Pob Lwc Knitting Pattern

"Nice pouches, Beaut."
"Oooo, do you like them? They're prototypes for an entrelac basket pattern I've been working on, which has the same basic construction method."
"A pouch or a basket - what would you call such a thing? A POB pattern?"
"Hadn't really thought about it. The curved shape just happened when I made a mistake knitting a flat piece of entrelac, so I could call this the Fortuitous POB Pattern."
"Go native, Beaut, call it 'Pob Lwc'. That means Good Luck in Welsh."
Sometimes my companion comes up with a pearl.
"Love it, Elinor. Happy and snappy."

Materials
This pattern can be used to make any size of pouch or basket (pob) in any weight of yarn. The final roundness depends on washing to cause at least a little felting before the pob is stuffed while damp and left to dry in the desired shape, so your yarn will have to be minimum 50% real wool without superwash treatment. A pob would be a good way to use up small amounts of leftover yarn from other projects if you knitted each of its eight sections in different colours and completed the top with a ninth yarn.

To choose the correct size of long circular needle, twirl three strands of yarn together, match the width of the twirl against the width of a knitting needle, then go down a size and use a needle which is slightly narrower than the three strand twirl. This should knit a reasonably tight fabric to make a secure container after felting. Nothing should be able to work its way out of your pob - that would not be much lwc at all.

To make handles, you will also need two double pointed needles in the same size as your circular needle, which will be used for knitting free lengths of icord, plus scissors and a tapestry needle for finishing.

Size and Quantities
Entrelac is knitted in rectangles and triangles, each of which has the same stitch count. The greater the unit stitch count you choose, the larger your pob will be. To get a fair idea of the final size and the amount of yarn you will need, cast on ten stitches, knit ten rows of stocking stitch and cast off, then wash the piece to felt it slightly. Measure the width of your gauge piece and multiply by six to find the widest circumference that a pob would be if made in your yarn on your size needles with units of ten stitches. The depth of the pob, not including the icord rim, will be about 1.5 times the width of the gauge piece. Use these measurements to decide what your unit stitch count should be to achieve the size of pob you'd like.

Example - your ten stitch gauge piece measures 7cm wide. Therefore a ten stitch unit pob would be 42cm at its widest circumference (the brim will be narrower) and 10.5cm deep (not including brim). You would prefer a larger pob, so now you can calculate that if you use a fourteen stitch unit, that would make a pob of 59cm circumference and 15cm depth.

Weigh the gauge piece and multiply by 12 to find the weight of yarn you would need to make the body of a ten stitch unit pob. The construction lends itself to working in four colours and if you decide to do this, you will need three times the weight of the gauge piece in each colour. You will also need more yarn for making the top of the pob, the amount depending on whether you plan a simple brim or multiple turns of brim plus long handles. 

Method

The dotted lines on this schematic show which sections become knitted together in which order. The labels A, B, C and D refer to four colours of yarn if you are working with four colours.

In the following instructions, X represents the number of stitches in a unit.

K = knit
P = Purl
P2tog = purl 2 stitches together
RS = right side
SSK = slip one stitch as if to knit, slip the next stitch as if to purl, then pass the left needle through the front loops and knit the two stitches together
WS = wrong side

Section One
In Colour A, cable cast on X stitches loosely.
P2, turn
K2, turn
P3, turn
K3, turn
continuing as above to KX and then break yarn and tie on Colour B

Section Two
In Colour B, with RS facing, turn work clockwise and pick up X stitches along the knitted edge of Section One
PX, turn
*Knit  X stitches, turn and purl back* repeat (X-1) times
Break yarn and tie on Colour C

Section Three
In Colour C, with WS facing, turn work clockwise and pick up X stitches from the edge of Section Two, passing the needle from the RS to the WS so that the new stitches appear on the RS and the selvedge is hidden.
*Knit  X stitches, turn and purl back* repeat X times
Break yarn and tie on Colour A

Section Four
In Colour A, with RS facing, turn work clockwise and pick up X stitches along the knitted edge of Section 3.
*Knit  X stitches, turn and purl back* repeat X times
Break yarn and tie on Colour D

Section Five
In colour D, with WS facing, turn work clockwise and pick up (X+1) stitches along the edge of Section Four passing the needle from the RS to the WS so that the new stitches appear on the RS and the selvedge is hidden.
K X + 1, turn
*P2tog, P to last stitch, then P2tog last stitch of Section Five with first live stitch of Section Three
K back to end of row* repeat until only 2 stitches remain of Section Five, then purl those two together with the last stitch of Section Three.
Break yarn and fasten off.

At this stage, your work will look like this:

The live stitches of Section Four (on right of photo) now need to be transferred to the opposite needle, which puts that needle into position to pick up stitches from the free edge of Section Four.

