Earlier this summer, I read The Geography of Bliss.  The author, a foreign correspondent for public radio, sets out to find the happiest places on earth.  While traveling he meets and interviews people in those countries and learns what makes their lives so happy.  After traveling to several countries with high happiness quotients (Bhutan, Switzerland, Iceland, UAE)  he realizes that he needs a base line – an opposite – to completely understand why the citizens of these countries are SO happy.  Working with researchers, he pinpoints a few countries that are the unhappiest in the world.  Topping the list is the former Soviet republic of Moldova – landlocked, small, and supposedly a very hard place to live and to find work. 

I want to give Moldova the benefit of a doubt:  is it really that bad?  The way the author describes it, it sure sounds like the nation has had a rocky time since the Collapse.  I guess that is one of the main reasons that the people at Peace Fleece yarns wanted to reach out to Moldova – naming one of their lovely yarns after the country.  “Warm Wool from a Cold War” it says right on the label. 

So, it is because of the yarn name that I call this coat “Moldova”, not because I am unhappy with it.

Moldova Coat
Pattern: Crotona from Berroco #281 (pamphlet)
Yarn: Peace Fleece Worsted in Moldova Burgundy
Source: Maryland Sheep and Wool, 2007
Needles: Size US 6 and US 9

I made a few modifications on this coat; the most obvious being a cropped version.  Mine skims the hips while the model version goes to the knee.  I probably had enough yarn to do the longer version, but the longer it was, the less likely I was to wear it… so, I cut off about 9 inches of seed stitch. 

Side View

In order to do this, I started with less stitches – if my memory serves me, it was about 40 less, and I cut out 3 sets of decreases.  The coat still has a flare to it at the bottom, and it suits me fine this way. 

Instead of knitting the coat piece by piece, I cast on the full number of stitches for the back and the left and right panels.  With markers at the sides to indicate where to decrease, I worked the garment back and forth.  It seemed to save a lot of time, but most importantly, it saved me the seaming headache!  Once I got to the armhole decreases up top, I then put the panels on waste yarn and worked each piece separately.  The sleeves are short, and only took a few hours to knit.  Once they were complete, I was able to sew the raglan seams and attach at the underarm.  In the end, I picked up stitches around the neckline and worked 8 rows of stockinette in a smaller needle.  This gathered the top, and created the little roll.  I did the same for the sleeves.  Very simple construction! 

Once I put it on, I could tell that it was a little bigger than I would have liked – it’s not a dealbreaker per se, but if I were to do it again, I would have chosen the smaller size or played around with needle size to get a smaller gauge.  I chose the 40″ because it is a coat and ideally, I would wear things underneath.  However, the seed stitch stretches quite a bit. 

Considering the wool, it is not as heavy as I would have thought.  It is comfortable to wear.  The only challenge is finding clothes to wear with it, specifically tops.  The scoop neckline is lovely, but it seems disruptive to wear a top with a higher neckline.  V-necks are out.  So, that leave more scoop necks or camisoles, like I am wearing here.  Not necessarily a bad thing, but you have to plan how to wear it. 

Up until the last minute, I had my mind made up on the wooden buttons I picked up in California.    

Moose antler buttons

I thought that they would be a perfect complement.  THEN, I remembered the beautiful antler buttons from Nova Scotia… and once I put them alongside the seed stitch and the yarn color, I liked that combination even better.  I attached the buttons and made small crochet loops for the button holes.  I have to say, my crochet is getting better!  The button placement was a little difficult.  I didn’t want the garment to pull across the bust too much.  I settled on this, and it is satisfactory, although I am not exactly thrilled about how it looks.

So, I am considering how to “shrink” the coat a little bit.  Should I take in some of the seams inside to create more of an hourglass shape?  should I throw it in some hot water and ever-so-slightly felt it?  (I don’t want to lose seed stitch definition!) or should I just leave it alone all together and wear it as is?  Any ideas you have would be very welcome!

Even if I do nothing to it,  I will wear it.  As autumn creeps up – the crisp breeze this morning! – it seems like a perfect addition to the wardrobe. 

