Finished: Unlooked-for Silhouette Big Sweater

Here are some more details about the poncho-sweater from Richmore Eyes Collection volume 109 that seems to have caught the attention of many non-Japanese knitters.

Construction and size

Gauge of the original pattern:
14 stitches and 19 rows per 10cm=4inches square.

Size as printed in the original pattern:
total vertical length= 68cm
length of shoulder (from neck to tip of sleeve) = 74cm

 

The original pattern shows the back and front piece separately, but I knit both pieces as one, since the right shoulder needs to seamed anyways.

The blue lines are where you seam together.
The red lines become the hem/cuff/neck and should remain unseamed.

 

The size breakdown as shown in the original pattern.
My actual sweater is smaller (total vertical length=61cm) because I’m 5 feet tall (^。^)

 

After all the seaming is done.

 

The back view after the hem and cuffs are added.
The hem of the original pattern is 15cm; the cuff is 10cm; and the collar is 22cm.
I knit 10cm for the hem, 17cm for the cuff, and 21cm for the collar.

 

For those who bought the pattern

Here are some notes that may be of help:

Numbers
In bold = length in cm
In parentheses = number of stitches (horizontal) or rows (vertical)

Neck ribbing decrease
Pick up 32 stitches per one side of the square neck opening, so 32×4=128 stitches total.

Decrease 2 stitches along the front neck line, and 2 stitches along the back neck line, so 4 stitches per row, for 14 rows total (as shown in the lower right schematic on pg42). So 56 stitches decreased from 128 = 128-56=72 stitches.

The needle sizes are shown in Japanese standards, but the pattern tells you to switch to a thicker needle every 8 rows for the neck ribbing.

Decrease symbols
This page is very clear and helpful.  It’s in Japanese but the schematics are self-explanatory.

The “knitting 3 stitches into 1 stitch” (the 3rd explanation from bottom in the above linked page) is especially important for the pattern.

 

 

For those interested in purchasing the pattern

Please see Related posts at the bottom of this post for more information.

 

Some more photos

Frontal view, with arms down.

 

Left side view.

I decided I like this sweater with a white skirt better.

 

Right side is bulgy.

Made sure I can spread my arms.

 

Note to self: don’t use my left arm to hail down a taxi  (^_^;)

 

You can raise your right arm up high instead (^_^)b

 

All in all, I’m very happy with this sweater. If the business men in the rush hour train give me the looks, it will be because of the fluffy mohair that stick to their business suits, but I’ll just pretend like I’m too fashionable to care (^_-)

Related posts

[BOOK REVIEW] RICHMORE BEST EYES COLLECTIONS VOL.109

HOW TO ORDER RICHMORE BEST EYES COLLECTION FROM RAKUTEN

My Ravelry project page

How to order Richmore Best Eyes Collection from Rakuten

It’s a total embarrassment that the largest e-commerce site in Japan is so user-unfriendly to non-Japanese customers.

Here’s my modest contribution to amend the situation, especially for fellow knitters who want to order the Richmore Best Eyes Collection magazine, Vol 109.

Here is a peek into the magazine with photos of some of the patterns (^○^)

 

If you have any problems, let me know via Ravelry (I’m here).

Oh, and please do note that this magazine is in Japanese. 
No English instructions (like K2, P1, etc).
The patterns are shown in chart-style.  I know there many non-Japanese knitters have figured out how to read them, and I think there are online tutorials on how to read these charts.

Cheers!

——————
Note on Step3.

By choosing to order as a non-member of Rakuten, you will not accrue any Rakuten points, which is 1point for 100 yen by default (or higher depending on different campaigns).

Overseas residents can register as a Rakuten member, but the registration form requires entering phonetic spelling of your name in Japanese characters.

So totally useless, Rakuten!!!
——————

 

Step 1: Select number of items

Zoom-up of the above page

Step 2: Proceed to order

 

Step 3: Enter customer info
*Choose the third option:  order without becoming a Rakuten member.

