Just getting started

Hi everyone,

I just joined a few days ago, and just began my Sunrise yesterday. I'm up to the point where the darts begin. I'm using Red Heart Multicolor in Painted Desert. I'd like to use a better quality yarn, but this was all I already had, and I'm trying to finish up a few projects before buying new stuff. Plus, the colorway is very beautiful, and I figured I can't be a yarn snob, since I own store bought sweaters made from acrylic! I'll soften it up with some fabric softener when it's completed. Anyway, the colors are pooling and I think it is looking really neat.


The colors aren't really this bright. They are a lot "duskier", but I couldn't get a better representation of the color with my camera.

Can't wait to start

My yarn has now arrived and I'm itching to get started but trying very hard to be disciplined and finish off another project first.
This is what I'll be using

This is "Skye" by Colinette, in colourway Copperbeech.
If it looks half as good as the finished jackets I've seen on here, I'll be well pleased.

Annie

I Don't Want to Talk About It

So you have to read my blog. This is what I meant by a time warp.

Finally I have yarn.

My yarn has finally arrived. It is Lovat by Bartlett Yarns. Seems like it will make a pretty sturdy jacket.

It's Taking F O R E V E R

Why does time slow down as I reach the end of a project? Why, despite knitting on this jacket for two hours yesterday while I waited for the allergist, is this jacket not yet done? It's coming along so fast, and so slow at the same time.

Anyhoo, in case any of you were waiting for me to finish this project, here's a progress report.

Front and sleeve #1: Done, quite some time ago. Front and sleeve #2: Done, a while ago, except for the hemming and blocking, mostly because now I'm waffling on whether to hem first or seam first. The evidence:

The back: Within 15 rows of starting the neck hem.

The buttons: Bought and waiting patiently.

ETA: Later. Much later. Don't wait up. These time warp issues never get resolved easily.

parisian sunrise!

ok, i know i did my showing off the finished item post, but since i left it on a lingering 'when's the train to paris?' note i thought i'd better finish this off...

it was the most i'm-obviously-wearing-my-sunrise-in-paris location : ) good hey? i wore it lots and it was perfect, so good i am seriously thinking knitting several more of these lovely lovely jackets. i love it that much : )

i was a bit sulky though, we visited LOTS of people in paris and not one said 'ooooooo, nice jacket, did you knit that yourself?' something i was slightly annoyed about until boyfriend made it better by saying 'yes, but it looks shop bought, so why would they comment?' so the right thing to say : )

anyway, i'm going to post a little more about this jacket on my blog (http://interruptingsheep.blogspot.com, not the one on the sidebar), so if anyone wants any of the really boring details on seaming, hemming etc, find me there!

it's been a pleasure to knit along with you all : )

becks xx

Hey Minty, I'm back too!

My Mom saw my Sunrise Jacket today and loved it so much that we ordered her the WOTA yarn in Maple Syrup so I can make her one as well. I am excited because I made a few errors in my pattern and this will give me a chance to knit it correctly this time!

Seam Me Up, Scotty

So. I was almost done with my jacket.

But it is currently spending some time in the Naughty Chair. With a needle stuck in it.

It's pouting, can you tell?

I love Kate's pattern, but the finishing process has been a challenge for me. I happened to choose a lumpy bumpy yarn that is uncooperative, and that makes seaming evenly a bit of a challenge. You know how red yarns just refuse to be photographed correctly? Well, this yarn refuses to be seamed OR measured correctly.

When I was seaming up the LAST few inches of the second side--and victory was so close I could taste it-- I happened to lay out the whole sweater on the floor, and something looked just a little bit...wonky. So I measured, and I pinned, and I measured again (coming up with completely different results than the first time); and I cursed, and I finally realized that I had totally messed up one of the seams. Not the seam that I had worked on carelessly, confidently, in poor lighting, in front of the TV, while it lay in my lap; but the seam that I had done methodically, slowly, in good light, spread out on the kitchen table. Figures.

One side was clearly longer than the other, from armpit to waist.

I spent a few minutes thinking about ways to lower one of my armpits.

