Pattern: In Vogue Knitting, Holiday 2007, Designer Norah Gaughan
Yarns used: Plymouth Boku, colorway #6, Berroco Peruvia, color Granito, #7106
Needles used: US size 7 for most of the body, size 6 on skirt hem and size 5 for collar
Well, it’s done. Am I happy?? Mostly. There are a couple minor issues, which are MY fault. It’s a great pattern, one of the most fun things I’ve knit so far. Even if it didn’t fit at all, I’d still be happy I made it.
I learned really well how to do a p2tog tbl! It’s a little tricky at first, but not hard once you’ve done it a few (thousand) times. I learned how important it is to check your gauge while making your project. (That’s important? Go figure!) Here’s a breakdown on how it went.
The top: this was tremendous fun making all those hexagons and triangles and such and taking a leap of faith that this will indeed be a wearable item. With the Boku, I found it has a tendency to break about easily when pulled, for seaming up the hexagons, I had to put more twist in the yarn, and then it was fine. I liked that you picked up sts. to keep working, therefore eliminating a lot more sewing there.
I heard some folks were having issues with the sleeves being too long, so I blocked my pieces when I had all but the last sleeve extension finished. It was too short, I decided to go ahead and make the last piece, only I did it in garter, so it would be reversible. This worked out great and I do turn it back to make a cuff, I love the look of this last piece and I’m really glad I made it. (Well, it would have been too short for me otherwise.)
The skirt: a LOT of sts. to cast on here, but you have the happy thought of knowing it will only get smaller from there! I realized I started off with my size 7’s, when I needed 6’s, so I switched over after the first row. I used quite a few of my Denise cables to accommodate all the sts. The knitting was fine, my problems came after blocking. My overall height of the skirt was off by 1 ½”, and silly me, I didn’t realize what an impact that would have. (Apparently I did too many decreases.) The sides of the skirt need to overlap the top by 3” on each side, which seems like it would have been a tight fit already. Well, I tried to sew the top & bottom together many times and it just didn’t work, there was too much bunching at the top. (We won’t even mention the happy two hours I sewed it thinking, ‘wow, this is going so much easier now!’, then to discover at 11:30 at night that I had sewed it upside down!! No, we won’t mention that.)
I finally realized I had to compensate for the missing 1 ½” and only left a 1 ½” overlap on each side of the top. It was still pretty tricky. Many more boo-boos later, I had done it! Steam blocked that seam.
I tried it on. Oh no! I’m wearing a tan colored bikini top on my sweater! Why, oh why, had I not realized that the lighter colored Peruvia I had chosen would mean I was making triangles right over my ta-tas?? (Perhaps because the model in the photo doesn’t have any??) Great. I was almost defeated at this point, but I wouldn’t give up. I went ahead and did my smaller collar with no trouble. I went and found some great clasps at Waechter’s Silk Shop, here in Asheville.
THEN, I decided to do some embroidery on those dreaded little bikini triangles. It worked. (At least I think it did, if I’m deluding myself, let me know!) Of course, once you get going on something, it’s hard to stop. I added more embroidery to the sides, still wasn’t enough. Decided to do some on the back.
It’s DONE. Finished. Finito. Fertigstellen. I love it. It’s pretty, it’s unique, it fits great, it was a lot of fun, I learned a lot! Hooray for me!!
ETA: Also finished: The Jane Crossover Sweater! This sweater was a real pain in the #*&!@#!*#%!!!! I wish I could recommend it, but I’d have a hard time. The main issue with this pattern was the fronts, which are left ‘up to you’ but in the M/L size, you may have a hard time. (I used all but about a foot of this yarn!) I found that I needed to sew the fronts together to get them to quit moving around and looking all wonky. I added 3 ‘faux’ buttons on the top seam, I also put a 5 seed st border on the panels, I have this strong aversion to rolling stockinette!! (Just ask Allison!)
The Fleece Artist Hand Maiden Ottawa yarn was nice enough, honestly, it was what kept me going on this pattern, with all the miles of stockinette. I would definitely buy more fleece artist yarn, just not for this pattern. I plan on wearing
this to work tomorrow. Hooray for FO's!! 
Needles used: US size 7 for most of the body, size 6 on skirt hem and size 5 for collar
Well, it’s done. Am I happy?? Mostly. There are a couple minor issues, which are MY fault. It’s a great pattern, one of the most fun things I’ve knit so far. Even if it didn’t fit at all, I’d still be happy I made it.
