Blueberry Swirl

I am knitting along with my mum on this one. She got the book "Knit Swirl" by Sandra McIver a few weeks ago. Sandra designs the most fabulous circular/oval garments which drape amazingly. They are a very unusual construction. I am knitting Plum Perfect in gorgeous Kilcarra Donegal Tweed in colourway navy. The patterns are very dependent on gauge and the gauge is not measured quite the way it normally is, so swatches are essential. If you want to see the garments, this is a link to Sandra's website. http://knitswirl.sumnermckenzie.com/

The garments come in three sizes but each size can be worn by a very wide range of differently shaped ladies, and still look fabulous because they are so drapey. I'm a bit nervous about this project to be honest, as the construction is unusual and there is a very long and prominent seam involved. I am appallingly bad at seaming knitting and am going to have to buckle down and learn to do mattress stitch since the garment is reversible and mistakes will show clearly. Another interesting feature of this particular jacket, is its ability to be worn right way up as a longer jacket or upside down as a short jacket with a huge collar.

Anyway, I have begun, as you can see, by casting on over 500 stitches and joining them into a circle. One round is taking over half an hour to complete, but the nice thing about this pattern is you are decreasing from the maximum as you go, so rounds get quicker not slower on this section of the project.