And then--R-r-r-ipppp.

It was a long seam.

The new seam is about halfway done. But I thought I'd leave it a bit while I worked on something else.

That'll teach it.

Email Addresses Please

I don't want anyone to miss out on the chance to participate in the Knitalong, so just a friendly reminder to visitors wanting to join:

I can't add you unless you leave your
email in your sign-up comment!

So please, leave your emails.

Thanks, and Happy Knitting!

Button update

I decided to go with just one button on my Sunrise, I found this at my LYS today. Now I have to figure out how to attach it.

i'm back!

I was the second person to finish the jacket, but I'm back to square 1: I gave it to my mom this weekend, as her early Mother's Day gift, and it's too small! I overestimated how much smaller than me my mom is. I'm going to take it all out this week and start over. Here's how it fit her yesterday:

I am going to make it one size up (shown is the 33.5" size) and will not place the buttons until she's got it on--what was I thinking, putting them so far over?? As it is, we could probably fix it by placing just two buttons on the left front, but the arms were a bit snugger than she'd prefer.

Hopefully I'll finish it soon! She showed me her copy of Interweave--she'd folded down the corner on the Sunrise Circle Jacket Pattern, which means I made a good decision in making this for her!

Sidebar me!

Here we go!


The sleeves are a bit long on purpose...I have it when jackets have too-short sleeves.

Man, this thing is a bear to finish. I even like to do seaming and blocking, but this took me ALL DAY.

(This picture has a really weird perspective thing going on)

Oh, I had just enough yarn left. See?

The yarn gods loved me.

My Sunrise is on the Move

The left front of my Sunrise Circle Jacket is completed. I love the look of this jacket. The increases look a bit "bubbly" on the WS on the fabric, but I am sure that this will block out. I originally was thinking I would dye the garment once it is finished, but now the colour of the jacket is growing on me.

I also love that I now have one final piece to knit and the jacket is done. It is still up in the air whether I will go with the toggle buttons or some kind of pin closure. I was at Michaels yesterday and didn't see anything I like. Guess that means I will have to take a trip to the LYS. DARN!

Progress note: first front finished

I've finished the left sleeve and front and all is looking good. The wool/silk blend has knitted up beautifully. The last 10 rows or so when you've got to count 41 or 44 sts between increases are a killer - either that or a useful meditation tool. Count the stitches instead of the breaths.

It's lovely seeing everyone else's finished jackets appearing on this blog. It inspires me to get a wriggle on with the right side so that I'll be able to wear it this winter. (We're heading into the cool weather here in Oz).

DONE...now for the buttons

Another Sunrise finished EXCEPT the buttons. I have buttons picked out and enough yarn left over for the loops [probably just barely] all I need is TIME.

I love the way the jacket turned out. I used Peruvian Collection Sierra Aran, row gauge was a bit off [24 rows instead of 28]and it made a lighter jacket. That will probably be just fine as I am in So. Cal. and it never really gets cold. Turns out that there is enough body to hold the curve shape.

I do have one problem....the sleeves are about 2" too long. I am reviewing my options, I'm thinking about if it is possible to un-knit from the cast-on edge up to the correct length. Maybe, but I have further complicated matters by doing a beautiful job on knitting the hem in. Anyone have any good suggestions?????

No pictures yet, got to get the buttons on - then it is modeling time.

it's done!!

i love deadlines. it makes me work like a machine, and when i achieve them they make me glow. and right now i'm glowing like... a sunrise. look!

terrible photos: the colours are actually so much better, the finishing is good and the hems WORKED! i'm so happy : ) but also so sleepy... i'll write a better post in a few days and share a few details which might help people on hemming etc. in the mean time, good luck to those nearly finished!

now, when do i catch my train to paris...?

xxx

Progress? No, not really

Congratulations to all the finishers, the different colours and yarns really look great. I'm progressing very slowly but in an attempt to shame myself into knitting quicker here's the progress to date. I started with the back. And then I stopped. It looked a little too small for me so I decided to start working on a sleeve and front in the next size up and here's the progress. So, I think I'll be frogging that back ( and I even did a tension square before I started!). I'm knitting it in the Karabella Soft Tweed colour 1110 - which is a gorgeous red shade. Can't wait to be able to wear it, with the weather in Ireland rarely very warm it should make a great year round jacket.

question!

