Wednesday, June 04, 2008

WIP Wednesday: The Coat

well, it's still Wednesday, though it's late...

I ran out of yellow cashmere for my Habu shawl, so I started the Washi and Tsumugi Coat, which I call simply The Coat.

Washi and Tsumugi Coat

I started it on my trip to Denver last month and it knit up pretty fast. I nearly finished it - actually completely seamed - when I decided the top was too big. Rather than frog and re-knit I decided to cut it.

I had deviated from Olga's instructions and knit the entire top in one piece in order to avoid grafting the back. The top is knit sideways, so you begin with the cuff. I knit front and back simultaneously, using a stitch marker to mark the shoulder. When I got to the collar, I put the front left stitches on a holder and knit across the back. When I reach the end of the collar, I provisionally cast on stitches for the right front, and knit front and back to end of the sleeve, using another stitch marker to mark the shoulder. Then I picked up the stitches of each front and finished them, first one then the other. My tinkering worked, much to my surprise.

I tried it on several times as I knit it, and it seemed to be a good fit. It wasn't until I seamed it that I decided I wanted closer fit. I want to wear it to a conference in Reno next week, so I decided to take Olga's advice and cut rather than frog it. I would be grafting after all.

mosaicThe Coat

I pinned the back, measuring how much to I wanted to take it up; cut down the middle after "ungrafting the collar; ran life lines on each side. I unraveled one side back to the life line easily, but was difficult to unravel the ends of the other side since I was unraveling in the same direction as the knitting, so I cut out another chunk.

Cutting instead of unraveling

I'm becoming fearless with those scissors!
I tried it on one last time, then grafted it.

mosaicThe Coat 2

I hope to finish The Coat this weekend. I haven't found any buttons yet but may hold it closed with a brooch until I find some.

Then I shall begin a cashmere search...



mosaicTheCoat3

14 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness gurl I would have made a pure mess! LOL

    The alterations came out great!

    Can't wait to see the final F.O. pics!!

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  2. I really can not believe you did it. I doubt I could have done it.

    Good Job!!

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  3. OMG! I'm reading this post and shuddered everytime I saw the "cut." Wow, it came out beautiful! Yes, I'm speechless, thanks for showing us the process.
    (Tomorrow is a big day for Hillary, I hope she does it right.)

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  4. You are brave! And it worked. The yarn is simply gorgeous. Can't wait to see this finished!

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  5. Wow! What a gorgeous piece. And you are such a brave soul to take scissors to it! Glad it worked out.

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  6. My heart skipped a beat when I read the word "cut" - I would never in my life have dared to do that. You are so brave and the coat looks fantastic.

    This is on the top of my "to knit next list". I did start with the coat but had some problems with the pattern. I then made something else.

    Did you buy the yarn directly from Habu in New York?

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  7. Girl, you got it going on! I love it when knitters are fearless! Grafting isn't difficult, it's simply following a path. I can't wait to see the finished pics!

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  8. The coat looks really great. Hey, find any good yarn stores in Denver? I'll be there in August.

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  9. Wow!!! Impressive!!! I can't even cut yarn when it's tangled let alone something I've knitted up!!!

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  10. WOW, you are fearless! The alteration came out great and the fit looks perfect! It's lovely.

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  11. A.MAZE.ING! I have done a snip with the scissors in my time - but that was really well done! Want to see the finished coat now.

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  12. really it looks like beatiful.
    Yarn

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  13. Yeah, the word "cut" almost made me faint. You are fantastic !!!

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  14. Have you gone any further with this? Would love to see more photos!

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