 

Details of customer information form
(same page as above)

Example for a U.S. resident

Step 4: Select and enter payment/shipment method (same page)

Payment:

Shipping:

 

Step 5: Confirm information and finalize order

*Don’t forget to un-select all the pre-checked boxes at the bottom of the page, or else you will start receiving massive number of advertisement emails (in Japanese) from Rakuten.

 

Scroll down..

 

Step 6: You should receive a few emails.

 

1)Confirmation email from Rakuten (the “mall”)

 

2) Confirmation email from the actual retail store (毛糸蔵かんざわ in this case)

Wording differs by store, but the title most likely will include the name of the store, and the word for “order”.

3) Shipping confirmation email from the store

[book review] Richmore Best Eyes Collections Vol.109

Richmore is the luxury spin-off brand of Hanamaka brand, the Lexus of Toyota, if you will.

Their seasonal publication of “Richmore Best Eyes Collections” showcases their new yarns.

Most online yarn stores in Rakuten (Japan’s largest e-commerce mall) carry the magazine, but they sell out pretty quickly, especially after knitter bloggers excitedly post a “book review” of the new issue.

For Vol. 109, which has the twisty sweater, there are only 2 stores that still have some in stock: here and here.
The former store, Kanzawa, will ship overseas. The website is in Japanese though.

If you live in Tokyo, Okadaya in Shinjuku carries both the magazine and most of the Richmore yarn.

The magazine is 980 yen, which is about 13 dollars.  
Yikes, the strong yen makes is expensive in dollars (>_<)

I’m not sure if yarn stores in U.S. and EU and elsewhere, but I’ve noticed a lot of stores now carry Japanese knit/craft books, so maybe some do.  Let me know if you spot one outside of Japan(^_^)b

Also, Richmore just launched their own website (they apparently did without one until now, which led even the Japanese knitters to think that it was some overseas luxury brand!). It shows all the patterns in large beautiful photos from the next Best Eyes Collection, Vol.110.   Doesn’t look like they’re selling anything online.  The Japanese is a little timid and slow about selling digitized publication, but hopefully they’ll take that route soon.

For those of you seriously considering buying the magazine, here’s a quick look through some of the patterns that caught my eye.

The cover was a knock-out.

 

The theme of the first half is “Ice and Snow”.

Scarf-hat (I didn’t know there’s a word for it–cagoule) knit with Richmore Sofftweed and Soffspark, both new yarns.

 

I like the simplicity of the  jacket.

 

The dress is cute too, but of course my eyes were glued to the sweater on the right.

 

The caption reads:

“This can’t be! ”  You may blurt out. 
The collar is located on the side, and the cuffs on the bottom.
An iconoclastic design that challenges the very basics of fashion. 
A new screw-line look that wraps around like a vine.

Designed by Kazuyo Nakamura
Yarn: Soffspark

 

 

I liked the subtly and the wintery-ness of this sweater.

 

This seems a quick knit that I can use in my winter wardrobe.
New yarn, Mohair Plume.

 

The theme of the second half is “Aurora” and presents Richmore’s variegated yarn.

Their colors are a lot less crazy than Noro, but beautiful in a subdued way.

I thought the sweater on the right was cute, but it uses 4 different types of yarn, which is a little too overwhelming for me.
Inspring, though.

 

 

The diagonally striped sweater on the right caught my eye with its asymmetrical and partially crocheted sleeve.

Seemed like a fun knit until I looked at the pattern and found that you knit from the left bottom corner, increasing in different manner on both sides for the hem and lateral shaping.

I think I’ll leave that one to the super guru knitters (^。^)

 

 

I’ve been wanting to incorporate a little bit of green in my wardrobe.

This sweater uses Richmore favorite, Bacara Epoc, which is a mixture of alpaca, wool, mohair and some nylon.

Usually, cables knit with variegated yarn seems too much, but I liked this one.

Maybe if I find the yarn on sale..

 

The last 2 pages had some weaving projects.
I don’t weave, but I though the Christmas tree stole was cute and thought adding a few of them in Laura Chau’s Cityscape cardigan would be a fun holiday knit.