I'm starting on the back darts. When I perform the s2kp2, the marked stitch is not the K1 or 'center' stitch of the decrease, but is the second slipped stitch of the 's2'. Is this right? Do you then remove the marker and put it on the center stitch?

Another finished sunrise!

I am so happy with my jacket. I haven't added the toggle buttons yet, I think I may go with just one funky button instead. I would love to knit this again with the Karabella soft tweed. Thanks Kate Gibert for the fantastic pattern and to all the fellow KALers for their encouragement. Everyone's jackets are looking so nice.

knitted, hemmed and blocking

I got all the hems finished on Thurs. night and then didn't feel ready to block it [I am still intimidated by blocking]. I let it go until Sunday afternoon...then figured gahh just do it you probably can't mess it up too much So there they are.


Drying on the spare bed, cause that is the only place large enough in our house. Good thing we don't have any company expected.
The knitted up objects look a little see thru so I am hoping that they have enough body to hold the shape well. Hopefully they will be dry in a day or two then it will be time to seam and see.

almost done!

hello!
guess what? i just have the right hand side to hem and then it's done! in the end i followed Kate's pattern (since it's been so amazing in every other way) and seamed and then hemmed. it's worked like a dream and i'm thrilled with the results. now i'm thinking about how best to block. i've knitted it in debbie bliss aran tweed and don't really want to completely soak it... i was thinking about using my spray gun and spraying it all? what techniques have other happy finishers used?
happy easter everyone!
becks x

yay!!!!!

I'm done! I finished my jacket on thursday night. I love it. It's the most beautiful thing i've ever knitted!!! I just wish it was still a little cold so I could wear it out! Here is a picture:



Here is a picture of it on. I lengthened the sleeves about a half an inch. I love the color!



I'm really proud of it, and everyone else's looks great too!

FINISHED!!!!

Yes, I am shouting. I am just so excited!!!

I ended up using a "dark" silver button rather than toggles.

The fit is perfect. Nice and snug and warm. Which is perfect since we are starting to have cooler weather here in Australia. I am so pleased with my jacket....and yes, I am still considering knitting another (my sister requested one ;))

Front View

Rear View

Good Listening and Good Knitting

Spent all day at a conference yesterday that turned out to be quite interesting -- a rare feat for one of these events. (It was the Women Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship conference in Syracuse, NY.) Usually I doodle, fidget, space out and look around the room, losing concentration after so many speakers. But this time, knitting in hand, my attention barely wavered. Inspiring listening and I got through the entire first skein of the Sunrise -- I'm halfway up the sleeve!



Cross posted here.

Yarn Sale

Just wanted to share that Webs is having a big yarn sale. As in Sunrise Circle Jacket yarn. They have Cascade 220 and Jo Sharp Silk Road Aran Tweed as well as some other tweeds. Happy shopping!

Of course I see this sale *after* I bought my Cascade 220. And thank you all for your feedback, I will make the 35" size. Droopy fabric, boo! Slightly under gauge, so making slightly bigger sweater. Hooray!

Knitting completed....

I actually finished the knitting last night - but it was late and I was tired - so I decided to wait until today, after it was blocked, to photograph.

I can see it taking shape now - Love it!

Still on the hunt for the right buttons. The ones I bought would have been great for the original colour yarn I had chosen - but I think they are too dark for this colour (I guess I should have placed them in this photograph...oh well ;))

knitting done - seamming ahead

I cast off the last stitch last night - hooray for me!!! Now I have hemming [couldn't figure out how the knit hem the curve], blocking and seaming. I expect that to all take me as long as knitting did. I am a NOVICE at blocking. I am not sure I understand the whole process...but I have read and read and hope to proceed with caution.

