Molly's Matinee Coat

On Wednesday, April 18th, I became an aunt .... for the eighth time. (gasp) It's so strange for me to realize that my 4 siblings have all had children and I'm the eldest with none. Obviously this gift is a bit delayed, but it won't fit Molly until she's 3 months old, so maybe I'm early?

Molly's Matinee Coat

Pattern: Matinee Coat

Pattern Source: Debbie Bliss Simply Baby
Yarn: Sidar Snuggly DK; white
Needles: Knit Picks Options and Circulars size 6, 5, 3 and 2 US
Modifications: I added a picot edge around the neckline.

Notes about the pattern: Although I really do like the finished object, you couldn't pay me to knit another item in this book. I never understood why people didn't like knitting patterns that don't have a schematic ... until now. None of the patterns in this book or the Debbie Bliss Special Knits book for that matter, have schematics. This made blocking the 5 pieces of this sweater a pain in the arse. I finished knitting all the pieces on April 11th and attempted to start blocking that same day. However, when I discovered there were no schematics, and I'd spent an hour of frustration trying to figure out what measurements to block everything, I gave up. A week later, when my sister called to announce that her daughter had been born, I resolved to tackle the sweater once and for all. I struggled through two hours of calculating, measuring and pinning and crossed my fingers that when I started assembly, it would all come together perfectly. It did all match up fairly well although I discovered that I really dislike seaming. I see top-down sweater patterns in the future.

Notes about the yarn: I originally purchased 5 skeins of this yarn, and today returned the 3 unused skeins to my LYS. Even *I* was surprised that I'd returned the yarn, but to be honest with you, knitting with white yarn was boring and I'm also not a big fan of the nylon/acrylic blend. Although, I'm sure my sister will appreciate that it is washable and I appreciated that it was economical.

Final thoughts: If you are the type of person that can block many pieces of a project successfully without schematics, then I'd highly recommend this book, but if you are like me and don't have enough experience under your belt to block with schematics, stay away. I've also discovered that instead of asking the mother (or picky sister) what they would like me to knit for their baby, I'll just pick a pattern and yarn I'll enjoy working with and hope they like it in the end. After all, if I like what I knit, I'll finish it quickly and be more inclined to not mutter profanities under my breath.