This is a one-skein project to teach the swirl jacket construction from Sandra McIver’s book. While the pattern will walk you through the whole garment, I wrote the pattern with the assumption that you have the knit, Swirl jacket book. This was originally meant as a workshop project to encourage people to try the full-sized jackets in the book, so they would then buy gobs of yarn in the shop.

You can practice all the techniques for an off-centered swirl except the increasing and decreasing at both edges on both right-side and wrong-side rows. To try that, just cast on a flat swatch and work back and forth, auditioning different techniques until you find one you like. Between that swatch and this project, you’ll have the skill set to make a jacket for yourself.

The bear in the picture is a Bearington bear. It is a little larger than a Beanie Baby. A Beanie Baby or a Plushland is okay at this gauge, but the jacket would fit better on one of those smaller bears at a slightly finer gauge.

Why is this pattern free? I must admit to not being 100% happy with it. You’ll find the bodice part of the jacket is not close to lying flat — it is assertively three-dimensional!

This e-booklet file is half-sheet formatted with all the pages in normal order including the blank inside covers. If you have a smaller tablet or you read off your smart phone, you shouldn’t have to zoom as much. You can also print this size if you print on 5.5 x 8 inch paper — i.e. half-sheet. If you’d like a center-fold booklet, use Adobe Acrobat Reader DC and choose the “booklet” option when you print.