I am a bit concerned because I used Peruvian Collection Sierra Aran and I read about Al's problems with the yarn not having enough body. I keep looking at my pieces and I think they will be o.k. I will try to get some pictures up soon, maybe when I have them blocked out.

Karabella users-enough yarn?

I'm a couple rows away from finishing my second front section. Only the back to go. I only have 2.5 balls of yarn left! Does it seem close to you? I'm making the 37 and had the suggested 10 balls of yarn. Did any one run out?

Warning: Curves Ahead

OK, I finished the back and have started the left front. I'm marching up the sleeves and am really looking forward to the 83 rows of shaping. No joke, I can't wait to the knit this part.
Row counter, row counter, wherefore art thou?

finally!

So i finally got time to get some pictures and make a post. I'm almost done knitting!



i need to find a good way to sew the hem so it doesn't look so obvious. i wish i would have known about the knitted-in hem when i started, but oh well. Any suggestions?

Got gauge this time ...

Sunrise Circle 2nd attempt
Originally uploaded by Paisley Womble.

... well, near enough.

4" = 18.5 sts and 27 rows on 4mm needles with Cleckheaton Country Silk 8ply. I'm starting with the left sleeve. I'm knitting the 45" size but I've added in some extra stitches so that the sleeve is not so snug. I plan to compensate for the extra stitches by adding in raglan decreases on the rows where they've been omitted in the pattern. That way I should end up with the right number of stitches and rows by the end of the piece.

Swatched and Ready?

I am very excited to get going on my SCJ. Yarn being used is Cascade 220 - The Heathers. Color # 9450 which I refer to as a light, dirty teal. Love! I have a few projects to finish up beore I dive in, but couldn't resist swatching. Doing my best not to muck this up. However...

I was reading the posts about the sizing, and now I'm getting worried. I washed and blocked my swatch, and though it could easily block to 4" = 18.5 stitches, it seems to be set at 4" = 19 sts and 29 rows using size us8. I guess I knit a little tight. I really don't want to go up to size 9, though I guess it can't hurt to swatch ...

My bust is 31" (with a bra, embarrassing, but true), and I measured a sweater of mine that I think is most similar to the SCJ and that is 34". I am still debating on knitting the 33.5" size or the 35" size. I was originally thinking making the 33.5 and adding a little extra room in the back as suggested by Kate, but my arms aren't exactly skinny and sweaters tend to be a little snug, so maybe make the 35" size. I guess I'll have to decide that when I do swatch #2.

Anyhoo, the point is, I am weighing my options with gauge (stay true! stay true!) and really want to cast on. Thus the rambling.

Back to swatching...

Bodge Jobs or Screw Row Gauge

Seeing as how some people are having troubles with row gauge I think it might be helpful to give my story as someone who has a gauge of 18.5 x 23. That's right, my row gauge is 5 stitches off, that is a difference that one cannot bodge easily. I've had to sit down and really think about the pattern and even get the calculator out. For the sleeves I decreased the number of rows between increases and did the raglan/circular shaping as written. It was a gamble but somehow I get the appropriate 10.5" for the raglan. Now working on the back I proceeded as per the directions and knitted some extra rows before the raglan shaping so that it matches up with the side seam on the left side. Instead of the written raglan shaping on the back I'm doing the same pattern as the sleeve raglans. For the first three right side rows I decrease, the next right side row I knit. These 8 rows I do 8 times followed by one more decrease and bam, the right length, right number of stitches, and it should match up with the sleeves.

Well, in theory that's how it should work. So far so good, but I'm not quite done with the back yet... At least I'm still having fun.

Additional measurements?

I am hoping that some of you who are further along might be able to help me out. I am curious about a couple of measurements that are not included on the diagram for the sweater. If you have finished a front, could you tell me:

1. What size you are making?
2. Your gauge
3. The measurement from the seam edge to the widest point of the semi-circle.
4. The measurement from under the arm to the bottom

I am making the 41", but my gauge is a little off (27 rows in 4 inches, instead of 28 rows). I have reached row 63 and am thinking that it might be wise to make the rest of the front using the directions for the 35" size (I would decrease more often for the raglan to catch up). Does that sound feasible?

