I needed something to wear to a company party last December. I have piles of gorgeous fabrics and patterns, and I hate shopping for dresses since it takes too much time. It also takes a lot of time to sew one myself. You are saying I knit a lot. Why not sew instead of knit? Well, I can knit in the living room with my family, but I cannot sew there. I can cut pattern pieces there, but that’s just about it. Another problem is that I am completely out of practice in matching fabrics to patterns. Yes, it takes time to do this matching, at least for me. Having a lot of each does not help, either. I almost gave up in the idea of a brand new dress for the occasion. I did some fixing in preparation and have a nice wearable pullover. It might be okay for the occasion? Maybe. If only I had time to contemplate, … .
Then I remembered. I’ve been in love with Vogue 1087 since it came out. I knew there were some issues with the pattern thanks to bloggers I ‘met’ at Sewing Pattern Review. I had two yards of beautiful burned out velvet in black/raspberry/mauve/burgundy colors. Slowly, I started the project. Some of the drawings on the instruction sheet did not make sense. No matter. It must have been an error. I’ve been knitting long enough to trust my gut feeling. Pictures and drawings can be flipped by mistake and cause confusions if the garment is not symmetric. I knew that. Well, I did okay in the end.
Now, to complete the outfit, I borrowed my daughter's cashmere cardigan for the occasion. But I knew I could knit something really nice if I had time. It is
Angelina Vintage Jacket by Joan McGowan-Michael. I've had the charcoal gray Peruvian Quechua from Elann.com for this project for a long time. The yarn feels really soft, light and warm due to its blend of alpaca and tencel. Although it involves quite a lot of 2-by-2 rib which I do not like very much, it went rather fast. I followed the pattern mostly except for smoothing out increases and decreases for sleeves and shortening sleeve edges.
