Post Waterloo

As Waterloo came to a finish, I began strolling through my EZ books , looking for my next project. And at the same time, thinking about cleaning up my knitting chair . acreage. When I knit, I tend to keep all the tools close at hand make a great mess. By the end of the project, there are piles everywhere. Piles of books, yarn, needles, notebooks, pens etc.

Putting everything away definitely lacks the fun and excitement of the knitting. Especially putting away the excess yarn, as I store my yarn by colour, Sally Melville style. In the case of Waterloo, that would mean pulling several bags of various coloured yarn off the shelves. How much work is that? Instead I could clean up the fun way - keep knitting until the yarn is gone.

It seemed to me that the Tomten Jacket might be a perfect use of those leftover yarns. The Tomten Jacket, found in EZ's The Opinionated Knitter, Knitting Workshop and Knitting Without Tears is another of Elizabeth's wonderfully constructed pieces of knitting. Knit in one piece, back and forth and garter stitch, the jacket is based on the number 112.

112 is the number of cast on stitches. The upper back and fronts are fractions of 112. (Precursor to Elizabeth's percentage system, I'm sure.) The sleeves are picked up at the top and knit down. The great thing about Elizabeth is how her instructions based on fractions can accommodate several sizes. Using the same 112 stitches, but different size yarn and needles, the instructions will make any size from baby to adult. I like that kind of thinking. (My Briggs & Little Heritage should make the baby size.)

I am off to a great start. Past the pockets

and with two sets of short rows in the back section, finished,

I am about half way to the underarms. Much faster than Waterloo.

Garter stitch can be boring, but this construction defies boredom. I am anxious to see the finished product. This is much more exciting than cleaning up.