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Hopefully enough yarn...

Hi everyone, after finding a bag of pumpkin orange Jaeger Shetland Aran I went searching for a pattern to match. I finally stumbled on the Sunrise Circle pattern and when I saw the model knew that it'd be perfect. I love how it's different and feminine. My yarn is an alpaca and wool blend so it should be warm enough for those spring nights with a light shirt underneath. I finished my left side, hemmed and all. Fortunately I love seaming so I'm looking forward to putting it all together. My knitted fabric seems soft but fairly dense and sturdy so I hope it holds the shape well. My only worry is if I have enough yarn for it all. I think I might be cutting it close, I think I originally had 6 balls (187 yards each), and I hope it's enough for the 33" version. For now I'm really enjoying this knit and am surprised how fast it's going.

My Sweet Berry Sunrise...

Hello...I just joined today! I figured it would be more fun to be a Groupie and knit this along with others. I am knitting with Karabella soft tweed in Berry...it is absolutely lovely to work with. And the soft gray and white flecks throughout really make it interesting! I have cast on for the left sleeve and have worked a little past the hem...Looking forward to posting more pics so I better get knitting! I have not found any buttons, either. Well, I really have not been looking. I think something darker would look good with this color?? Okay, off to knit...

Buttons?

I have been looking around for buttons for this jacket and I can't find any that really grab me. I checked out one local store today, but it's hard for me to get to other B&M stores, and my online searches have not been fruitful. So--has anyone found any great buttons online? Preferably wood or bone; and maybe a little unusual/funky (something different from the classic barrel shape). Help!

getting there!

hi everyone,
it's so exciting to see more jackets getting finished! such an inspiration to never ever put this knitting down - eat pizza for a week to save cooking time, to hell with sleeping etc...! in fact, when i woke up i was thinking - shall i knit or shall i blog? only my foggy morning head and fear of making a huge mistake and needing to frog now has brought me to the lap top!!

so, how is mine going?


back? check
front left? check
front right? up to about row 50 - not far to go!

it's good, i've been able to think of other things like buttons and hemming. here are my dilemmas...



BUTTONS
i wanted dark wood buttons, but can't find what's in my head anywhere : ( so i found these two on the internet and thought i'd buy them and see what they're like. i really like both of them... stand alone (ie. not part of this project) my favs are the ones on the right. they're like long fingers! but i think they're too big for this jacket. which leaves me with the ones on the left, which i also like because they look like bamboo and there is a bit of an oriental feel to this jacket, don't you think? please do let me know your button thoughts!!

SEAMING

my other dilemma is how to seam. unlike the clever people who managed to hem the jacket whilst knitting, i've been left with 10 rows of hemming at the end of my pieces. i'm happy to sew them up, i think it's do-able (but will take FOREVER!) but i'm wondering: should i seam first and then hem or hem the pieces first and then seam. both seem to have their problems... i don't want to have to hem across seams, or seam across hems! thoughts and advice would be greatly valued : )

ok, time to go and say hello to my blog. the fogginess is lifting and i can hear the jacket calling!!
must rush...!
see you soon,
becks x

Starting over...

Sunrise sleeve too big
Originally uploaded by Paisley Womble.

This is my first post to this knit-along. I swatched for this. Believe me I did. Then of course I only worried about the stitches per inch and didn't fuss too much about the row count per inch, apart from making the sleeves shorter. Didn't think about the raglan did I? This yarn just isn't going to work with the pattern without some seriously major fudging or pattern re-writing and what's the point of that? The pattern is written quite specifically and whilst there is room for a little bit of fudge (having got this far I've worked out where I could make adjustments that won't throw things too out of whack), too much fudge is not a good thing.
So I frogged it.

First time I've ever frogged this far into a project. But also the first time that I've made such a crappy yarn substitution. So guess what I'm doing today? Yep - goin' yarn huntin'.

New Blogger

Hey everyone - my name is Lisa and I live on Vancouver Island, British Columbia Canada. You can check out my website at - My Daily Distractions. I received an invite from Jackie C. to join the Knit-Along.

