It is finished! My beautiful plaid à la Chanel! Actually, I designed the color scheme on the fronts, which is why I suppose I am thrilled with this one. Brandon Mably inspired me in his color workshop to be more bold, so I suppose I surprised myself by combining hues I normally would never think of together in these fair isle/slip stitched front pieces of the jacket.
I was recently gifted a wonderful book, Chanel, The Little Black Jacket, by my wonderful MIL, Pipapo, on Ravelry. The book features photos of different celebrities wearing the same black Chanel jacket styled in a hundred different ways. It really made me realize how important styling is for knitwear. I am experimenting now with different ways to wear this jacket. When it is buttoned up and worn with no accessories, the colorwork really stands out.
Of course, the buttons are a bit of an acessory themselves. I used antique two-toned silver and brass buttons that I purchased at Stitches West from Linda at Unbuttons. The jacket called for 15 in all, but I used 13, as that was all I had. This meant using four buttons on each sleeve cuff instead of five, but I think it still works:
I do love the way the brass accents in the buttons pick up the glint from the gold threads in the jacket sleeves.
At some point, I will have to enforce the buttonhole band with some ribbon, but at the moment my mind reels at making nine buttonholes by hand. Perhaps I will figure out how to machine sew buttonholes into a ribbon instead for this one!
As far as styling goes, I believe jackets knit in aran-weight yarn with color work are on the bulky side, so they need to be paired with fitted pants to create a balance. Because of the bulk created by the yarn and stranding, I also feel this jacket is most flattering when it is worn open and belted. I found a used Chanel belt for a great price on ebay and paired it with the jacket to create a fun, sophisticated style for the jacket.
For the back, I used Kim Hargraves’ pattern, “Steed” in order to create a peplum effect.
I know that some people can wear an all-over plaid pattern without looking bigger than they are, but it is not easy to do unless you are six feet tall or your garment has body shaping. And how can one build shaping into complicated color work? My solution was simply to make the fronts only in the plaid. Then I knitted the back and sleeves in a solid color, which allowed me to add significant waist shaping to the fronts and backs without worrying about distorting the color work. The detail of the peplum supplies enough interest by itself. It is a very clever design by Kim Hargreaves, perhaps I will have to knit a whole jacket based on her pattern someday.
The best part about finishing my jacket in time for Christmas is that I was able to show it to my favorite knitting partner, Pipapo! She has designed a fabulous Chanel-inspired jacket herself this year, so we were able to wear our favorite projects together:
Isn't her jacket absolutely ravishing? She created the vertical lines in her plaid by intarsia, my mind reels at the thought of how difficult that must have been! Of course, I would never have had the courage to tackle a complicated project like a designer-inspired jacket without her example. She has many knitted and woven jackets that are spectacular in that vein. It just goes to show how important it is for all of us to find people to inspire us and support us in our creative endeavors.
Happy New Year everyone! Here’s to a 2015 filled with wonderful friendships and creative possibilities!