kit 24 - stainless steel jacket

habu kit 24, stainless steel/silk jacket

recently completed jacket in delicious midnight blue, totally perfect for layering.

this was a planned long-term project for me. i wanted something light and large to knit over the australian summer months (the thought of heavy, warm wool on my lap for extended periods is not desirous in 40 degree heat...).

i found the pattern simple and straightforward (aside from the incorrect row count on the front piece).

materials: 1 yarn black ss thread, 1 yarn navy ss thread.

as this is an open weave mesh, i spent considerable time stitching the pieces together to achieve an even and consistent seam which will be visible though the garment.

my biggest issue: to add the buttons or use a brooch instead... at this point, i am wearing it with the brooch with the intention of putting the buttons on in winter to then wear the collar up as designed. maybe next time i will knit it with a round neck and no collar for a brooch...

and my copy of this arrived in the mail yesterday. hmm. the list is getting longer.

Habu Kit 110

Kit-110: Mohair Pullover; purchased at Habu Trunk Show at Wildfiber
Yarn: Habu Tsumugi Silk Combination A-110 1/0.9 and
Habu Kid Mohair N-52 1/20

My first experience knitting a Habu sweater! Not a bad experience, although I had a few bonehead moment...dropping stitches and adding 24 rows to a sleeve which had to be frogged back and redone.

The edges of the sweater are silk and the body and sleeves are mohair. The Habu Kid Mohair is soft, light and pretty easy to work with. There was practically no stray fiber floating about as I worked with it and it remained intact after the rows and rows of frogging I did. The completed garment is so light and has such a pretty halo to it.

The original sweater we saw at the trunk show was a light green, but gf decided on pink, edged with a darker red/brown. When I first saw it, I wasn't sure about the combination, but against her skin tone, it's perfect.

I'm really proud of this garment. It turned out beautifully and it looks great on. Yeah! I'm so happy it's done!

It Really did start as a Kushu Kushu Jacket!

I love the way it turned out, but I should have known this project wasn't going to be what I expected when my dog got a hold of the yarn. Maybe that was the bad omen. While waiting for my replacement yarn, I got off on a tangent of knitting a Skif sweater & some neckwarmers & fingerless gloves for Christmas gifts. New year, back to the Kushu. So, what happened to the collar? I'm pretty sure I knit it all wrong. I admit I had a difficult time with the shoulder & collar shaping with the Japanese pattern format. The rest of the sweater knit up as instructed fairly easily. It's much shorter than I wanted it. If I knit it again, I would use a #10 size needle, instead of the #9, and I would add some length to it. During felting, it shrunk much more in length than width. If I had followed the felting directions, I would have had a sweater for a Barbie, not even a baby. I really did very minimal felting, & then I blocked it to get some length back. So where is the cool, asymmetrical front? Well, as it shrunk vertically more, the point that comes out would have buttoned directly over my left breast. Not attractive button placement in my opinion. So, I reversed the front pieces. Not nearly as unique as the Kushu Kushu, but I still enjoy it. I'm really crazy about how these yarns come out felted. I love the deconstructed look. I'm looking forward to working with these yarns again. This time, maybe my own design. Happy New Year & Happy Knitting.

- Cara

Free Pattern for Habu Tunic

A while ago, I posted about a tunic I created in Habu Cotton Gima. I'm pleased to report that I've finally written up the pattern for it, and it's available for free on my website. The pattern can be found via my Designs page here. Here are a few photos of the top:







Enjoy!