I am knitting the jacket with this Naturewoole from Elann.

I have knit all of the back and am working away on the left front. So far I am very impressed with the pattern. It is working out quite well. My row gauge is a tiny bit off, but so far it has not been a big issue. Here is the front portion I am knitting.

The pattern is very easy and clear to follow! I am knitting the 41" even though I am not that size. I want it to be a little looser fitting than the one in the picture. I am long in the arms and torso - so I wanted to be sure that the arm length and torso length would be enough. I figure that I can just overlap the fronts a little more than in the photo since my bust is DEFINITELY not 41".

The colour of the jacket might change once I am finished. I am thinking it might be cuter in red or a salmon pink. But we will see what it looks like completed.

Taking Care of Loose Ends

I didn't get a lot done at work today but am well satisfied with the day since I did [1] start Wedding Gown shopping [2] register with the Destination Wedding Travel consultant [3] receive delivery on a new Refrigerator [4] go food shopping [5] pick up a FoodSaver and extra rolls of Saver bags (useful for both food and yarn storage-woohoo!) and [6] get to the raglan shaping on both sleeves of the Sunrise Circle Jacket.
The yarn I'm using is a Merino Wool called Amawalk of Mahopac Yarn, made in Italy by Filofin. A local NYC designer was divesting herself of a topheavy work stash last week and I was luckily able to pick up 9 skeins at $0.97 each. Yahootie!

I'd started knitting with the back section where the directions begin, using size 7 needles, but quickly realized that I had to frog. That first section would have fit my big brother, a power lifting champion. I'm thankful to the great notes on fit posted on this KAL which pointed me to start at the sleeves. I decided to swatch before beginning the sleeves (better late than never) and other than losing count and ending up with more stitches then necessary, frogging to that futz point and reworking, it's been fun. I'll post continuing progress on my blog :) http://shizzknit.blogspot.com/

Kindness and a beginning

I have been having one of those weeks. You know, one of those weeks where you set the toaster oven on fire? One of those weeks where you knock over a bottle of masala sauce at Trader Joe's and it shatters and you confess to knocking it over even though you have no idea how it happened? One of those weeks where your incredibly easy taxes take over two hours to do? One of those weeks when you realize you need to pay your car registration and get your car smogged, but when you do you forget to include your proof insurance AND you have to go to one of those special smog testing sites that cost two and a half times as much?

The last thing on that list got me to go to AAA (after going to the special smog testing site) to get my proof of insurance. While there I noticed that you can register your car at AAA, so once I had my proof of insurance I got in line to prove I had insurance. As I stood there I worked on this:

Yes, I have finally started my Sunrise Circle Jacket! I am knitting in my favorite wooly wool, Peace Fleece in Shaba.

So, when I got to the front of the line the woman says to me, "Oh, that's very nice. What is it?" Of course any time I get to talk knitting, I go a little crazy so I go into great detail about the sweater and how it is a present for someone, blah, blah, blah. Then tell her my story: special smog test, paid fees, forgot insurance, registration expires on Saturday. She looks at the computer and sees that my insurance is in the record (um, how did they know that?). So, I should just wait for the stickers? At this point, I think she looked at my knitting and took a knitter's leap of faith and believed that I paid my fees. She gave me a temporary registration for April and told me everything is going to be alright. After a week of static & running around like a fool, it was nice to get a (temporary) break.

X-posted here.

Lovely Curvature

First front and sleeve knitted, ends woven, hems sewn, and currently blocking. Second sleeve is started. I'm a happy knitter.