Section Six
In Colour D, with RS facing, rejoin yarn and pick up X stitches from the free edge of Section Four.
P X, turn
*Knit to last stitch, then SSK last stitch together with a stitch of Section Two
P back* repeat until you have completed the knit row in which the last stitch of Section Two is used.
Break yarn and tie on Colour C

Section Seven
In Colour C, with RS facing, pick up (X+1) stitches from free edge of Section Two.
*P2tog, P to last stitch, then P2tog last stitch of Section Five with first live stitch of Section Three
K back to end of row* repeat until only 2 stitches remain of Section Five, then purl those two together with the last stitch of Section Three.
Break yarn and tie on Colour B.

Section Eight

In Colour B, with WS facing, pick up (X+1) stitches from free edge of Section Six, passing the needle from the RS to the WS so that the new stitches appear on the RS and the selvedge is hidden.
K (X+1)
*P2tog, P to last stitch, then P2tog last stitch of Section Five with first live stitch of Section Three
K back to end of row* repeat until only 2 stitches remain of Section Five, then purl those two together with the last stitch of Section Three.
Break yarn and fasten off.

Your work will now look like a shallow box.
The brim will be knitted as an icord bind off, which will draw in the edges and provide a firm and inelastic top for the pob.

Basic Brim

In the Brim Colour yarn, with RS facing, pick up (X+1) stitches from the free edge of each of the four triangles using a circular needle. Do not turn your work, continue as if knitting in the round.
Cable cast on three extra stitches from the first stitch on the left needle and knit an icord bind off right round the top of the pob - here is a helpful video tutorial.

To complete the pouches, at the end of the first round of icord, I simply picked up another stitch from the top of the start of the icord before passing all four stitches back to the left needle, knitting two, then knitting two together through back of loops, picking up another stitch from the top of the icord and passing all four stitches back to the left needle. This builds a spiral of icord at the brim of the pob which you can continue to knit for as many rounds as you choose.

To make icord handles, you will need two double pointed needles, here is a helpful tutorial on knitting free icord.
At any point on the brim, knit an icord as long as the handle you want, then loop it in half as you return to the point where you started knitting free cord and continue knitting an icord bind off around the brim. 

For a single strap, when you reach the opposite side of the bag, knit an equal length of free icord and pass it through the loop of the first before returning to complete the icord bind off. Sew the two sides of each icord loop together to make a sturdy handle. 

For two handles, make four loops, one at each quarter of the brim circumference and interloop each pair.

Sew in ends and put the pob through a hot washing machine cycle to felt it. The misshapen lump that emerges should be tightly stuffed with towels and pummelled into a nice round ball shape, then left to dry.

I used a free Ravelry download crochet daisy pattern to make the decoration on the daffodil dyed basket which is shown near the top of this post. Haven't quite decided what I might add to this silver birch bark dyed shoulder bag. Maybe some green birch leaves?

An Entrelac Tablet Cover

"Have you found the button to turn it on yet, Beaut?"
My companion, Elinor Gotland, always finds my technological ineptitude a source of great entertainment. I bought myself a tablet - absolute bargain - then was appalled to find there were no instructions in the box. Apparently, no-one needs such things these days, it's all 'intuitive'. Eventually, my 'intuition' had led me to search online for directions on how to charge the thing up. 
"Are you planning to write your blog on that tablet?"
"No." I blew my nose with a loud and snotty trumpeting sound. "It's first function is going to be carrying a powerpoint presentation to Gloucester. I've been invited to talk to the Guild there about dye plant gardening and I was really looking forward to it, only now I've got a filthy cold and I'm absolutely bloody dreading having to link this thing up to their projector."  
"Oh, go on with you. What could be easier? It'll be fine when you get there." Elinor positively skipped across to the kettle. "This is the perfect time for you to talk about growing dye plants. The green fuse has been lit, leaves are about to unfurl from the trees and seeds are bursting to germinate." 
I stopped tapping and swiping at the screen of the tablet and shoved it away.
"Feels to me like someone pressed 'pause' on the Spring. That cold East wind is still blowing and I've been rained and hailed on once too often this week. My throat is sore and my head's in the shed. I want to write my blog on the computer, but I've lost the bit of paper with my notes on the knitting pattern for this entrelac tablet cover. What's more, I didn't even remember to take many photos."
My companion passed me a mug of lemon and ginger tea and a box of tissues.
"See what you can remember. The pattern will have to be 'intuitive'. You can always google 'entrelac' if you want to make another."

Materials - four 50g skeins of handspun Shetland wool, high twist, chain plied somewhere between double knitting and worsted weight, dyed with madder, weld and meadowsweet.
3.5mm and 4mm circular needles with a long cord, darning needle for sewing in ends.
Fabric to line the case, needle and thread and two buttons.

