Please help with Kushu Kushu Jacket

I admit I am more of a word person when it comes to knitting patterns. Is there anyone out there who can help me with the shoulder & neck shaping on the back portion of the jacket? I'm a bit stumped. I've done the shoulder shaping & don't quite know how to work in the neck shaping. Thanks for any light anyone can shed here.

Fine Lines

Fine lines of conviction, smooth, silken, poured through loop after loop to become fabric.


Fabric which is incredibly wearable. Deceptively so. It moves. It forms across the body. It has it's own shape. It takes on shape. It has a lightness, and an ease. It has a wonderful sense of transparency, a veiled lightness. It is a layer, to be peeled at the edges, to be pulled and creased as you move, as you play with it (I dare you not to...), and as it gets worn.


I've blogged about the Process of this on my blog, so I wont double up here as well. I wanted to say more about what the Stainless Steel Jacket was like to knit, and to wear. This knit up reasonably quickly - having said that it's taken a few months, but that's more due to my lack of time than this being a long knit. Once you get into the stainless rhythm, you move through it quickly - it seems to grow before your eyes. The pattern is easy to follow, and has simple, but very nice shaping. The piece as a fabric whole is lovely - incredibly textural: I find myself pinching it and holding it through the day, running my fingers across it to feel it's very silky sheen. Yes, it has stiffness, but in a very fluid way. It does find the shape of your body, and at times it will hug that shape, at other times it will fall away from your body. It is a fantastic layering piece. The 12 tiny buttons from the top of the neck to 3/4 of the length give some weight to the piece, and some structure. My gauge was slightly off on this one - I was very much between needle sizes and chose the smaller needle, and decided not to compensate by altering stitch counts or length, except in the arms, and so this is slightly smaller than the medium pattern would be. I like the length of it though - I'm a layers person, and this works well with other pieces in my wardrobe as a marginally shorter top layer. There are a couple of Tsumugi silk weighting rows at the start of the arms and body, which I would probably have preferred to have left out, but I understand the job they do in giving the hems some rigidity, and hence definition. I also deleted the Tsumugi silk border up the front, but that was just my personal preference.

The real test is - would I knit it again? Yes, in a heartbeat.

:: blueberry fields ::

photographers: Isel and Paloma.

Habu Kit 100# - $105 (comes at colors of your choice)
Pattern: Setsuko Torii Hand-knit works Book. page 25, page 88.
ISBN: 4895113825
Materials:
Habu A-1 Tsumugi silk in color 70/lavender - 150 grams
Habu A-60 Shosenshi Linen Paper in color 116/eggplant - 200 grams
Needles: US 7 (4.5mm) 36" Addi Turbo.
Modifications: I altered the pattern to make it reversible and eliminate the unnecessary seaming.

It wasn't hard, another reason to love the math in the Japanese patterns. I got the book thanks to Siow Chin in our swap, I have seen the book before at Knitbuddies and I really wanted to see in person what it is like. Vanessa seemed to get one of the last copies of it in Kinokuniya. That book is vastly popular and just the other day I even spotted it on ebay. I do not know any Japanese Language, people, and just a little more thought and you could put the pattern puzzle together. Plus on Ravelry now they have a volunteer group in Japanese knitting who would gladly decipher anything you would need. But that's only if you need help. Numbers are numbers!

The Whole Set of Pictures is HERE.

Introduction

Hi everyone! I just joined the KAL. My girlfriend and I went to the trunk show at Wildfiber last week and she bought 3 sweater kits that I have to honor of knitting for her. Lucky me, huh? All the hard work just so she can wear the fruits of my labor.

I look forward to sharing my progress with you [and have a support system in case I get lost...]

First experiences

I followed your lead and chose the Kusha Kusha Scarf as my first Habu project.
Because I read about the needle choice for such a slippery yarn as silk stainless I casted on with one of my beloved wooden circulars. But the tip is not as pointy as would like to had it especially for the first row. While knitting this first row I brooded what in hell´s name got me to start such a mad thing: Knitting two razor-thin threads with such a thick needle :o
...but I kept on knitting ... and a few rows further I was reconciled with the result. Ufz...



After 15 rows I had to pack away my knitting in my project bag and when I took it out next morning there was a ugly bend across my knitting. The stainless has kept this bend in mind and I can´t get it out anymore. I tried nearly everything but I didn´t succeed :-(
Any suggestions?

Habu Kushu Kushu Jacket Finished

Habu Kushu Kushu Jacket finished.

Details at http://www.knitsane.squarespace.com

Sorry too tired from the finishing marathon to repeat the details here. It's all at Knitsane.