As my gauge is coming out quite a bit larger and it’s not possible to go down a needle size or knit a smaller size as I’m already making the smallest to get a 3- 6 mos. size, I will be reducing the stitch count by 7 stitches on the back and 4 on each side. This includes edge stitches intended for seaming as I will be knitting this in one piece.

Marianne decided she didn’t care for the pockets so I have not included them.

I knit this coat seamlessly as I really dislike sewing knitted pieces together. I cast on both fronts and backs at once and knit until the point at which armhole decreases begin and then separated them.

Instead of binding off the shoulder individually on each piece (fronts/back) I did a three needle bind-off to join the shoulders and then I also bound off the back neck stitches. I then picked up stitches in the same spot on the next row across the back neck. I preferred to do this to create more stability in the neck area instead of just continuing to knit.

As written, the number of stitches for the hood at the back of the neck is greater than the number of stitches bound off at the back of the neck. Original instructions say to ease in the extra fabric when seaming the hood to the back neck, but instead I just increased evenly the same number of stitches on the second row after picking the back neck stitches up again. To finish the hood I ended knitting on a wrong side row, leaving a purl bump row to the outside as the last row and then did a three needle bind-off on the inside of the hood in purl. It is invisible from the outside and only slightly visible from the inside.

The pattern has the sleeves constructed from cuff to underarm and then sewn on - I knit them from the top down. Sleeve stitches were picked up around the armhole (the same number of stitches that the pattern says to end the sleeve on) but NOT picked up at the bound off underarm stitches. I did not join in the round for the first 6 rows (it would be 8 rows according to the pattern but my gauge was off) to create the side edge which gets sewn together with the underarm. After the 6 rows I joined in the round and reversing the instructions in the pattern knit toward the cuff, decreasing in the places specified as increases.

4/28/18 Jamie has just turned 6 mos. and is starting to wear 9 mos. sized clothing, but mommy still squeezes him into the favorite red jacket!
12/2/17 Jamie is such a big boy that at just over one month he is starting to fit into his 3 - 6 month size coat!