Triangle jacket -test knitting

I succumbed to test knitting once more : )
This Jacket popped up few times on my friends favourite in ravelry and I remember being intrigued with that lovely triangular pocket and the those curvy lines along the body. The designer is Jutta  HintermStein ; have a look at her projects, tailored, fitted , flattering ..

The recommended yarn for this jacket shouldn't be too drapery, you need an element of rigidness and stiffness to make this work as a Jacket.  I had a tight deadline so had to choose stash yarn- RYC rowan baby alpaca. I know, not the best choices for this garment but the plan was to knit it dense and tight  (3.25 mm for body and 2.5 for collar and button bands) which also served my sizes dilemma. I find at times that I'm between the XS and S of the pattern given measurements so on many occasions I'm choosing to go up a size and knit it slightly tighter.

The pattern was written in European (mainland) style. It gives you all the information you need to know without too much paper waste and assumes the knitter will know how to progress. Perhaps a bit challenging to the novice knitter and I was mentally comparing it to the British and American patterns which mostly spoon feeding you with all instructions. I also loved the abundant small photo inserts which were very helpful.

My mods were making the pockets less tall - personal preference I guess.
I knitted few more rows for the collar to be sure its going to behave and sit back and for extra help I even sew two vintage baby black glass buttons on the collar to keep matters in place..

So pleased how it turned out, even with the alpaca..

 

Veste Ilona in yellow and gold

 

Few months ago Caroline whatsapped me in excitement about this marvellous cotton cardi sample in a Nice knitting shop. Unbeknown to her a mutual friend, Tracy, was also visiting Nice at that time . All of us decided to buy the yarn to knit this glam cardigan; Caroline in the original Anni Blatt Louxur cotton in pale peach, Tracy in Anny blatt purple and I just asked for the tape yarn 'Victoria' in gold to match Rowan cotton glace 'butter' I had in stash.

 

 

I was super motivated at the beginning and enjoyed working the easy to memorise cables and the exquisite , gold chain bracelet like bands..

 

Alas, I only realized after finishing the back that the yardage of Rowan cotton glace is significantly lower than the original Anny Blatt louxur cotton. I desparately needed  more balls , otherwise my cardigan is going to turn into a vest ! My dear friend Wendy which seems to stock all Rowan discontinued  colours and yarns came to the rescue ( and not for the first time..) and I got about ten (just needed 3-4) more yellow balls which saved the day but added more to stash...

 

 

 

Another problem rose, the dye batches although not very different to the naked eye are actually rather clashing when are knitted next to each other. The iPhone camera really picks up the difference and emphasizes it. The new batch is yellower (see sleeve?)..

 

Its all done now , which was a bit of a drag, I so much more love knitting with wool than cotton. Caroline which can knit without looking at her work reports a spilitty Anny blatt cotton yarn...

 

My son took some photos today as I have a duty to post :-) they are OK but the cardigan is now shoved to some dark drawer. We need some time apart ..