SYLVI-KAL: The Ultimate Coat!

Knit-Alongs
181

OK, based on the FRONT schematic, the front from the bottom UP TO the RAGLAN decreases is about 3/4 of the length of the front. The raglan decreases and neckline shaping make up the other 1/4. So for my 32 extra rows, I need to sneak 24 of them in the bottom portion, and 8 of them in the top portion.

QUESTION: Should I put all of my upper 8 rows in the RAGLAN decrease section, or should a couple go in the neckline shaping? I’m not familiar enough with pieced sweater construction to decide…

For the bottom 24 extra rows, I am planning to do the first 2 rows “six more times” instead of “4 more times” (ADD 4 rows), then the decreases every 10th row “6 more times” instead of “5” (ADD 10 rows), every 8th row “8 more times” instead of “7” (ADD 8 rows), and then I will add 2 rows to the “work even until” section. This should give me 148 rows instead of 124. (This only works for the small size, but if mine works out I can help someone else do the math if their row gauge is off and they are tall!)

Then, I will need to match up the extra rows in the BACK section. I’ll do 24 in the lower portion and 8 in the upper portion.

I am still going to try to do the short rows as Artlady suggested. I don’t want the buttonband BUMP!

182

Here is my update on Sylvi:

My yarn arrived on Tuesday, I had never before ordered from this factory -thing. I now had 1650g of 12-ply 100% Merino, color eggplant. So far so good, but the stuff is not twisted at all, it’s just 12-ply running parallel!:oo: So I started swatching and realized it is very easy to enter split yarn hell with this.:evil:

On 8mm I have 13 st and 20.5 rows. I looked at the modifications for the larger size Sylvi on the TC-blog and held up a tape measure according to those numbers, and that would give me 8" of ease. Not exactly what I want.

I am not a big person as such, well how should I put it in English, well it’s only my bust measurement that is big. So it would not make much sense to knit a 52" version.
I thought of abandoning this project altogether, but here I was stuck with 1650g of eggplant colored yarn.

I finally made up my mind to knit one sleeve as per largest size in the pattern, my row gauge would only matter much in the sleeve cap area, for almost everything before that is given in cm/inch and not in rows, I could just knit the sleeve cap as pattern and try it on. And that’s what I did.

I made it flat, cause magic loop just felt too awkward with 8mm needles. I don’t even split yarn anymore, now that I have the hang of knitting this stuff!:woot:

I tried it on over another sweater and as far as I can see it fits very nicely. So if I understood it correctly, if the armhole depth made by the raglan shaping fits on the sleeve, it will also fit on front and back and I can just go ahead as the pattern says? I do not mind if the coat is somewhat shorter.

After this sleeve I realized that the fabric will be very stretchy and that the coat will probably grow in length with time.

Sorry for the long story.

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Hi Anna!

Wow, you have made real progress. Your sleeves look great. I am glad to have some more photos from someone using COLOR! :happydance: Your stitching is so even!

How tall are you? At 20 sts/ 4" instead of 16 sts, your coat will be ~31" long instead of 39" if you do nothing. In the 41 and 44" sizes, about 1/3 of that length difference is in the raglan decrease / sleeve cap area (2.5"). Unless you are very short, I think that 2.5" will make a difference and pull on your underarm area…

What does everyone else think?

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My row gauge is way off too… 20 instead of 16 :frowning: The coat is for my daughter who is short sho maybe it’ll be ok…

I have a question about the sleeve increase. Directions say to knit to one stitch before the marker M1R knit the stitch, SM M1L and knit next stitch (keeping in patter.

By adding two stitches does that mean that the stitch BETWEEN the 2 M1’s will be "out of pattern?? ie P if it’s a K or K if it’s a P???

185

You’re right Maureen. If you lengthen the armhole region for the FRONTS and BACK, you’d have to correspondingly do the same for the armhole region of the SLEEVES.

That’s why we try to avoid lengthening or shortening the armhole regions of the sleeves.

Well, I assume your sleeves are done. You could frog the sleeve caps to match the FRONTS and BACK.

Well, check out the chart and see where you can sneak in those 32 additional rows for just the body, not the armhole region!
Edited to add: oh, I didn’t read far enough! Looks like you have a good plan for adding your additonal rows! You are doing exactly what the taller RAV Sylvi knitters did, too!

