Red and Black Jailbird
Finished
August 22, 2014
May 3, 2015

Red and Black Jailbird

Project info
Jailbird by Amy Gunderson
Knitting
SweaterCardigan
Coat / Jacket
me
XL
Needles & yarn
US 2½ - 3.0 mm
US 3 - 3.25 mm
2,362 yards = 5.4 skeins
Marks & Kattens Fame
438 yards in stash
2.7 skeins = 1181.1 yards (1080.0 meters), 270 grams
622
S2
Black
Marks & Kattens Fame
175 yards in stash
0.6 skeins = 262.5 yards (240.0 meters), 60 grams
S384
Black
Ejes garn
Marks & Kattens Fame
219 yards in stash
2.1 skeins = 918.6 yards (840.0 meters), 210 grams
624
1183
Red
Ejes garn
August 19, 2014
Notes

Planned mods:

  • Knit hems, in red on body, black on sleeves and hood.
  • No striping, body only black, hood only red.
  • Flared sleeves red up to elbows, then black.
  • Pockets hemmed in red.

Sleeve:
CO 130 sts in red with 3mm needles, place marker.
K 3 rounds in black.
K1, inc 1, knit to 1 st before marker, inc 1, k1, sl marker.
K 6 rounds in black.
K 1 round in red. (132 sts)
P 1 round in red with 3.25 mm needles.
K 6 rounds.
K1, dec 1, knit to 3 sts before marker, dec 1, k1, sl marker.

Decrease on every 6th round 10 more times, then on every 7th round 10 times. 21 decreases total. (90 sts)

Switch to black.

K1, inc 1, knit to 1 st before marker, inc 1, k1, sl marker.
K 6 rounds.

Inc on every 7th round 10 more times. 11 increases total. (112 sts)

Put all stitches on waste yarn and knit the second sleeve.

2018-12-27

Added photos of the steek, 3 years of wear later.

2015-05-02

Finished.

I had to perform some sleeve surgery to remove ~10 cm from each sleeve at the elbow. When I made my calculations based on the body I’d knitted so far, I didn’t think they would stretch under their own weight so much.

I also ripped out 5 cm at the neck and made some decreases to shape the neck hole at the front -- it was simply too high otherwise. All that after washing, blocking, attaching the hood and crocheting the steek.

I had to take out half the crochet steek and undo the other half to below the 5 cm mark, but it was worth it to achieve a neck hole that is not binding or riding up.

Insertion of the zipper took ages, but all those tiny invisible stitches will help secure the steek even more.

2015-04-23

Finished the hood.

2015-04-04

Finished the yoke. there is a really obvious difference between the body fabric from last year and the yoke fabric. Apparently, I’m a lot more relaxed now. I hope that washing and blocking will even it out some.

2015-03-28
Finished knitting the second sleeve.

2015-03-17
Realised that I’d miscounted how many increases there should be per sleeve and ripped back to 11 from 14. One sleeve complete.

2014-09-26
Completed the torso, starting on the sleeves.

2014-09-14
Completed the decrease sets for the body.

2014-09-07
Found an error in the pattern. On the round incorporating the pockets, it reads: “…knit to 16 (18, 20, 22, 24, 26) sts before steek, put the next 35 (emphasis mine) sts on scrap yarn…”. If I were to follow the pattern exactly, I would not have the 35 sts to put on the scrap yarn before the round ends, not to mention the pocket being in the wrong place. It should be “..knit to 16 (18, 20, 22, 24, 26) plus 35 sts before the steek…”.
What I actually did was to count 24 from the steek in both directions, and threaded the waste yarn through the pocket stitches still on the needles for both sides. That way I could just slide them off when I got to them.

2014-08-29
The new needles arrived a couple days ago. I picked up the first black row on the hem with the 3.25 mm needle and ripped the rest of the black back to it. The smaller needles made the fabric tighter, it feels so much better now, and right on tension too.

Got the pockets finished, and am contemplating getting a 30 cm long needle to knit sleeves with. The fabric on the dpns was so sloppy compared to the fabric on the circulars. What a difference the needles make…

2014-08-25
I chose the steeked version.
3.5 mm needles are too large, the resulting fabric is too floppy hole-y. Ordered 3.25 mm needles, will wait with ripping until they arrive.

2014-08-24
Four swatches for contrasting hems.

#1 Black cast on, double purl row turn, knit-in; the whole hem knit on 3 mm needles. Result: the red shows through at the knit-in row and there is a distinct welt.

#2 Red cast on, single purl row turn, sewn in in with black and red yarn; the cast on and red hem on 3 mm needles, switched to 3.5 mm on the first black row. Result: less of a welt, but red shows through even when sewn in with black yarn. Like the single turn best.

#3 Black cast on, double purl row turn, sewn in with black yarn in two directions; the cast on and red hem on 3 mm needles, switched to 3.5 mm on the first black row. Result: the left to right stitching is the least visible from the outside, right to left stitching creates a welt. No red shows either way.

#4 Red cast on, plain turn, knit in; the cast on and red hem on 3 mm needles, switched to 3.5 mm on the first black row. Result: big welt, red really shows outside, and the turn is bulky.

Final choice is black cast on, single row turn and sew in with black yarn from left to right.

viewed 143 times
Finished
August 22, 2014
May 3, 2015
 
About this pattern
18 projects, in 162 queues
citikas' overall rating
citikas' clarity rating
citikas' difficulty rating
About this yarn
by Marks & Kattens
Fingering
75% Wool, 25% Nylon
437 yards / 100 grams

552 projects

stashed 251 times

citikas' star rating
  • Originally queued: August 15, 2014
  • Project created: August 22, 2014
  • Finished: May 2, 2015
  • Updated: December 27, 2018
  • Progress updates: 11 updates