January 03, 2005

Finished project alert! My first post for 2005 is all about my boy and the funky Boyish Jacket that I completed in time for Christmas. [BONUS: Action shot of the jacket at Aunt Josephine's house with one of the toys the Captain found under the tree on Christmas morning.] Best of all: He loves the jacket, and even though I knit it two sizes larger [!], it actually fits. (I think he may have inherited his father's gorilla arms, and his mother's long torso. And from the looks of things, he's got a penchant for dancing while wearing Mommy's knits. Sure wish I could take credit for the dancing, but that goes to Grandma and Grandpa* Rabbit.)

Project details: Design 15 from Phildar's Pitchoun Hiver 04/05 in size 6 years, using Phildar Pegase and 3.5mm and 4mm needles. I used the tubular cast-on for the ribbing, worked a garter stitch selvedge for the edges of the front pieces (where the zipper goes), worked the neckband at double the length so I could fold it inside, and omitted the embroidery. All in all, the jacket was a fast and easy knit. The pieces were completed quickly, but time was invested in finishing, working the neckband, and sewing in the zipper:




Aaaah, sewing in the zipper and sewing down the neckband. The mere writing of that phrase makes my finger ache. I sewed on the zipper, and then folded the neckband inside (which I had worked double the length, as I did for my husband's Manly Jacket), sewed that down on the inside using sewing thread, and then decided to further torture myself by hand-sewing black ribbon to the wrong side of the zipper to hide the stitches. By the time I had finished that I was ready to kick my little sewing kit over a cliff with a flying pirouette, because I had had it up to HERE with hand-sewing itty-bitty stitches using thread and needle. But you know what? After my fingers rested up and I saw how my son was opening and closing the zipper like mad and taking the jacket off so that the wrong side showed while we were at Aunt Josephine's house, I was grateful that I had taken the time to sew that ribbon so carefully. While I don't mind sewing in the zipper itself, next time I may use a sewing machine for the ribbon. And you know that after all this blab, I documented the whole sewing-in-zipper-thing in a slideshow for you, right?

BONUS: As promised, here is a 2Cute4U photo of father and son wearing their matching knit jackets. P.S. Captain Destructo says that his Daddy is his "best friend", because their jackets match. [Awwwww!] Can you stand it?

*Bit o' trivia: My father once won a trophy for best dancer of the Peppermint Twist.

« Category | Main