Red ruffles

I did say something aout a red period didn't I??? LOL.

Finally got around to make some pictures of the red ruffled jacket:

The pattern is from Vogue from afew years back, but if I would just seen the magazine I would have passed it, however pretty the cables are on the back:

It is only thanks to some FO's I've seen on Ravelry that I looked twice. Especially Veronique's
which was one of the first things I favourited there.

There is so many modification to the original one I don't even know where to beginn. Probably the back cables at the back. I made the left small cables so the patterns is mirrored. Added waist shaping at the sides.

Also the sleeves are just wrong on the original pattern. Maybe they were fashionable that few years back, but these days I think sleeves are narrower. I made up the sleeves and sleeve caps from the top of my head, but let me tell you, I never managed such a well fitting set in sleeves. I bet if I wanted to repeat it on purpouse I wouldn't be able to. good thing I knitted the two sleeves at the same time. Look:

Also I made the sleeves full length (long sleeve- I guess I did told you before I cannot stand three quarter sleeves). Added generous ribbed cuffs too.

And then... The original pattern has you knit the body and the sleeves, sew the thing toogether, then knit the cabled border in a stripe, sew it on the bodice, then knit the ruffles in a stripe and sew it on the border. Now, I am a dressmaker, and have nothing against sewing things toogether, not even seaming sweaters, and no, I am not one of those who can only imagine knitting seamless ragans, but these are just unnecessary pains... Once again thank god for ravelry, and me having the mind to do my homework and reading up. probably I would have come to the same conclusion, but it was Knittingheidi who came up with the idea I followed. I picked up a million stitches around the bodice, then started to knit the cabled stripe with two short DPNs knitting the last stitch of the RS to one of the picked up stitches. This also allowed me to change the direction of the cables exactly at the midle of the back, so it mirrors itself. Yeah, I guess I have a thing about that... I do wonder though that al those wonderful knitters who done this sweater none of them thought of making the cables simmetric... but I digress. So here how it looked in the process:

And the cable border knitted on:

Then I picked up along the outer edge of the border and knitted the reverse of the bell/ruffle pattern. Learning from Veronique's and Heidi's observation, I picked the stitches up from the inside having the selvedge form a slight border. This helps the ruffles fall inward, instead of outward.

The yarn is Lana Grossa LORD. I cannot say how much I am in love with this yarn. It is natural fiber, it is wool and silk (I have a thing about wool and silk mixes. They are my favourites to spin, my favourites to knit). It is soft. And even though I could knit it with the needles I use for aran weight (3.75), it had the yardage of a DK one. the relatively long sweater with long sleeves AND ruffles still came out of ten balls (500 gramms). It was my present to myself for my birthday (since noone else gives me anything- this is a serious drawback of having a birthday a week before Christmas), and brought from a shop in Vienna. My friend Regula brought it to me, and I am ever so grateful. (Thank you dear :-)

I bought three different buttons trying to find the best ones, but I did got the perfect color (and size too).

If I would make it again? (who knows, I love it so much I might...). I would make it slightly shorter, make the neck opening less low, and pick up less stitches for knitting on the cabled border, so the ruffles would fall more inward.

But as I said, I love it as it is.

And yes... I got new, glasses with red frames :-)

Pictures were shot by my son. Shall I forgive him teh teachers note on bad behaviour? Please forgive the sometimes strange angles... I guess he wanted to be artistic.