FO: Matinee Coat

Earlier this week, I mailed off my penultimate lingering Christmas gift - a matinee coat for my niece, Denay.

Matinee Coat - finished

I really liked the lace stitch pattern at the bottom of the coat - it did take me a few attempts to get the pattern down, but once I got going, it was really quick and fun. It's a one-row pattern, with a purl row on the wrong side.

I decided to work the body of the jacket in one piece to eliminate some seaming. For this, I worked the sides and back of the lace pattern together, and separated the pieces once I reached the stockinette section.

Start-End: ?,2007 - Feb 17, 2008
Pattern: Matinee Coat from Simply Baby by Debbie Bliss
Yarn: Sirdar Snuggly DK in shade 0257
Needles: KnitPicks Options and fixed circulars sizes US 6 (4.0 mm), US 3 (3.25 mm) and US 5 (3.75 mm)
New-to-Me Techniques: Lace Knitting

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I felt the yarn could be a little bit splitty. Having said that, it's a great choice for babies - it's quite soft, comes in a variety of colors and is machine washable. I can see using it for other baby projects in the future.

I am very happy with the finished product. All the patterns in Simply Baby are simple and timeless, but require a good amount of seaming up in the end. My biggest gripe with the book is the lack of decent photos and schematics. This particular pattern lacked a good, clear picture of the finished piece. While the photos that were included were well-shot and artistic, they were not particularly helpful, making me very glad for Ravelry.

Success

There has been knitting lately, albeit at a much slower pace than I would like. This has been a very busy week for me. Mr. Tall and I both managed to get sick, with different bugs. While he has apparently been resistant to whatever I brought home, I can't say the same for myself :( This is also my last week at OldJob, which has proved to be very draining, especially given that I don't quite feel 100%.

But the main cause of stress this week has been my UK driving test. Thankfully, this morning I won that battle.

I passed!

I was really worried that I was going to fail this test the first time around. This is largely due to:

1. The higher percentage of people who fail this test the first time.


2. The differences in UK and US driving requirements


3. That I've developed bad driving habits over the (almost) 14 years since I have taken a driving test


4. That my driving instructor, while well-meaning, made me MORE nervous and MORE paranoid than any human should be.

Still, this morning I was relieved the moment I saw my examiner. He was one of those people you look at and immediately know that everything is going to be o.k. - a proper older English gentleman, complete with tweed cap and jolly disposition. In the end, I survived having only incurred 3 out of the allowed 15 minor faults.

I feel much better now that I can legally drive in the UK again, and am looking forward to a quiet weekend of R&R and knitting before I start NewJob on Monday!