And just in time for summer, we have…

The Wrixlan jacket is finished.

Too bad it’s going to be 80 degrees for the next couple of days…

I started this project on February 23rd and finished it two days ago. (Jamieson’s book 1 and Jamieson’s Soft Shetland in ‘amethyst’.) Once you’re past all those cable rows (4 repeats of a 16 row chart), it is quite an easy and fast knit. After finishing the cables, I was able to have it be my take-around knitting, so it got a lot of attention.

I altered the pattern in two ways. Instead of doing a series of bindoff rows for the shoulders, I shaped them with short rows and did a 3 needle bindoff at the top. Also, I picked up the sleeves from the armholes and knitted them down. When I finished, there was NO seaming to be done, just a bunch of ends to be hidden.

This was a perfect pattern for converting the sleeves, since it’s a modified drop shoulder and the sleeves would have been bound off straight across the top if they’d been knitted from the bottom. I find that I often have a little trouble with sleeves that are bound off like that, when I go to sew them into the armholes, as the bindoff is so inelastic. Picking them up and knitting down is the perfect solution.

The only thing I can see that could have been better is if I’d actually bound off the 16 stitches held for the underarm, and picked up over them, instead of putting them on a holder. It creates a funny little gusset effect that probably would not have existed if I’d bound them off. Oh well live and learn. You can see the little gussety-ness under the right arm here.

It actually came out fitting quite well and is the size it’s supposed to be. That wouldn’t be cause for any kind of amazement if it hadn’t turned out I used two full skeins less than the pattern called for. ??? I used the same needles the pattern called for, got my stitch gauge, and did not alter the length in any way, and I used 10 skeins instead of 12. I’ve never been able to get row gauge – if the pattern calls for 5 stitches and 7 rows per inch, I will find the needle that gets me 5 stitches but I’ll invariably get more like 6 or 6.5 rows per inch. In this case I was much closer – more like 6.75. I don’t know where that extra 240 yards of yarn was supposed to end up!!

With luck it will very speedily turn into some kind of felted bag to go with the sweater. I’d like to have a new tote in time for MS&W. This is probably unrealistic but I can try…

Bonus points if you can find the two cables that are twisted the wrong way in this photo of the back of the sweater, thus messing up the over/under sequence of the knotwork. Hint: they are not in the same ‘column’.

Think you got it? Click here  to see if you’re right!