First though, how is the length of the sleeves? I mean, how does the sleeve cap seem to fit? Does it fall far enough below your armpit? We don’t want a sleeve that cuts up right against our armpit. You might not have to re-do your sleeve caps if they’re ok as is, and then you can put all the increases in the body of the FRONTS and BACK. I think that’d be ok, don’t you, despite the proportions? 3/4 body 1/4 armhole

Sorry, I forgetted that you’d already finished your sleeves. :doh:

186

Ginny~ I hated the increase style suggested in the pattern! :wall:

So that is why I did this type of increase: work up to within 1 st of marker: works a k1f&b, slip marker, make another kf1&b.
Period. One increase, slip marker, one increase! Voila. And it will keep seed stitch synchronized properly!

//youtu.be/ILcTB5hc0XM

Here is my results:

187

Anna~ My yarn is just like yours! It is 12 wispy untwisted, unplied strands. Our kind of yarn is called ‘single ply’, meaning the spinner didn’t take two piles of fiber and spin them one around the other ‘plying them’ as she spun the yarn.

Some yarns are 3 ply, 4 ply etc. But single plies are my favorite.

BUT, as you are finding out…they are very prone to the splits, and in those cases, I put away my KnitPicks OPTIONS and Harmony’s, and pick up my Addi Turbos. Addis don’t split the yarn. The tips are bulbous enough to glide around the yarn, not split it.

Your sleeve looks fabulous, and I love the color you chose!
Thanks for posting the nice photos for us!

188

You’re sleeves look great Anna. I have been sick with the flu so I haven’t been knitting much over the last few days. I am about half way done with the first sleeve. I don’t know how well I like it though. I’ll have to post pictures to get some opinions soon.

189

I just dropped a tape measure down my back, and 31" is approx. in the middle of my thigh. That’s alright for me, if it were knee length as in the pattern, it would probably make me look shorter anyway. I am about 1.63 meters tall.

I also laid the sleeve out on my arm again and as far as I can see the underarm bind off is about 2" below my armpit. It is a bit hard to envision it right now, while holding the sleeve together with the other arm. I guess I will see more clearly when I have one of the fronts done, and if I then find that the armhole is too short/small, I can still rip back and insert rows in the raglan shaping somehow, can’t I?

Well I do not have that many knitting needle options, well not in 8mm anyway so I can’t really switch to anything else. I just knit the whole thing a little bit slower, then it does not split so much anymore. It makes a really beautiful fabric, this yarn. I am so curious about how this coat will look and behave when it’s done and worn.

190

Anna, you’re about 5’4" (for us Americans). I think if you hold the 10 sts on holders up to the side of your neck and you have room between your armpit and the bound off sts, that you can at least give it a try with OUT adding addl. rows. If you get finished and do a try on and it’s too tight in that region, you’ll have a little frogging to do on each piece, but it won’t be that far, as long as you’re happy with a 31" length. Go for it!

Artlady, I did finish the sleeves but I wasn’t 100% sure about them. When I pull the sts all the way up to my sideneck, they are a bit snug under the armpit. I think I should try to sneak some increases in that top portion. I was planning on [I]possibly[/I] having to frog the sleeves a bit…

[U]What do you think about the raglan decrease area VS. the neck short rows?[/U] :hmm: Should I keep all the extra rows in the raglan decrease area? Or should I try to add rows in the neck short row area too? I need to add 8 rows total in that region.

I ran out of yarn last night (well, only ran out of what I had WITH me at work) so I’m still in the first 30 rows of the LF.

191

Well I have decided to bite the bullet and do my coat completely different. I am knitting it all in one piece. I cast on for two fronts and back at once and did a 3 inch border of seed stitch, will carry on with the seed stitch up the front for the button bands and do the coat in stockinette stitch with the cables on the back. One reason I decided to do it this way is because the 109 yarn is plied and a little like soft rope and creates a very holey look to the seed stitch which i did not like, so am hoping the stockinette stitch will be less holey. Doing it in one piece so I can get all the sides and sleeve decreases to match up because I do think I will have to increase the armhole area as my upper arms are big and would fit snug in the 47 inch size. Have never done anything in one piece before so I am sure I will be knitting and frogging quite a lot before this is done. but since winter is nearly over there is no rush to get it finished.

