Kushu Kushu Jacket Update

I posted about making Kit 75 the Kushu Kushu Jacket in mid July before leaving town for 5 weeks. Hoped to have all the pieces knit by now but not as much knitting happened as I had hoped.

Both sleeves are finished and felted though and the back is 2/3rds knit. On the left is a photo of the sleeve before felting. And on the right are the sleeves after felting and stretching them out. I've described the felting process at http://www.knitsane.squarespace.com/

Let me just say a bit about the stretching out process here. It's like blocking but using your fingers instead of pins and an iron. The knit pieces look quite misshapen when you pull them out of the wash but I put them on our table and just gently began tugging on the sleeve to get the shape I was after. It takes time but you just keep working at it. It's done when the sleeves are still wet and you just ease them into the shape you want. I'd tug a bit and then hold the sleeve up to my arm to see how it was fitting and then tug some more. The edges curl under quite a bit and you have to grab them and slowly stretch. The shapes are still wonky but I think it will be fine when sewn together and put on. If you have any questions about the process you can e-mail me at hannabirke AT gmail DOT com.

I highly recommend this kit.

Kusha Kusha Jacket

The FO likely won't appear here until September as I'll be away from a computer and the washing machine I'll use to felt this but here's the first half of the first sleeve of a Kusha Kusha jacket.

Tried four different needle types before settling on Clover bamboo circulars. Metal needles turned out to be too slippery. The bamboo circulars are just right. Using size 5.5mm.

I don't often get gauge but instead did 2 large swatches, felted them both and then got out the calculator to redo the increases/decreases.

Cast on 38 stitches for the sleeve as I want the sleeves narrow.

A few more details can be found at http://www.knitsane.squarespace.com/