Knitting

I wanted to do this gorgeous little lace matinee coat I had seen in a magazine. It looked like the lace pattern was plausible so I purchased the yarn (drat) and tonight I felt I needed to have a bash at it.

I couldn't get it to work. I was only working on the first sleeve (supposed to be knitted first) for an up to six month old, so only on forty five stitches. Three times I started the dratted thing. Three times I ended up one stitch short at the end of the first row of the lace pattern. I said some rude words I learned from evil cat.

So, either I am not reading the pattern right (and I did check again and again) or the pattern is wrong. I am not very experienced with lace and I am certainly not an expert at knitting baby clothes (never finished anything) but it is not a regular knitting magazine so I am suspending judgement but willing to blame the pattern. Not that I am being an egotist or anything...

Sigh.

There is a pattern in a magazine that is for the more experienced knitter. I am more extremely experienced in basic knitting, but I buy it out of stupidity and then rant at the patterns ('Bargain! Knit this jacket from only £65!' - £65 would normally cover every stitch I am wearing including shoes, coat and underwear). However there is a pattern there for a sweater in two colours. It is knitted in black and white, but I would probably do it in two shades of blue quite close to each other. It is a slipped stitch pattern, which I have never done but I think I understand. And it is absolutely gorgeous, really striking and me. Except for most ridiculous cowl neck that comes down to the elbows. I only exaggerate slightly, it comes right over the shoulders and if you are a lady with a bosom then it would sort of perch on top.

I could theoretically do a ribbed neck to match the wrists and the bottom of the sweater. But I have never worked out how many stitches to pick up before, and this would be such a job to knit I couldn't bear to wreck it with a mess of a neckband. I wouldn't know where to start reducing the cowl - it is knitted separately and then sewn on (I hate sewing up) and you knit it from the outside edge in, so it would be hard to tell where you would reduce it. I think I will check on the number of stitches you cast off for the cowl and pick that number up evenly to rib. If I ever buy the yarn, get started and actually get to finishing the thing.

But it does look so amazingly gorgeous and me.