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.

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.

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.

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

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...