In the FOlio, I reflect on a finished knitting object and what the process of knitting it taught me.

Pattern : Ballerina Wrap Jacket by Mari Lynn Patrick (Vogue Fall 2009 issue -Ravelry link)
Yarn : Elann.com Limited Edition Gentry Tweed (80% wool/10%silk/10%cashmere)
Knitted from : September 2012 to January 2013

Lesson: The difference between a quick alteration and the kind of alterations that require a full pattern adjustment.

It was the fall of 2012 and I had a save the date for a good friend's January 2013 wedding pinned to my bulletin board. I’d never been to a winter wedding before and I knew just what I wanted to wear. In the Fall 2009 issue of Vouge Knitting, at the top of my “ooo I want that” list, was the most glorious knitted jacket. Adorned with a peplum, bell sleeves, and a "swag" that draped down the front and then looped into the peplum (creating a very elaborate structural effect), it was, I thought, the perfect sweater for a NY wedding in January. But I had no idea how much I’d learn from knitting it.

I became pretty good at yarn substitution early on - if you were a knitter on a budget with a penchant for Vogue patterns, as I was in my early sweater knitting days, you had to be. The Koigu the sample pattern was knitted in was absolutely not in my budget, but back in those days I had elann.com, a wonderful source of yarn for those of us on a budget. There I found this unusual, but very striking, wool/silk/cashmere blend yarn in a very similar gold color to the magazine model.

In looking at the size schematics for the pattern, I realized that the size that would best fit my bust would have a peplum that was quite oversized for my hips (I am not so much an hourglass shape as I am a light bulb – wide at the top and then straight down from the waist, which was even more pronounced before I hit middle age). But from the construction of the pattern, I realized that the peplum and waistband were knit first, and then stitches for the rest of the bodice were picked up from there.  So I could easily knit a smaller peplum and then pickup enough stitches for the larger bodice.

Everything was going well, and I was even making good time towards finishing the sweater towards the wedding … until I got to the sleeves.  You see, I had not considered the fact that a larger size bodice meant larger size armholes … which would mean those bell sleeves would get quite voluminous on my arms.  And then, in thinking about it, I decided I didn’t like the shape of the sleeves at all, I wanted something three quarter length and with a less dramatic flare than the original.  So for the first time in my knitting life, I decided to wing it and write my own sleeve pattern.

It took a few tries.  I knew I needed to start from the same number of stitches as the original large size sleeves so the seaming would match up, but that I would then wait to increase until further down so there would be a more pronounced flare.  Unfortunately the notebook in which I wrote, tested, scribbled out and rewrote my new pattern has been lost to time and about half a dozen changes of address since then.  But I did eventually get a sleeve I was happy with.

Above: The pattern’s original, looser sleeve on the left and the version I designed with a more pronounced flare at the elbow.

The fit of the entire garment definitely benefited from my picking and choosing different sizes for different pieces.  I have no doubt that I would not have liked a peplum with more material in it than the one I knit, or one with wide flappy bell sleeves. I will say if you get the impulse to knit this pattern for yourself, I do have one caveat – the edges of the front closure tend to curl in on themselves.  This isn’t that visible when wearing it since the front ruffle hides the actual closure, but I’ve long intended to baste a piece of ribbon or binding down the inside front edge because I find it a little annoying.

I did finish the sweater over two weeks before the wedding – only to realize three days before that the forecast for the wedding day was going to be nearly 70 degrees.  I ended up abandoning the sweater to wear a fairly standard silk dress, although I did wear the sweater to work many times the next few winters.  I also knit this so long ago that I wasn’t regularly taking finished object photos. So for posterity’s sake, here I am recreating what I initially intended to wear to the wedding.

This was the first time I made a major alteration to an existing knitting pattern to get the result I wanted, (as opposed to just making the length of a piece shorter or longer), and I learned a lot about the cascade effect that can happen when you alter just one part of a pattern and then have to get the rest of it to fit together properly.  I wouldn’t know about tech editing for quite some time after 2013 but I do think that this first experience of thinking through alterations and realizing how different parts of a pattern have to match up set me on my path towards pursuing a career in tech editing.

What was the first pattern you made major alterations to?  If you are a designer, is there a pattern that started you on your path to a design career?