Change in Plan

I was supposed to work on the plaid dress last weekend.  Instead, I worked on tinkering on a knitting pattern, Mirroed Cable Swing Coat.  Why?  My last follow up visit to my eye doctor turned out more eventful than I anticipated: I had another retina tear which had to be fixed immediately by a laser surgery.  I sometimes think my days with sight are numbered and get depressed. 

At any rate, for this lovely swing jacket, I planned to use a different yarn, much thinner than the called-for yarn, Blue Sky Alpaca Bulky.  My yarn is Louisa Harding Millais which is now discontinued unfortunately.  This yarn has many gorgeous hues, very deep and iridescent in light. 

I think the yarn manufacturers are not quite clear on what is supposed to be super bulky as both of these yarns are classified as such.  Their gauges are so drastically different however: a width of 4" would require 8 stitches in Blue Sky Alpaca Bulky, while 12 stitches in Millais, 50% more than the Blue Sky yarn!  They are far from the same.  Perhaps "Super Bulky" means "Bulkier than Bulky." 

So, I started to draw a diagram with all the stitch and row counts following the pattern instruction, convert them into length in cm, and re-calculated stitch and row counts for Millais using its recommended gauge.  Since I was not so sure about the amount of the drape, too much it seems to me, I decided to knit from the center back towards either side.  I started knitting on Friday night and I now have the right half completed.  Looks like Millais produced a softer fabric.