Two Jackets For The Winter

There has been more drama than I cared for at work in the past weeks. I've been so exhausted from all the dramas other people created hence my absence from blogging.

For the last few months, I got into making jackets. Well, I guess that's what you'd do in the winter. Here are two jackets that I finished in the February and March.

This black jacket was finished in February.
Yarn: Elann Limite Edition Finesse
Needles: #6
I was pretty proud that I figured out a way to do rounded/peter pan collars.
I really wanted a little classic black jacket and this yarn was great for it because its luster from tencel blended with merino.

The stitch used was Rosette Stitch from the 2nd Treasury of Stitches by Barbara Walker. I really love the texture it creates. I think the stitches might have tightened up the fabric overall. I'm not sure if it's that or the yarn. The sweater shrunk somewhat after wet blocking. I didn't block my swatch until I was half way through knitting (I know, I know.... that's just no excuse for being lazy.) So I added on the button band in the end along the front. I knitted into the edge to avoid sewing.

I must say it's a pretty wearable sweater.

The second one, finished over 2 weeks ago, made me very happy. It came out pretty close to what I had hoped.

But honestly most of the time when I design a sweater I have pretty fuzzy picture in my head how it will look when finished. I mean I have a general idea but I'm not a tyrant of how exactly things should finish. I enjoy some improvisations. I welcome better ideas as they come along while I knit. I guess that's why I enjoy knitting because it is slow so it allows time and chances of new inspirations along the way, kinda like the way I paint.

I knew I wanted a folded over collar with asymmetrical closure jacket when I first designed the motif. After swatching, I went ahead and started the jacket with some but not fully considered calculations. There was quite a few improvisations along the way to align motifs at armhole area.

Oh, again, it was knitted in one piece from bottom up. The sleeves were knitted and joined at the armpit area and continued in raglan lines. If I were to knit it again (highly doubt it as I rarely like to make the same thing twice unless it's a quick knit,) I'd probably knit the collars separately then sew onto the body to give it a bit more firmness at the joint.

Yarn: Elann Limited Edition Cantata (colors: persimmon, clear sky.)
Needles: #3 (and #2 only for the solid color borders.)

The collars did not stand up as much as I envisioned so I sewed the front closed all the way down to the lowest button area. It did make the collar stand up and flattened out the front. But it now wears like a pullover. I love the colors, the orange is such a happy color.