That’s it!
There are many pages I skipped, but you get the idea!

I think buying this magazine opened my eyes to the wealth of Japanese brand yarns (although some of them are actually imported from Europe or co-branded with overseas brands, I think).

I’m looking forward to trying out some of them out in the near future!

 

Japanese Archipelago swatched

I felt all warm and fuzzy when I saw the map of Japan on the Shop navigation page of Puppy (Japanese yarn brand) web site.

I’m just so relieved that summer is almost over (I am not built to withstand the heat and humidity of summer in Tokyo) and all romanticizing about the imminent fall season.

And  a look at something knittery like this just enforces my giddiness 🙂

 

Puppy website

 

Clover vs Tulip: super cute and functional crochet needle set!

I’ve never been much of a crochet knitter, but this book, “Small crochet projects with traditional intarsia patterns” intrigued me, and I started seriously considering investing in a crochet needle set.

かぎ針で編む　伝統柄のあみこみこもの [大型本]

 

Then, all of a sudden Japanese knitter bloggers started buzzing about the debut of 2 new series of crochet needle sets: one by Tulip, and the other by Clover.

Either it’s a happy coincidence, or I must have just usually filtered out any crochet-related news until now.

They’re both very pretty and seem very functional with a nice ergonomic grip.

Mmmm… the colors!

Pink etimo crochet needles by Tulip company.

 

 

Amure crochet needle set by Clover

 

The colorfulness is not just for looks.

Knitters have been complaining that with theiir Pen-E crochet needles, size engraving wears off eventually, making it difficult to tell the sizes apart.

So they color-coded the needles.  Brilliant and pretty!!

 

 

I think I will buy one or two sizes of the Clover rainbow color set, and slowly collect the rest of the sizes if I end up crocheting more.

 

Charity knit: Girl Friday sweater for a Vietnamese child

The intense humidity has finally lifted, and it finally feels like early fall in Tokyo.

Although it was actually hotter last summer, for some reason I had a really tough time dealing with the heat and humidity this year, and I am so glad the summer is over.

I was so anxious for autumn to arrive that I started re-working on the Girl Friday cardigan-turned-sweater.

I’d finished all the parts for the cardigan a year ago, but I somehow couldn’t bring myself to seam them together because I knew I wouldn’t wear it.

 

 

 

I’d bought the Malabrigo Merino Worsted yarn online after seeing that it was one of the highest ranking yarn on ravelry, and every one seemed to love this yarn.

And it is a beautiful, soft yarn.  But I soon realized that it’s too soft and mushy for my taste.

I still knit an entire cardigan because I so wanted to fall in love with it, to be part of the Malabrigo Merino fan base.

Then I realized that I can turn this into a sweater and give it away to the annual sweater/scarf charity for children in developing Asian countries.

Earlier this year, I frogged the 2 frontal pieces and started knitting a single frontal piece for the sweater.

I was speeding along and within a week was nearly done…when I realized with a gasp that I’d forgotten all about the shoulder decreases  orz  <– Do you use these emoji/emoticons in the States, or is it purely a Japanese thing?  Probably the latter :p  I used to think it was some geek abbreviation because I’d only see it in geeky blogs, but it’s not an abbreviation.  It’s a person kneeling down with his/her hands on the ground, in dismay, literally floored.  o is the head, r the arm, z the lower body.

I’m usually pretty laid back about frogging and re-knitting, but this time, I was annoyed and ended up sticking the entire project in my to-do basket, where it slept during the spring and summer.

I was afraid I wasn’t going to get my mojo back to finish it up, but as I mentioned earlier, the long hot summer was so brutal for me this year, and I was so ready for a decisive break-up with no-knitting season that I eagerly picked up this project and finished it in a few evenings.

Yay! ＼(^O^)／

Why is it that Japanese are so much more expressive when using emoticons, while Americans seem to recycle 3 or 4 variations of the eyes :  ; and mouths ) ( D p  ?