***

I must admit, I was completely shocked by the number of comments on yesterday’s post!  Thank you for your overwhelming response!  Because of the response, I decided that one prize was really not enough… and truthfully, two prizes isn’t either, but that is what I offer.  I have a hank of Peace Fleece from this coat that I would love to give away too.  Hopefully the winner will like working with it as much as I did – it will be perfect for winter accessories or for felting.

Winner #1  (Malabrigo and River John DPNs) is Wendy at Musings from a Knucklehead

Winner #2 (Peace Fleece hank in Moldova Burgundy) is Rachel at RachelKnits

If you are a winner, please email me with your address! 

The Jacquard Pulli has once again fallen by the wayside as I ran into a little snag… Either I have the arms of an orangutan, or the pattern is just too short.  I think it is the latter. Rebecca patterns, as beautiful and innovative as they are, have a notorious reputation for errata.  With the advice of some Flickr comrades, I have decided to extend the cuff a bit, but also extend the brown color band at the top.  The key concern is matching the Fair Isle work with the body of the garment, and accounting for the stitch count in order for the colorwork yoke to begin.  It should be a pretty simple fix, and I am hoping that it will look acceptable too.  As you can see from the magazine photo, there is already a large color band above the colorwork on the sleeve; I will just be adding a little bit more. 

This sweater has been hanging around the stash in one capacity or another since the end of April, and I have set my sights on finishing it up by the end of this month.  It will be a lovely garment for fall and winter (I hope) and with only one sleeve remaining and the yoke, it shouldn’t be too much of a hassle.  The colorwork really zips along once I start working on it – especially with the aid of a good audiobook. I never have a shortage of those to choose from!

The Crotona Coat - renamed Moldova because of the yarn color – is moving along so nicely.  Thousands of seed stitches all coming together in a very wearable garment.  The yarn is knitting up well, and the coat is taking shape so quickly!  I realized that I had better blog about it once more so that I didn’t have a finished object to show you without any progress shots!

Only a sleeve and half remain, plus the finishing details of picking up the small collar stitches and adding the buttons.  It will need a light blocking too to even out some of the decreases and increases along the sides – seed stitch tends to bunch up a little when doing subtractions and additions.  It feels like I saved a lot of time with this coat by knitting it in the round – and it made so much since to do that instead of trying to seam it up later.  Once I got to the armhole and neckline decreases, I worked each part separately (back, left and right front) and after the three-quarter length raglan-style sleeves are complete, it will be quickly completed.  Mine is shorter than the version in the pattern, but still skims the hips and falls right above the thigh. 

…now I just have to decide which buttons would look best…

Could I have TWO finished garments in September?   it is quite possible!

Feeling an intense desire to start something new, I went through the stash last week and surveyed my options.  I reacquainted myself with some of the yarns, and I rediscovered something I already knew: I have a lot of options.  Too many.  So, I just kind of chose at random.  A yarn that has been the stash for over a year, but a new pattern that I picked up earlier in the summer…

I chose the lovely purple/red Peace Fleece that I got at the festival in 2007.  (The colorway is “Moldova Burgundy”, and while it does have a burgundy cast to it, I see it more as purple – perhaps it is more red in the sun?) For the pattern, I chose the  Crotona Coat, from the Berroco #281 collection.

I really like the asymmetry of this piece.  I haven’t picked up the buttons yet, which are a key element of the garment for me.  My heart is kind of set on wooden buttons to make this a more “rustic” piece.  It would sort of match the heathery wool…

I give you about 9 inches of seed stitch – knit exclusively this week during my Olympic viewing.  (Yes, I have been watching a lot of Olympic coverage…)  I decided to make the coat shorter than the pattern – probably skimming the hips.  I adjusted some of the pattern to work with this, but I think I may have a slightly more flared edition.  To avoid seaming seed stitch later, I am knitting the front panels and the back in one piece – 200+ stitches for the 40″ size.  Surprisingly, the seed stitch is going along quite well, and I haven’t felt that it is a slog at all.  In fact, it is quite relaxing – the rhythm of the stitches in and out.

…Now back to the Olympics and to endless seed stitch!