to get my eccentric gauge, with all of those needle-ends flapping about.  It's a bit, well, squished, but the widest part is at the beginning, so I'm trusting that it will sort itself out!

Fern and Suse would like some suggestions on yarn substitutions.  I am using the wool specified in the pattern, Jaeger Extra Fine Merino DK, at 22 sts and 30/32 rows per 10cm/4 in. (according to the ball band) and 11 wpi (according to Woodland Woolworks).  A good substitute is the yarn that Kat used, Jaeger's Matchmaker Merino DK, 22 sts and 30 rows per 10cm/4 in. and 11 wpi (and about US$2 less).  This is a very good yarn that I've used to happy results -- nice to knit with, easy to wash, and doesn't show wear quickly.  There are a couple of other Jaeger and Rowan yarns described at English Yarns that look suitable, although I have never used any of these so can't say for certain.

Jo Sharp Classic might be nice (22 sts per 10cm/4 in. and 12 wpi)....

Rowan's Calmer, a cotton/microfiber blend, has a very similar gauge (21 sts and 30 rows per 10cm/4 in. and 10 wpi), and has a nice drape that would make an elegant jacket (though possibly rather heavy).  I'm using Calmer for that Ostrich Plume throw, and it does have a lovely feel to it, much like the Extrafine Merino, very "swingy".  Linen Drape might also work -- anyone have any experience of it?

Ola used Rowanspun DK, which she is generally pleased with (except that its tweediness obscured the cabling) -- this wool is discontinued so color choices might be limited, but on the other hand prices would be good.  (Rowan recommends Yorkshire Tweed DK as a substitute for the Rowanspun DK.)  Theresa is using Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool, to good effect; Anne has chosen this too, I think.

Does anyone -- knitalonger or not -- have other recommendations?  Please feel free to chime in!