192

UGH! I made a mistake in my calculations…

I forgot to take into account that if I add an extra 10 rows with a decrease in it, then I WILL HAVE FEWER STS than the pattern calls for. :doh:

Luckily I realized it before I got too far. I had to frog 10 rows. So instead of Plan A, I am doing 12 repeats of a decrease every 10 rows. That will give me 12 decreased sts, but also the extra rows I needed in that section.

I haven’t decided what to do about the raglan and neckline section yet. I am LEANING toward doing all the extra rows in the raglan shaping section (of course being careful not to add extra decreases now that my brain is back in my head). :frog:

I am going out of town for a few days on Sunday, and so I won’t be working on Sylvi. It is a short flight to Vegas, and I think I am going to take a sock to work on. That should be conducive to getting a gin & tonic on the plane, and talking to my friend while knitting.

193

For those of us planning to knit a collar instead of a hood :waving:, would we pick up sts and add that at the very end, after the finishing? We don’t need to add anything to the top of the fronts and back AS WE GO, right? :hmm:

194

I’ve found the little yarn markers for each 10 rows to be helpful… at first I was scoffing, but it IS hard to count seed stitch rows as compared to stockinette. I’ve also been using a stitch marker between the seed stitch and the button band so I remember to switch back and forth. I CAN fix mistakes a few rows down in seed stitch, but it is a PITA so I’d RATHER not!

I have had to add short rows to compensate for the buttonband growing at a faster rate than the seed stitch, too! My first ones were rows 5 & 13, and now I just hold up the knitting every so often to see if that buttonband is getting too long. When it does, I pop in a short row to let the seed stitch field catch up.

195

Maureen~ If it were me, I’d leave those 12 neckline shaping short rows completely alone. I would add all extra rows below the neckline area.

Isn’t it the pits that row gauge would screw us all up so much?
Row gauge isn’t usually so critical.

But in the end, it will be worth it to work this through! It is definitely a learning experience!

I made 3 entire sleeves to get two good ones, and if you count all the frogging I did, I prolly made close to 4 sleeves! I re-knit the sleeve caps twice, and re-knit from cuffline to armpit once on a sleeve that I ended up scrapping and re-knitting entirely! Shees. :teehee: That is 4 sleeves! :eyes:

196


Finally done!

Was able to cast on and work 18 rows for the BACK last night!
It is slow going.

[B][COLOR=Blue]Here are two HEADS UP for the BACK:

[/COLOR] [COLOR=Blue]Tip #1) [/COLOR]
[/B]Remember, the FRONTS tell us to work a “foundation row”…which becomes the WS…then you are told to turn the work around RS facing, and work Row 1. The result is that the 'ropey edge" of the cast on is the RIGHT SIDE.

Here’s the rub: the directions for the BACK tell us to cast on 110 stitches, and then immediately begin working Chart Row 1. Huh? :??

If I had followed that advice, the ropey edge for the FRONTS would not match the purl-bump edge now created for the BACK.

[B]MY REMEDY: [/B]

  1. Cast on.
  2. Turn the work and work [U]Chart Row 2[/U]. (don’t forget: even number rows are worked from [U]left to right on the chart[/U])
  3. Turn the work, and begin knitting from Chart Row 1, up.

This put the ‘ropey edge’ on the public side.

I don’t know why this small thing escaped the pattern directions. :??

PS: yes, it will add one extra row to the total length…but I don’t think it will matter. It would be worse if the BACK’s edges didn’t match the FRONT’s edges! :eyes: Especially where they meet along the side seams!

[COLOR=Blue][B]Tip #2)[/B][/COLOR]
[B]Go slow. [/B]Sometimes I’m knitting a RS row, beginning with seed stitch…seeding up to the center region…stopping at, and looking at, a symbol…and saying to myself [B]HUH? :?? [/B]What the devil?

