07/11/14 swatched - tried several colour combinations and changed needle size, now I will use 3,5mm needles, instead of 4mm in the beginning of the swatch piece. My gauge is 27st per 10cm, but as I do not really have a clue, what “circumference 101cm” means and where that is taken from (at least anywhere on my body) I will knit size M as it is the symmetrical version and hope the size will match afterwards…at least it makes sense in a mathematic way and other knitters made the same experience.

I had to copy and enlarge the pattern because it is printed very small and it gave me the opportunity to change the colours to my gusto. That took me a whole evening, although I really wanted to start…but good preparation will finally pay off ;)

07/12/14 cast on - I used a new cast on technique, where I put on the stitches with a crochet hook. That gives a nice, neat border and you do not need a long tail in the beginning, which saves yarn and nerves
Started the border pattern.

07/28/14 far to hot to knit this time! The yarn does not run well through my hands…I managed to finish the border pattern and started the main part now.

08/05/14 nearly finished the main body pattern. Hopefully I can start the shoulder and neck part today. This pattern is totally addictive!

08/07/14 I found lovely clasps on knitty bitty and ordered them immediatelly. Can’t wait to finish the knitting and start the details.Started the schoulder part and did all decreases in this section (row 13 of that part).

08/08/14 man! 30 degrees celsius in my living room! Knitting is really a pain this summer! The body grows slowly, because the yarn does not run smoothly. By the way, I had at least one knot in each and every yarn ball that I used so far. This is annoying…
But I took pics of the front and the back in natural sun light…I really like the playful colour change of the petrol and the light blue. That comes really close to my intention, when planning the colours. I really can’t wait for stitching the details. I so much hope that everything will come out great.

08/09/14 my beautyful clasps arrived! The best of all: I took the clasps that I liked most…now I realised that they perfectly mirror the back pattern! What a funny detail!
I hope to finish the main body today. The only thing is, I do not know if I should wash and block it first and then secure the steeks and cut. Or should I first make the embellishments and block it later? Should I first knit the edge before I cut the middle steek or vice versa? Does it affect the fabric, when I first sew the steek by machine and then wash and block it? Hhmmm….I would be grateful for any advice

It is late…I have been knitting for app. 6 hours now. I REALLY finished the body!
As it is really hard to purl stranded knitting I worked another steek after the front band was finished. Only the very last 6 or seven rows had to be knitted back and forth. But then I also knitted backwards to face the pattern.

To come back to my blocking problem…thanks to the steek between the shoulders it is not possible to block the body at least before cutting this steek…

08/10/14 Started the sleeves now. As they seem to be huge (one is app. as big as one side of the body acc. to the pattern) and because I really hate knitting things twice, I decided to knit them together, separated by steeks, too. This has the advantage that I can hide my colour changes in the steek stitches and simply cut them away at the end. That safes me a lot of waving.

08/11/14 I solved my blocking problem and decided in which order to go on. I STEAM BLOCKED the body. Again a new technique that I learned. Now I will finish the sleeves, block them, too; secure and cut all steeks, make the embellishments and in the end, join all pieces. Sounds like a plan, right? Let’s see how long the sleeves will take.

Sorry, I couldn’t wait longer. I had to try the duplicate stitch on the right front band. This is how I wanted it to look like when planning the colours.

08/14/14 Today I secured my steeks by machine and also cut the front steek, because embroidery is easier that way. I also started with some embellishments because I am too curious to see a result and the sleeves which I am knitting simultaneously are really boring! I knitted them half way through and hope it wont take too long. But embroidery is a fantastic distraction.

08/16/14 Did most of the embroidery now, only left front part missing. THIS IS SO ADDICTIVE!
Still have the sleeves to knit…

08/19/14 Stitching on the body finished.I really love the result! Now I must knit the sleeves…somehow it is hard this time…the knitting is not the most interesting thing on that part anymore.I really have to force myself ;) app. 70 rows left…

08/24/14 yeahh!! Finally finished the sleeves, secured the steeks and also cut them today. Now, I only have to do the embroidery on the sleeves and then I can start assembling… :) (took a picture of the sleeves on top of the body to show their dimension. I am really glad to have knitted them together, instead of singled-it was hard enough to finish them)

08/25/14 Embroidery on one of the sleeves done. I am not sure right now whether to insert the white and green twines or not. Maybe I will decide after assembling. But first…the other sleeve.

08/28/14 Assembling done, sleeves closed, right buttonband attached (I used the opportunity to insert the front steek there, looks neat and clean, I like it) Not much left to do…But I will leave for a short holiday weekend and cannot finish the project now… :(

08/31/14 FINISHED! I finished this project far before I thought. Now I have to wash the jacket, block it and try ty catch some beautiful impressions outside on a sunny autumn day…

NOTE: I was allowed to take pictures of the jacket in my most favorite yarn shop.
Ich durfte in meinem Lieblingshandarbeitsladen Fotos von meiner Jacke machen. Dafür danke ich den freundlichen Mitarbeiterinnen herzlich! Ich denke sie freuen sich auch über jeden begeisterten Besucher… Zwillingsnadel (Inh. Gertraud Glöckner), Neumarkt 2, 09111 Chemnitz.