WIP: Noro Coat

ArtLady1981 · 03-02-2011, 04:39 PM

Well, I bought this NORO yarn a year ago I think. Love the "nothing" colorways, the neutrals. Have you ever purchased yarn that is so special to you....that you cannot bring yourself to use it? Or, to COMMIT to a project for it? That's me all over. I finally found just the right pattern!

Anyway...I have ONLY ONE WIP at the moment...this Noro Coat....using the Noro Silk Garden yarn that I could die for! Color 269...creams, lt beiges, lt greys.

The coat is from the NORO CATWALK TWO book. "DESIGN 14" by Jenny Watson. The suggested yarn is TAIYO. But it's 40% Cotton, 30% Silk, 15% Nylon, 15% Wool.

IMHO, Noro should stay away from all of their COTTON BLENDS. They should do what they do best: wool, and wool blends. Leave cotton out of the mix. I knit a cardigan last summer, using Noro CHIRIMEN...and whereas it was lovely to work with, and blocked well...it doesn't "wear" well. Every time you wear it...you have to re-block it. It doesn't hold its shape well. The yarn doesn't have good "memory". It gets baggy. Oy. Therefore, I'm avoiding Noro cotton blends.

Here's my progress:

THE BACK

SLEEVE#1

BTW: The ribbing "called for" 1x1 ribbing...perfect for the Channel Island cast on that I crowed about a few months ago. It is "taught" by Eunny Jang in the Knitting Daily DVD Series 400, under the GO GLOBAL video chapter.

Here is THE COAT, as seen in the book:
It's a great colorway, however...I like my neutrals best!

BTW: this is a great book...and this coat is really easy to knit!

margz3 · 03-02-2011, 10:11 PM

Wow, that is going to be a stunner!! I agree with you....I like your color choice better as well! I am always drawn more to neutrals. Though, I feel like when I look at my Rav page, it's fairly monotone, lol!

kmaclean · 03-02-2011, 10:37 PM

Oooooh! That's so pretty! I LOVE the color that you are using ... it's gorgeous (as usual!)

ArtLady1981 · 03-02-2011, 11:08 PM

I've been knitting with Black Water Abbey Irish wool so much lately...it's a REAL PLEASURE to use Noro Silk Garden for a change of pace!

Oh, and next sweater on my radar...is using this Cascade EPIPHANY yarn!
60% Extra Fine Grade Alpaca, 20% Silk, 20% Cashmere. Totally scrumptious!
Purchased at The Madrona, our Pacific Northwest version of a Stitches!

margz3 · 03-03-2011, 04:11 PM

Originally Posted by ArtLady1981

I've been knitting with Black Water Abbey Irish wool so much lately...it's a REAL PLEASURE to use Noro Silk Garden for a change of pace!

Oh, and next sweater on my radar...is using this Cascade EPIPHANY yarn!
60% Extra Fine Grade Alpaca, 20% Silk, 20% Cashmere. Totally scrumptious!
Purchased at The Madrona, our Pacific Northwest version of a Stitches!

Now that will be one SOFT sweater!! Such a pretty rasberry color too!

crazykntter83 · 03-04-2011, 05:21 AM

That sweater is going to look fabulous. IMHO, I think that the neutral colors will suit the sweater much better. The pictures from the book just look waaaaaaaay to bright to me. But that's just my little opinion.

salmonmac · 03-05-2011, 11:50 AM

The coat is going to be fabulous and look perfect in the neutrals.
I can't wait to see the alpaca project. That raspberry is one of my favorites.

mwhite · 03-05-2011, 03:38 PM

Colors ARE great, can be worn with anything and I dearly love sweater coats! Can't wait to see it done....which I know will be fabulous and soon!

okckwilter · 03-05-2011, 06:49 PM

Oh! I love your neutrals! And that is a great coat! I may have to hunt that book up; I think that coat would make a lovely short cardigan! Thanks so much for sharing your WIP. I'll look forward to seeing more of your progress!

ArtLady1981 · 03-06-2011, 08:56 PM

Running into a speed bump! I finished The Back, The Left Front, and The Left Sleeve. I clipped all the seams together for a fitting. Yack. I didn't like the appearance of the sleeve. The coat fit beautifully, and the sleeve was the right length...but didn't like anything else about the fit of the sleeve.

Problems sometimes arise when you shorten a sleeve by 3-4". The increases must be met, however, you have fewer rows in which to cram them. If you don't work all the increases worked, it impacts the amount of stitches you have to work with from the armhole bindoffs up to the top of the sleeve cap. That's a worse issue because if you negatively change the sleeve cap, you have to change the armhole of the body, too.

Therefore, the increases for this original sleeve happened much more dramatically, making a puffy looking sleeve, which resulted in a baggy look in the bicep area. On top of which the sleeve cuff was too skinny, too snug, too tall...and that increased the disproportionate appearance. Ugh.

So I moved on to Plan B: re-tooling my figures....knitting a Plan B sleeve for several inches...but didn't like it either.

On to Plan C: which is where I'm at now. This one will be a keeper.

When it's finished I'll do the same fitting scenario...seam (clip) the Back, Left Front and the Plan C Left Sleeve seams and holding my breath, try it on! If it's good-to-go...I'll knit the Right Sleeve, pulling yarn from the top of the original, ill-fitting sleeve. (No sense in winding it up in a gigantic ball...I just knit it as I pull out the rows...one less step and handling/mauling of the yarn...)

Is this worth all the hassle? You bet!

Nothin' worse than bad sleeves. Well, bad buttonhole bands qualify right up there with bad sleeves!

Here's the project in my Rav folder. More details if you wish to read...