I’m still in the mood for embellishments, form fitted knitting and traditional patterning after my last two projects. So I embark on my second version of this jacket designed by Kari Haugen.

The design is quite fascinating to me, and I think I will always wonder if it’s a bit “too much” or if it’s just right. I would like to knit with Peer Gynt yarn from Sandnes Garn, but my LYS didn’t have in stock what I needed, so I ended up using Rauma 3tråds instead. I’m hoping it will turn out to be a good choice, but I’m unsure if I should have used a larger needle.

I started with the sleeves and decided to embellish as I finish each piece. The hardest part is to decide upon what colors to use and how much to embroider, I don’t want it to become a sensory overload… I’m using Rauma Finull for the embroidery since it’s the “sister” of 3tråds and I have close to 70 colors in my stash. I’m using 2 pinks, 2 purples, 2 greens and one orange for now, and then I can review it when it’s completed, to see if it needs more.

July 7th: I have finished the body up to the underarms and I’m going to knit the front and the back separately/flat from this point. I really don’t appreciate the thought of bulky steeks around the armholes in this (to me heavy) yarn, and I don’t mind knitting back and forth with two colors. However, I have one big problem with this design that I was not aware of until I was half way through the length of the body, and it’s such a disappointment to me… The pattern isn’t symmetrical in the front and middle back… It turns out only size M, which is the size I made last time, has symmetry in the lower body part. This means I will not be embellishing this part of the body at all, as it would only point out the problem in a big way, and I was so much looking forward to do that! I have decided to rather focus the embroidery on the front bands a lot more than planned, and also on the yoke part as that is symmetrical.

Picking up stitches for the button bands I decide to stick with 3,5 mm needles, since 3 mm and this yarn would be a chore. I trust my go-to ratio which has worked well for me so many times before and pick up in 3 out of 4 stitches, this gives me 116 sts. I knit the band as per the instructions and will decide later if I will use buttons or clasps.

Finished today and decided to take a few pictures before I tossed it in the washing machine. No buttons or clasps yet, I will decide on that after it’s washed and dried.