Blossom Jacket

You guys are doing great with the fake memories meme. I think I will let it go for a few more days and then choose a winner. It will be hard to pick - there are some memories there I almost wish were true! :)

In knitting news - the Blossom jacket won out and I cast on for it at my class last night. I chose it for a couple of reasons - mostly because I wanted to try using Blossom. Also, I would have had to do a gauge swatch for the Karlsro (no time = lack of interest in spending time on gauge swatch). Plus, the Blossom jacket will look really fab when it's done. It seemed to be the favorite pick in the comments as well.

So - how is it going you ask? Well, the jacket is constructed as a circle. There are very few decreases, mostly you go down a needle size every few rounds instead. This is all very well and good - lord knows I have had PLENTY of experience knitting around and around in stockinette lately thanks to the HP scarf - but the Blossom jacket is 320 stitches of around and around. Casting on for that was a bit of a pain. Slubby yarns like Blossom are always a pain to cast on with (knitting it is easy though - thank goodness) and Blossom has no stretch to speak of so my usual Twisted German cast on was a good deal since the cast on edge is also the outer edge of the jacket and thus will "show" and need to be a bit stretchy.

The real weirdness with this project is the pattern. It calls for NINE different circular needles. This easily adds $100 to the cost of the project if you don't already happen to have them. Also, it is a bit cramped having all those stitches on a 32" cord, so you may want 40" which seem a bit harder to find. To add to this the needle sizes stated don't actually exist in the US. The first size called for in the pattern is a UK 0/US 12 - there is no US size 12 that I know of. Addi circs jump from 11 to 13 and I've never seen a size 12 in any other brand either. Also, the millimeters stated don't match up to the numerical sizes stated - for instance a US size 10 is equal to 6 millimeters but is listed as 6.5 millimeters in the pattern. Every other size is wrong too. Clearly, (I think!) the pattern is written for UK needles. If anyone knows if this is the case please let me know. And if anyone is going to England please pick me up a full set of Addi circs - every size in, oh lets say a 32" cord - thanks, that would be real helpful. :)

So - anyhow, this pattern is a bit of a mess but hopefully has enough room for a bit of fudging. I decided to start with size 11's and work my way down through the next nine needle sizes. Hope this works. I'm trying to stick closer to the millimeter size & forget the needles sizes. Supposedly the UK equivalent of a (non-existent) US size 12 is 8mm which is actually a US size 11 so that's what I started with. Confused yet? Well, I just decided to start the project in a way which seemed logical and then hope it doesn't turn out to be a huge mess! The knitting itself is no big deal - just knitknitnkit and then divide for armholes and more knitknitknit.

I guess this is my first official "Stashalong" project since it is the first I have actually started since I joined. I will try to post a pic soon....