droppin' the drops!

needles: 8mm bamboo
pattern: Garnstudio Drops 103-1
yarn: Patons Shetland Chunky in Oxford Grey

This took FOUR DAYS to knit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and the yarn cost me about $35 dollars! So based on that alone, this one's a winner. I did it on the cheap with an acrylic/wool blend, and I'm actually really happy with how it looks and feels, but if you wanted to pony up with some nicer yarn, who could blame you?

woot woot!


So anyway, I'm not sure what else to say other than "up with chunky knits!" This pattern has actually resulted in me picking up Twinkle's Big City Knits again and starting a couple things in there. I had previously put it aside in anger-- but more on that later.

In retrospect I really should have done a smaller size in this jacket. I did it in what I guess is the large (the third size I think?), but it's actually too big (and yes I got gauge...). The three-quarter sleeves on me are actually more like full length (actually a perfect length on my short arms so I can't totally complain...) and rather than "swingy" (and much like my OTHER swing jacket), more "box" than swing. So I blocked it out in an effort to narrow it and make it a bit longer. Now I think it seriously is almost a foot longer, which kinda makes it more of a coat for me now than anything else. No matter--I love it!

The pattern had a couple of weirdo hiccups as well, likely due to the translations. It drives me crazy when patterns are vague. Like when something says "cast on 52 stitches (incl. 2 edge stitches) do they mean that already includes the edge stitches, or that I should include them? The abbreviation page sited "incl." as both "include" and "including". Annoying. I basically included them in one spot and then not in the other. In the end it didn't matter much.

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(I need to get a tripod)

I did agonize a leeeeetle over the buttons. I seriously have a fear of buttons. Much like bangs it can really change the way EVERYTHING looks, so I have this fear of going too "dramatic" with the buttons (I am a plain jane after all...), so in the end I went with the least obtrusive I could find:

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though these were a serious contender:

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but again, too flash for me. Pathetic isn't it? When did I become such a wallflower? (likely when I started knitting -hah!)

Want another photo?

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AND as of yesterday I am officially on Raverly (and killing much time loadin' in the projects!). Expect to be stalked/friended/harassed by me soon...