Fibermania

Trying out the Tomten

I love all things modular and this jacket is such a thing. A multiple of X divided by Y gives you the requisite number of stitches to cast on, depending, depending, depending. That was all I needed to read. If I can figure it out without a pattern, more's the better, but I do have the book it in which it is published, Knitting Without Tears by Elizabeth Zimmerman, a woman who has the same attitude towards knitting as do I. Seat of the pants.

So my scraps of yarn went to work. Above you see the completed back and fronts, all knit in one piece, well, except that of course one must do the top parts separately, stitches held on holders until all is joined for the neck.

EZ says to add a few short rows in the back to make it longer slightly than the front, to cover the bum. I liked that idea, and tried it out here. The arrows show the short rows. Pretty hard to see, no? That's a good thing.
The collar or hood is picked up at the neck and EZ said one could 'scoop out' the neck line rather than make it straight across, which was my choice. But the stitches needed to be picked up and knit from that lowered neckline , and that left a ridge I didn't like. So that's one reason why doing this sample was helpful. I won't be doing that on the real jacket.

The sleeves are picked up and knit straight off the shoulder which I really love. A much nicer attached sleeve than sewing it on. Here below as seen from the back. The front sides are folded forward. This sample is really very short. Even a baby's size would be knit longer.

Two multicolored versions modeled by Esmie. Part of what excited my interest is that my yarn may not make a full jacket, so I will have to add other coordinating yarns to complete it.

The start. I am using Empire by Filatura di Crosa. 70%wool, 30% silk. So sensuous. Instead of short rows to lengthen the back, I opted for a dozen extra ridges first, and then I cast on the fronts. And I decided to vary the garter stitch with stockinette in between.

I so enjoyed knitting that I spent 8 straight hours at it. O my achin' hand today. When will I ever learn?