really? snow in May?
I thought April was bizarre enough – we had a snowstorm
on the 19th of April that shut down the entire city and that was the 4th storm
of the month! I’m sure we had more snow here in Thunder Bay in April than we
had in the entire winter…and then to wake up on the 4th of MAY to this??? 
Oh well, it has to stop sometime and what do you do in
the mean time? Knit, of course! 
Anyway on the 19th, I figured I may as well
make myself a spring jacket – nothing else to do, so I pulled a cone of red
Bonita (100% mercerised cotton, 4 ply weight) off the shelf and proceeded to
knit, using my new technique of no swatch needed because I’ve used this before…plugged
in my stockinette swatch numbers from an old stockinette Bonita pattern and
used my ‘Side Steps’ mylar pattern – I have worn the khaki wool one many, many times
and always get compliments on it – I think it’s because the button/button loops
catch people’s attention. It’s easy wear, throws on with jeans or a skirt and
just goes, casual or dressed up. It is a sideways knit cardigan, made A-line by adding gores or darts from the bottom edge to just under the bust and it is a quick, easy knit - you can do the body/sleeves easily in a couple of hours and finish up the bands the next day. I figured doing it up in the red would work
well for spring, if it ever comes, but I knew I’d have problems matching the red for buttons, so I used black
for the chains in the front and neck bands so black buttons should work and it does!
While I was sewing on the buttons and loops, I thought, hummm-m-m, maybe here’s
something I should say or tell you – if you already know, okay fine, but – I sew
on the top button first and then do the bottom one, making sure the top and
bottom of the garment line up properly with the other side. Button up both and
stretch out the garment between – then do the next one from the top, the next
one from the bottom, alternating, buttoning and smoothing out in between. This
way, you’re making sure it all lines up and will lay flat and even in the end.
I find this works better that starting at the top and working down or worse,
just measuring the distance between…
Happy spring!
Oh well, it has to stop sometime and what do you do in
the mean time? Knit, of course! 
Anyway on the 19th, I figured I may as well
make myself a spring jacket – nothing else to do, so I pulled a cone of red
Bonita (100% mercerised cotton, 4 ply weight) off the shelf and proceeded to
knit, using my new technique of no swatch needed because I’ve used this before…plugged
in my stockinette swatch numbers from an old stockinette Bonita pattern and
used my ‘Side Steps’ mylar pattern – I have worn the khaki wool one many, many times
and always get compliments on it – I think it’s because the button/button loops
catch people’s attention. It’s easy wear, throws on with jeans or a skirt and
just goes, casual or dressed up. It is a sideways knit cardigan, made A-line by adding gores or darts from the bottom edge to just under the bust and it is a quick, easy knit - you can do the body/sleeves easily in a couple of hours and finish up the bands the next day. I figured doing it up in the red would work
well for spring, if it ever comes, but I knew I’d have problems matching the red for buttons, so I used black
for the chains in the front and neck bands so black buttons should work and it does!
While I was sewing on the buttons and loops, I thought, hummm-m-m, maybe here’s
something I should say or tell you – if you already know, okay fine, but – I sew
on the top button first and then do the bottom one, making sure the top and
bottom of the garment line up properly with the other side. Button up both and
stretch out the garment between – then do the next one from the top, the next
one from the bottom, alternating, buttoning and smoothing out in between. This
way, you’re making sure it all lines up and will lay flat and even in the end.
I find this works better that starting at the top and working down or worse,
just measuring the distance between…
2 comments:
Just a thought... have you ever had different colors of the same yarn swatch differently? I have, but wonder to what extent the difference is. It would have been my luck using your theory and ending up with a different fit than I expected...
Hey Peg! yes, different colours will swatch varying somewhat, particularly light to dark - I'm not saying this will always work, but this garment is not exactly fitted so there is room for some variance.
Mary Anne
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