12/14/14 Updated photos of Katie and her baby sister in their matching coats! Katie’s coat still fits a year later, such cuties :0)
10/13 Finally finished. Coat has been lined in the hood and bodice for structure and support, to counteract the floppy, over-soft end product of the yarn, and it has been shaved as best as possible to remedy the fuzz issue. Seed stitch and garter ridges remain fuzzy as I didn’t want to risk the shaver catching the raised yarn bumps in those areas. All in all, after all of the ‘fixes’ I am satisfied with the result, so I have brought my project back to a :D. I couldn’t bear to have my hours and hours of work (and considerable amount of money!) going to the bottom of my project pile. I am somewhat concerned about the potential outcome of the next washing, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it!
10/10 Coat is almost dry, and I can at least report that it seems to have gone back to nearly it’s original size, though it is about 1/2 - 1” longer than it was. Width and sleeve length are okay. The texture has become much softer though and it doesn’t seem to have the vitality, bounce and body that it had prior to washing. And the layer of fuzz remains. I really don’t know if I can use this. I may have to see if I can find an appropriate fabric to line it with and some kind of tool to deal with the fuzz if at all possible.
10/9 After gently washing the garment in Soak, it does not look good. It has grown immensely and is very fuzzy. We will see what happens when it dries, but I am not hopeful. Looks like I will be starting over with a more reliable, more affordable yarn :(
10/8 knitting finished! better photos to come after washing, blocking and buttons :)
10/7 Both sleeves complete. Tapered the sleeves more than the original pattern by adding an additional decrease round right before starting the cuff (k2, K2tog around). Cuff done in seed rib rather than seed stitch to both allow for extra stretch and also to bring the cuff in a little tighter.
10/3 Mostly done with one sleeve but am having a slight stall while I figure out what I want to do with a coloration discrepancy - I was working two skeins at a time on part of the body, but couldn’t figure how to have enough to carry that through on the sleeves as well. I am going to have to give a bit of thought and possibly some trial and error to make the sleeve transition less noticeable than it is right now…
9/30 Just have the bottom border left to complete the main body portion of the coat. I am going to be adding the hood from this pattern and also followed the stitch count for the size 12 mos. neck cast-on/yoke from the same pattern. The two patterns are nearly identical until reaching the waist shaping and lower body portion, but are designed for different weight yarn. The two ruffle tiers were easily adapted to this change by applying the same general instruction to the new stitch count. Following lengths for the 12-18 mos. size from this tiered coat pattern, while aiming for custom width measurements from recipient which is narrower than pattern specifications.
9/28 the yarn has arrived!
9/25 So I’ve decided to frog what I’ve got so far and cast on again on smaller needles, the fabric is just more stretchy than I like. As I was going to start over anyway, I consulted with the recipient’s mother and we’ve decided to go with a different colorway of this same yarn - Alizarin- for more of a fall feel. So as soon as it arrives in the mail I will cast it on!
9/23 So…this yarn (Tosh Chunky in Antler) is gorgeous and feels wonderful to knit with BUT, despite the fact that I am using a needle one size smaller than the manufacturer’s suggested sizes, the fabric is very stretchy (though not loose or open looking) and will definitely need some stabilizing around the neck and shoulders to keep it from drooping. I will most likely be lining this with a similar colored fabric in the torso area.

10/20 just received photos back - fit is pretty good, though it could have been longer overall and I think the hood definitely could have been both deeper and longer by about 2 inches in each direction.

12/8/14 Very last photo is of matching coat for Katie’s little one month old sister Maddi ♥

Promised this back in March to a friend up north when the weather turned cold again, so here goes!

Measurements:
Length from shoulder to hem: 15”
Length of hood: 9”
Length of sleeve from underarm: 8.75”
Width at chest: 22” circumference
Measurements based on recipient’s request (chest measurement 20.25”).