So, I count the number of seed stitches up to the point in question…let’s say 32…“hmmm…so there has to be 32 seeds worked first…then the [U]next two st[/U] are the symbol…”

(Today, I’m going to draw some vertical lines within the seed parts of the chart, marking off every 10 seed stitches in width, so I don’t have to count seed st on each side of the cable work [I]ever again![/I] I’ll post a photo of my amended chart when I get it done. I thought I’d go nuts counting seed stitches over and over again. The colored “size lines” don’t make it any easier!)

The BACK CHART is confusing at first. So,[B] go slow[/B], make sure what you’re doing. Better to get it right than frog rows and rows. Even when working the resting rows (WS)…I had to [U]count stitches[/U] to make sure that [U]what I have on my row matches what the chart says I should have[/U]. Your WS resting row is kinda like your ‘check up’ row. If the WS resting row doesn’t add up, then you made a mistake on the previous RS working row! Tink now, or sink later!

I’m going to begin installing lifelines in this baby, remembering to mark on the chart what row is just below the lifeline! :teehee:

The [B]WS[/B] is the [B]‘resting’ row[/B] cuz it doesn’t normally have any cable ‘jobs’ to do.
The [B]RS[/B] is the [B]‘working’[/B] row cuz you have to work the cable assignments.

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Hey, thanks for the tip about the foundation row for the back. That’s one less row I have to add! :slight_smile:

Your front side looks great. :yay: Did you try to do a try-on? I have been loving having that left front growing longer and longer resting in my lap. I think I’m really going to love the coat when it’s done.

Lifelines are always great, and after making lots of mistakes when knitting lace, I learned that the easiest way for me is to count each “resting” row. Yes, I really do count the sts on EVERY WS row. That way I know right away if I’ve made a boo-boo and can just tink back. Most patterns DON’T have the # of sts listed very often, so I usually have to figure it out for myself and write it in. That’s how I realized my mistake on adding decrease rows before it got out of hand! If I ever get good enough to write a pattern, I’m going to post a stitch count EVERY time it changes, AND I’m going to remember this row gauge fiasco and try my best to use just length measurements, not row count (although I understand why she did it this way for this pattern, it sure is a PITA!)

Do you think if the patch pockets don’t work out, we can add hidden pockets on the seam line? I’m thinking of knitting a pouch and just seaming it into place (I’m doing the seams per pattern). Would that work? I’ve never made a pocket before, but this coat HAS TO HAVE THEM!

198

~Maureen! Yes, you’re right! The side-seam slash (hidden) pockets would be great. A Rav knitter did so, and shared some good tips on how she did it.

If we did slash pockets, it would leave the right or left front free to put a vine, flower and leaf (like the blue Sylvi posted earlier)!

I tried to locate that Rav knitter again, to post a link to her project page, but didn’t succeed in hunting her up. Rav software started acting up…and I couldn’t open pages 7 & 8 in the FO Sylvi thread.

No, didn’t do a try-on of all 4 pieces cuz there isn’t anyting to clip the fronts to yet. Holding up the front to my bod was good enough to know where the length hits. I’m counting on the ‘stretch factor’ to lengthen my coat southward!

Here are two cropped photos of how I marked every 10 stitches in the seed areas surrounding the cable region. (Cropped to keep the designer happy!):

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Hi Karina~ I’ve seen a few SYLVI’s over at Rav that are primarily st st, and they look just great! I think what makes SYLVI unique is the BACK design work, so really, however we want to modify the rest of the coat is fine! I like your 3" seed stitch border. That will give it a nice “frame” and has some nice presence! I also like the seed stitch continuing up the FRONTS for the buttonbands! That will present a very lovely “frame”. I am glad you did a full 3" for the bottom! It needs some heft!

Good luck to you! I know you will do it! The coat itself is not all that hard. It’s just a very simple structure. Very easy to modify.

Keep us posted! :happydance:

200

I had to do that, too! Each row being so long…the seed mantra gets a’rollin’…and you can totally forget to switch gears at the 6 st buttonband section!

That entire buttonband needs occasional short rows…however, I just did mine on rows 5, 9, 13, & 17 to prevent the buttonband BUMP. But, after you get the entire FRONTS done, you can see that the buttonbands are a little itty bit too wavy. Like, a few short rows woulda cleaned it up.
But, I wasn’t thinking about it…so now I have to live with it.

I hope that scrunching the buttonbands during blocking will work some magic “shrink-to-fit”! :teehee: