Knitty Couture

Began right before the Knitting Olympics for a class, this wonderful adult surprise jacket was completed last week just in time for the weird spurt of cold weather.

Knitted up in Cascade Eco Wool (this was the remnants of the luggage bag and hubby’s cable sweater vest — see earlier posts) at a gauge of 4sts/in, this was a rather quick and simple knit. Thanks, Elizabeth Zimmermann!! Having knitted the baby surprise jacket earlier facilitated the understanding of the instructions (a warning to new Zimmermann pattern readers and a recommendation to future adult surprise jacket knitters).

When casting on, one has the option of making the ASJ more fitted like a cardigan which is what I chose to do because, well, I’m petite and needed the shaping. As with the BSJ, it’s difficult to project how the garment will turn out. Up until the last minute, I was even still a bit skeptical of whether the jacket would fit — it looked mighty small - smaller than me. But I trusted Elizabeth and continued on.

In the end, the fit turned out surprisingly satisfying. The jacket length fell just below the hips with the sleeves a bit further. Breaking up the grey with the red and white made the knitting and jacket much more interesting. I also increased the front width by approximately three inches for overlapping purposes.

I spent a bit of time vacillating over my closure options, from zipper to waist-tie to hidden clasps. Because of the indecisiveness, buttonholes were intentionally left out, but now I wished that I had put them in. I suppose there’s no rush. Something will come.

Another jacket feature I debated over was the hood which I’m very pleased to have included. In particular, the red stream along the front of the hood is striking as it continues from the front of the jacket.

Rather than doing a three-needle bind-off for the top of the hood, I made drastic decreases from the back end to the front; first, double decreases then quadruple decreases to flatten the top. I didn’t know if the latter actually existed, but I made it up anyway.

To do so, I made a double decrease (e.g., slip 2, k1, p2sso), then I passed the next two stitches (back) over the slipped stitch. The end result looks like two double decreases merging, much like a rooftop. Once I couldn’t decrease any longer (i.e., at the red stream), I kitchener’s stitched the rest. Voila! An adult surprise with a hood!