Simplicity 1254 - a winter coat

Summer is coming, so of course I had to sew a winter coat. I do hang around in San Francisco quite a bit so I can wear it there because summer is probably its coldest season. This is from Simplicity #1254, and it's a Leanne Marshall design. As soon as I saw the pattern, I knew I had to sew it up. I searched da web and found this great pink and black wool coating from Denver Fabrics. I love its dramatic ginormous collar and I also love the fact that is uses a zipper closure so I didn't have to deal with buttonholes. The pattern shows the collar also worn as a hood, but that doesn't work very well. The collar is too wide and loose to stay on the head as a hood. As a collar, it keeps the neck really, really warm.

I made mine in between the short and long lengths. I top-stitched the princess seams and the collar edge because I think it looks more finished that way. I narrowed the bottom a bit because the lower half does flare out a lot, although it doesn't look that way in the pattern photo. The instructions for attaching the collar were confusing, so I just attached it the same way I attach standing collars on tops or dresses. Finally, I didn't attach the lining as specified in the pattern. I hand sewed it to the bottom and sleeve hems, and the body hems are blind stitched. Unlike other coat or jacket patterns, this lining does not call for a back pleat, so I just cut all the lining pieces a bit larger to give it ease.

FO: Bell Yoke Tee

This is the Bell Yoke Tee, knitted with Elsebeth Lavold Hempathy, one of my favorite warm weather yarns. The gauge is a bit finer than specified, so I did my own sizing for the body. I also knitted it flat in two pieces. I used the smallest yoke size, and I think it could have been even a little smaller with 2 less bells on each shoulder. If you knit this, don't be horrified by how big the armholes are when you complete the body. They are ginormous but the finishing around the armholes has decreases and pulls everything in and keeps the bells looking three dimensional. I love the yoke on this sweater -- it reminds me of those yokes you see in Egyptian drawings, sort of.

I knitted this with a small amount of ease, which is looser than I what I usually do for a pullover of this shape. The back is a bit loose as a result, but the draping makes it okay. The neckline grew too wide very quickly though, so I used my favorite edging of a single crochet row followed by a reverse single crochet to pull it all in.