I have this beloved coat that I made probably 30 years ago from one of those fringed afghan throws that were pretty popular back then. I call it my “Piano Coat” because the weave pattern is of musical notes and piano keys (I put a few pictures of it at the bottom of this project page). It’s black & white, duster length, and wrap-yourself-up-in-it sized, and it’s been so well loved over the years that it’s literally beginning to fall apart.

So when I saw this sweater on the cover of Crochet! Magazine, I was immediately drawn to it. My Piano Coat it’s not, but I was thinking that it had the same sort of vibe -- black & white, duster length, and I could make it wrap-yourself-up-in-it sized. I had high hopes that it could take some of the pressure off of the Piano Coat.

I made the size large (the 3rd size), thinking that would be about right, but I probably should have made the medium. Even so though, the large would have been alright were it not for the sleeves! I don’t understand why, because I was right on gauge, if not even a little bit tighter, but the sleeves came out about 6” longer than the spec! Actually, I don’t really understand the sleeve spec in the first place, as it has the length getting shorter as the size goes up. In any case, I just trusted in the pattern, and I didn’t even realize that the sleeves were so long until it was all done. I was on gauge, and the rest of it was coming out to spec, so I didn’t even pay attention. I tried it on after seaming the body pieces, before attaching the sleeves, and all seemed good. Not that there would have been anything that I could have done about it at that point anyway, as the sleeves had already been made. And the length is on the bias, so I couldn’t just rip back length. I’d have had to start them over.

So I guess I’m back to the drawing board as far as replacing my Piano Coat. This is a nice sweater, but it’s not really wearable for me. I need to find someone with broader shoulders and/or longer arms.

Pattern Notes:
As far as the pattern itself, it was interesting to make. You had to pay attention to the decreases, but not excessively so, once you got into the groove of it. One thing that I did find kind of crazy-making was that different sections would instruct you to follow the instructions for one of the previous sections, which would in turn refer you back to a different previous section. This became rather confusing to keep straight after a while, with the left, right, back, front, top, bottom, etc. It was hard to know where you were! I wish it would have at least referred you back directly to the section that you needed to work.

I also ended up having to rework the neck shaping for both the Left Back & the Right Front to get the neck to line up properly. I ripped back the corners of these to begin the shaping on row 18 instead of 19 (the 1st row of color A instead of the 2nd ). And I required one less row for each of these (25 total instead of 26 for the Left Back & 23 instead of 24 for the Right Front), so I didn’t switch to color C at the end of either.

Looking back at my notes, I think that I also required one less row for the Right Back Panel Bottom Corner (27 rows instead of 28 to get down to one stitch). This would have consequently held true for any other sections that followed the instructions for that same piece.

And I don’t know why I always seem to gravitate to projects that have a lot of ends to weave in, but there were a ton of them!

The yarn is very nice and soft, but I feel like it’s almost too soft for this piece. It doesn’t have enough support for the weight of it, so it ended up kind of stretchy & heavy. And if I roll up the sleeves, they won’t stay. I think it would have worked better at a tighter gauge. I’d be tempted to try it again with a smaller hook, but it would be hard to figure out the sizing, since it’s worked on the bias. Hurts my brain! I guess I should just move on…

Update, 8/9/21:
I brought this to the Guild meeting tonight (the first back at our regular time & place since the start of the pandemic), to see if it might fit anyone there. Kim tried it on and it actually looked pretty good on her. The arms were still long, but not as bad as on me, since her shoulders are broader. So she took it and I’m so thrilled that she gave it a home! I gave her the leftover yarn in case she wants to do surgery on it, like maybe a button strap or something like that.