I learned really well how to do a p2tog tbl! It’s a little tricky at first, but not hard once you’ve done it a few (thousand) times. I learned how important it is to check your gauge while making your project. (That’s important? Go figure!) Here’s a breakdown on how it went.
The top: this was tremendous fun making all those hexagons and triangles and such and taking a leap of faith that this will indeed be a wearable item. With the Boku, I found it has a tendency to break about easily when pulled, for seaming up the hexagons, I had to put more twist in the yarn, and then it was fine. I liked that you picked up sts. to keep working, therefore eliminating a lot more sewing there.
I heard some folks were having issues with the sleeves being too long, so I blocked my pieces when I had all but the last sleeve extension finished. It was too short, I decided to go ahead and make the last piece, only I did it in garter, so it would be reversible. This worked out great and I do turn it back to make a cuff, I love the look of this last piece and I’m really glad I made it. (Well, it would have been too short for me otherwise.)
The skirt: a LOT of sts. to cast on here, but you have the happy thought of knowing it will only get smaller from there! I realized I started off with my size 7’s, when I needed 6’s, so I switched over after the first row. I used quite a few of my Denise cables to accommodate all the sts. The knitting was fine, my problems came after blocking. My overall height of the skirt was off by 1 ½”, and silly me, I didn’t realize what an impact that would have. (Apparently I did too many decreases.) The sides of the skirt need to overlap the top by 3” on each side, which seems like it would have been a tight fit already. Well, I tried to sew the top & bottom together many times and it just didn’t work, there was too much bunching at the top. (We won’t even mention the happy two hours I sewed it thinking, ‘wow, this is going so much easier now!’, then to discover at 11:30 at night that I had sewed it upside down!! No, we won’t mention that.)
I finally realized I had to compensate for the missing 1 ½” and only left a 1 ½” overlap on each side of the top. It was still pretty tricky. Many more boo-boos later, I had done it! Steam blocked that seam.
I tried it on. Oh no! I’m wearing a tan colored bikini top on my sweater! Why, oh why, had I not realized that the lighter colored Peruvia I had chosen would mean I was making triangles right over my ta-tas?? (Perhaps because the model in the photo doesn’t have any??) Great. I was almost defeated at this point, but I wouldn’t give up. I went ahead and did my smaller collar with no trouble. I went and found some great clasps at Waechter’s Silk Shop, here in Asheville.
THEN, I decided to do some embroidery on those dreaded little bikini triangles. It worked. (At least I think it did, if I’m deluding myself, let me know!) Of course, once you get going on something, it’s hard to stop. I added more embroidery to the sides, still wasn’t enough. Decided to do some on the back.
It’s DONE. Finished. Finito. Fertigstellen. I love it. It’s pretty, it’s unique, it fits great, it was a lot of fun, I learned a lot! Hooray for me!!
ETA: Also finished: The Jane Crossover Sweater! This sweater was a real pain in the #*&!@#!*#%!!!! I wish I could recommend it, but I’d have a hard time. The main issue with this pattern was the fronts, which are left ‘up to you’ but in the M/L size, you may have a hard time. (I used all but about a foot of this yarn!) I found that I needed to sew the fronts together to get them to quit moving around and looking all wonky. I added 3 ‘faux’ buttons on the top seam, I also put a 5 seed st border on the panels, I have this strong aversion to rolling stockinette!! (Just ask Allison!)
The Fleece Artist Hand Maiden Ottawa yarn was nice enough, honestly, it was what kept me going on this pattern, with all the miles of stockinette. I would definitely buy more fleece artist yarn, just not for this pattern. I plan on wearing
this to work tomorrow. Hooray for FO's!! 
6 comments:
Your Russian coat is truly stunning! You did a fabulous job on it.
Elizabeth -- absolutely lovely!
Oh. Wow. What an amazing coat! The embroidery is really something--what ingenuity! Fabulous!!!
Wow! Well done!
--AlisonH at spindyeknit.com
I just started a Russian Coat, and saw yours on Ravelry. It took my breath away. I LOVE the embroidery. I may have to shamelessly copy you there. Also, thanks for the tips about the Fleece Artist sweater, which I also have a kit for.
OMG! That Russian Coat is GORGEOUS!! AWESOME! I'm at a loss for words!
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