FO: Kochoran Coat

Here is it, all finished! My rescue yarn arrived earlier this week, and I knitted up the collar, sewed on the last button, and wet blocked it yesterday.

Details

Pattern: My own. The body is worked in stockinette with two wide cables on the front and two more on the back, with another running up each sleeve. The ribbing and collar are worked in rice stitch. The collar buttons up to cover the neck. the body was worked all in one piece with set-in sleeves. I used this method because I did not want to try to match Noro stripes at the seams, especially since the fronts are narrower than the back, which would make for wider stripes in front. The drawback was that the body became extremely heavy while knitting and made my wrists and hands ache. I only wish I had added pockets on the sides. I'm sure there is a way to put them in now, but I know it would involve steeking, and, well...

Yarn: 11 skeins (100 grams each) of Noro Kochoran in color 001.
This is a very dense, heavy, soft blend of wool, silk, and angora. This is a bulky weight yarn. Do not believe the label, which gives a gauge of 4.5 stitches to the inch. I got a gauge of 15 stitches to four inches while swatching, and a post-blocking gauge of 14 stitches to four inches. (The finished coat came out a bit--okay, a lot--larger than I had planned.) The yarn is fairly rough in the skein, but softens as it is worked, and even more after washing, as the angora develops a lovely halo over the fabric. Wet blocking makes a huge difference. Before blocking, the coat was much shorter and wider--so much so that I was not really pleased with the shape. After blocking, the body grew about four inches in length and became correspondingly narrower. The sleeves grew about two inches in length, which is why they are a bit too long in the pictures. I am happy about the drapey, oversized shape, although it was an accident, but if you're using this for a fitted garment, wash and measure your swatch before casting on.

Needles: Size 9 Knit Picks Options 32" circular

Buttons: 8 polymer clay toggle buttons in a grey/white combo, which I made to match the coat. It was an experiment, since I've never worked with clay before. I couldn't find any buttons that I liked locally, and I was shocked at how expensive they are online. During a trip to the local craft store for another project, I stumbled across the clay aisle and thought, "Hey, I'll bet I could make buttons." Five dollars and an hour later, I had a matched set of buttons to match my coat. I will undoubtedly be using this method more in the future.