Project on Hold

Because I am trying to stay true to my Knit from your Stash and Don't Buy Yarn Plan that is in effect until the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival ( a mere month away!) - I have put this project on hold since the two yarns in my stash that I thought would work turned to not to work out so well. It is hard to resist the temptation to just order up the Karabella Tweed, but I will for now. So I am off to finish up my lagging second Jay Walker Sock and a Faroese Shawl - both out of stash yarn that I have had waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long. Good luck to all and if I start the jacket up again, I'll see if the knitalong is still around.

greetings, all! this is my first post - i was so glad to discover this knitalong ... i loved the pattern the moment i saw it, and i started my jacket on my recent trip to california and had almost the whole back done by the time i got home. i also found some fabulous buttons out there ... it's wonderful to see all these jackets coming along and all the great tips! i wish i'd read these before i started, but oh well .. it's all about learning ... anyway i'm using malabrigo merino in colorway "mountain spirit" which i bought way back in november because i completely fell in love with it and finally found the right pattern for it! this is a great pattern and since i finally get to work on the circle part ... it's fun!!! anyway here's my progress:

Fronts finished

I finally found some time to get back to knitting...and quickly finished off the Right sleeve/front.

Now I just have the back to go (and ALL that sewing :))

Sad, Sad Post

So I finished the left front, I finished the back, and have just finished increasing for the right arm. I sewed up the seam on the left arm and back and tried it on and...

It's just not going to work. Not in this yarn. Not at this gauge. Not in this size. My yarn, Peruvian Collection Sierra Aran from Elann, is lovely. It's soft. It's way too soft. I underestimated the quality of this yarn, for the price. I figured the finished object would be much more stiff. My poor Sunrise is just a floppy pile of flop. It doesn't do the design justice. So I'm gonna rip it.

I know I'll return to this pattern, I think I bought my yarn the day I saw it. It's so beautiful. I just have to find a different yarn for it. Maybe I'll splurge and do it in the recommended yarn? We'll see.

Back to the drawing board.

Sunrise Sunset

Remember that scene in everyone's favorite, the ultimate, original boytoy movie, The Outsiders, where Cherry Valance runs into Pony Boy, and there's a beautiful Francis Ford Coppola sunset framing her red hair, and a Stevie Wonder theme song swelling in the background? And she reminds Ponyboy of that poem - Nature's First Green is Gold, her hardest hue to hold, and yadda yadda yadda - and then she asks him, "Can you see the sunset from your side of town?" And Ponyboy nods, "well, you can see it from my side too," and she bounces back into her snobby soc world, leaving him with Soda Pop and the boys at the gas station? Well, here is the Sunrise on my side of town. Not quite the Kate Gilbert creation, but I love it, and I'm so pleased with the finished project. As you can see, I went with the funky shaped buttons. I liked the ellipse/cat's eye buttons that got the most reader response, but, because I went with a very different yarn, something very me, I wanted to keep that feel overall feel to the jacket, and went with the buttons that were just a little different.


Now, I didn't put the lovely picture of myself up because I'm trying out for America's Next Top Model (I may look like Barbra Streisand, but I'm not even ready for American Idol - completely tone deaf) -- I just wanted to show the actual length. I was a little worried before I started sewing, that the back was much shorter than the front. But, because of the curve, once the raglan seams were sewn, it all came together perfectly. As I mentioned before, I totally screwed up the hem (although, once I screwed it up, I just consistently screwed it up the same way) - my hem is half the size it's supposed to be because I didn't follow the directions (don't worry, I don't drive - the roads are safe from me!), and between the Silk Garden, and the smaller hem, I think my jacket is much drapier than it would have been had I hemmed it properly. Also, I wear a size 36 bra, so I went with the jacket sized for 37" - I've been pretty successful by going with a medium with most patterns. If I had hemmed properly, and lost another inch on each side, I think it would have come out too small. So, for anyone thinking about making this jacket, as painful as it might be (believe me, not nearly as painful as shopping for a bridesmaid's dress), I would err on the side of too big, as opposed to too small - because as we all know by now, I am gauge challenged, but I heavily blocked this to the schematic in the pattern, and it's the right size for the 37.

So, thanks to everyone for your encouragement. This is the first knit-a-long I've participated in that everyone was knitting the same pattern, and I can't tell you how motivational it was. Thanks for everyone's commnts about the buttons (even though I didn't exactly take your advice). Even though my jacket is now complete, I can't wait to continue reading the posts to see how everyone else's turns out!

Good luck everyone!