Half a Sleeve

[atherleisure]

I reached the halfway point on the sleeve of my 17th century waistcoat this week. I'm pretty pleased with how it's coming. It's 8.75" long now and should be about 16.5" when finished.



The floats on this thing are incredible! Not lining it is not an option.



So far I've used about 15g of pink and 18g of blue. It seems like one 50g ball of each is likely to do for the sleeve.

Comments

[mala_14]

Wow! It's beautiful. It looks like a brocade even though it's a knit. So fascinating. And the colours you chose are lovely.

[atherleisure]

Thanks. From things I've read, these were meant to imitate brocade or embroidery.

[koshka_the_cat]

It's so beautiful!

[atherleisure]

Thank you.

[marianme]

Wow, the contrasting colors really make it pop. Looking forward to seeing the whole thing.

[atherleisure]

Thanks. You'll have awhile to wait. This isn't going to be a fast project!

I'll admit to being a trifle concerned about my color combinations. A lot of these jackets look darker overall than mine does. The individual colors definitely existed in 17th century silks, but I don't know if the blue and pink combination was done. Still, I like it.

[danabren]

Wow those floats!

[atherleisure]

I'm struggling to keep the really long ones from being too tight. They're really something else.

[danabren]

I read somewhere that your float should never be more than 5? stitches. I haven't touched the Viking Sweater in (mumblemumble) but all of my 7-5 stitch floats are caught and my crazylong floats are tied off. It makes (made) for a longer knitting process and in the beginning had the same struggle to not have them tight.

All of which is to say your project will be lined so there will be no accidental snagging, and I think the floats will make the knitted waistcoat behave more like quilted fabric. This project is amazing, did I say that already? You are much braver than I!

[atherleisure]

Seven stitches is the maximum I've heard recommended for floats. I guess they didn't read the advice books in the 17th century. I thought about catching them down to the back and then realized it wasn't worth the effort since it would be fully lined. It occurred to me after I started the project that it was basically going to be double-thickness because of all the yarns being carried over the back; I think you're right about it maybe behaving more like quilted fabric.

Whether I'm brave or insane is yet to be determined. At least it's going faster than I expected. Half a sleeve - admittedly the half with shorter rows - in two weeks isn't so bad.

[danabren]

"I guess they didn't read the advice books in the 17th century."

This is making me laugh harder than it ought :D

Keep those photos coming, this project is beautiful.

[atherleisure]

Thanks!

[hharris]

Oooh so nice! Your colors are more beautiful than the original!

[atherleisure]

Thank you! I like my colors too, though I'm not sure if the blue and pink combination is very 17th century. I've seen extent garments in both the colors I chose but not the combination. Here's hoping it doesn't stick out like a sore thumb to those more knowledgeable.