Must remind myself to weave in the ends and pack it up, so as not to panic when the first week of November creeps up.  (They only accept the charity sweaters during the first week of November.)

I love the faux cable stitch of this pattern.  It was both easy and gratifying to knit, and the fabric comes out very 3-dimensional and fluffy and warm  (^-^)

2010 EOY tidbit

Here’s a quick note of some of the end-of-year knitting-related activities:

I cleaned my left-over yarn stash box.

Didn’t throw away too much, except some super old white yarn passed on to my from my mom years ago and wasn’t quite white any more (I think she bought them before she had me!)

But I did get rid of the old plastic bags, like the one from Shimokitazawa Puppy store which is my lys, and another from CT where I went to high school!! (Hello, pack rat!)

I re-stuffed them in clear ziplock bags and sorted them out by color.

Much better!  Now I’m so much more motivated to actually try and use them 🙂

I promoted my knitting tools to the prime location right next to my desk, where I can access it immediately.

I realized that I use more than my pens or business cards or bookmarks, so instead of cramming them in a small British Airway zipped bag and a file box, I dedicated a whole drawer where I can see and reach easily.

I started knitting a baby poncho using left-over yarn from above, and learned how to knit a double I-cord edging.

Almost done with this poncho, but the i-cord edging was a new experience for me, and it’s taking a little longer than I expected.

But learning a new technique is fun, and can’t wait to see it on my friend’s son whom I plan on seeing very soon.

I wound up 5 balls of yarn for my next project.

While cleaning up the closet, I came across these yarn that I’d bought in Paris a year and half ago.

Had totally forgotten about it, but it came with a simple coat pattern that I should be able to knit up pretty quickly, so this shall be my first new project of 2011!

[FO] Pink Hawthorne

Was looking for bright-color yarn to knit a tunic from Vogue Knitting Winter 2009/2010, and bought these yarn at Newbury Yarns while visiting Boston this fall.

Once I started knitting the tunic in November, it knit up quickly, but midway, I realized that this tunic would look a lot better with fluffier yarn, maybe with some mohair.

My yarn was too smooth and the center cable pattern came out too defined, the border between the cables and the fade-out areas was too un-subtle.

I’ve decided this year that life is too short to stick to a project that I know I wouldn’t wear it all that much, so I promptly went to my Ravelry favorite patterns to look for a new project that would be great for this type of smooth yarn.

Hawthorne shawl caught my eye, and although my gauge was higher than the requirement, I went with it, and knit this cute shawl in a week.

Aside from the fact that it used only half my stash instead of using it up, the pattern was straight-forward and fun to knit.

I wasn’t sure about the slimness of the shawl width, and was planning on adding more rows to the garter stitch section. But after trying it on as it is, I figured out that it looks very cute when you wear it pseudo v-neck poncho style, with the edges hanging in the front.

I’m pretty sure I will wear this very often this winter and early spring!

Ravelry project link: here

Pattern: Hawthorne by Susanna IC

Needle: US 10 – 6.0 mm

Yarn: Louet Gems Worsted

875.0 yards in stash
2.5 skeins = 437.5 yards (400.1m)

Crabapple blossom (80-2264)

Design ideas for Rowan Aura wrap

Ideas for what to knit with the 8 skeins of light brown Rowan Aura I purchased at a sale in London.

 

 

I’m thinking a ruffled wrap/cape with some cables around the neck.

 

Ravelry: griffon’s Ruffled Edge Wrap	Ravelry: Jellyknits’ Wanderweg
Ravelry: rebie’s Chauffe épaule marin d’hiver	Ravelry: Shoulder wrap by DROPS design

 

 

 

Ravelry: roko’s VALIANT	Ravelry: roko’s VALIANT
Ravelry: WorldOnAString’s Beaded Camisole	Ravelry: Gramily’s point edge wrap

 

Alpaca boot clip

I found this at Loft, a department store in Shibuya that has good selection of stationaries and nifty cute things for your kitchen, bathroom and living room.

It keeps your boots upright.

It makes me smile every morning, which is as important as my boots standing up straight 😉