Method
Cable cast on 60 stitches loosely on 3.5mm needles. Knit six entrelac base triangles each 10 stitches wide. Changing colour for each row, knit seven rows of entrelac rectangles, then finish with a row of bind off triangles.
I-cord will shrink more in the wash than entrelac fabric. Change up to 4mm needles and pick up 11 stitches from each of the 10 stitch triangles and three extra stitches at each corner. Cable cast on three more stitches and knit an i-cord bind off to edge the entrelac. To make button hole loops, on one of the short sides, knit three added rows of free i-cord at two of the rectangle points.

To felt the fabric, put the piece through a hot cycle in the washing machine and pin it out flat to dry. Cut a piece of material 2cm wider and longer than the knitting, turn back a hem all round and sew it against the inside edge of the i-cord on the wrong side.

Fold the piece into a envelope with a flap, sew the icord edges of the pocket together and set in two buttons in line with the button loops on the flap.

"Ah, brilliant, completely brilliant."
"You've cheered up, Beaut."
"Sally rang me from the Guild. She only knows how to work their projector from her laptop and wondered if I'd mind bringing my presentation on a memory stick. I can stop fussing about with this tablet. All my worries are over."
"Not quite, Beaut. You'll be wanting to crochet a cover for the memory stick before you go."

Red Onion Skin Dye Colours Modified with Alkali

"The onion skin bag turned out alright, didn't it Beaut? No need for all that doom and gloom." 
I drank my tea and admired its colours, all warm and autumnal in the Spring sunshine.
"Oh, I always thought I'd get there in the end." 
My companion lit her cigarette and blew smoke rings into the green air.

"You didn't look too confident to me. Only a couple of days ago, I recall you sobbing and moaning and threatening to fall upon your own knitting needles."
"Well, it was a struggle. I'm not sure I'd try this method again."
In the absence of a long colour change yarn, I had decided to knit entrelac using a load of 25g skeins I'd dyed with brown onion skins and red onion skins. My intention was to work each square to give the appearance of one colour weaving under and over the next. Which meant an awful lot of ends to sew in.

Instead of casting on for the entrelac, where I've found it hard to make the initial edge sufficiently loose, my other great idea was to knit a strip of cable to become the gusset and the handle. Then I began by picking up stitches for the entrelac from one side . First problem was over-enthusiastically making too many starting triangles and having to unpick the edges of the top ones back off the gusset.

Second problem was the lumpiness of joining entrelac cast off triangles along the bottom edge, which I did by picking up a stitch from the gusset at the end of alternate rows and purling three together, instead of two. Third problem was making the joins of each triangle along the opposite side equal in length to the cast on triangles - it should have been straightforward, picking up one stitch from every other row of the gusset, only somehow, it wasn't, and had to be frogged and reknitted, repeatedly holding the two sides together to check they were equal.

Knitting the front of the bag, it was easier to copy the spacing. I planned an i-cord edging to finish the entrelac panels and for once in my life, I did knit and edge a swatch, which was intended to become an inside pocket. In the wash, the i-cord shrunk more than entrelac, so I learnt to pick up nine stitches across each of my eight stitch triangles and add three stitches for going round corners.

A more unexpected lesson of felting the swatch was finding out how significantly the colours of the red onion dyes would shift when washed with colour washing powder. I know washing powder is alkaline, but when felting, I prefer to use it even with plant dyes because I believe the roughening caused by alkali helps wool fibres felt better than simple hot water and friction. However, I didn't anticipate much colour change. Previous experimentation with soaking brown onion dyed fibres in alkali solution hadn't modified the colours perceptibly. As you can see from the photo above, unlike the brown, the dyes from red onion skins did all shift toward yellow once the bag was exposed to alkaline washing powder.  Most obviously, the green wool, used for the i-cord edging, which had been alum mordanted before dyeing, had turned a rich orange yellow and the unmordanted, deep chocolate yarns had become more red. The various shades of ginger yarn, which had been dyed with brown onion skins, did not change nearly so much. Two kinds of onion, two kinds of dye.

"Mmm, I love the bag lining. Feels like suede."
"It's a remnant of that fabric Mum used to upholster my armchair. There's still some left. I might try another experiment with entrelac, see if I can knit a bag in a ball shape. Like that time when I accidentally joined the wrong edges of the squares together and the fabric curved round."
My companion explored the handbag, emerging from the inside pocket like a young marsupial.
"Like childbirth really, isn't it?" 
Thinking of kangaroos and joeys, I failed to make the right connection.
"How?"
 Elinor waved a hoof. 
"Making up knitted bag patterns, Beaut. You forget all the pain soon as you have it on your arm."

Belt and Braces Knitted Bag Construction

Like the daffodils, already flowering in this unseasonably warm February, my companion, Elinor Gotland, has decided Spring is upon us. Fuelled by a couple of episodes of Marie Kondo, the Spring Cleaning Urge has galvanised her into radical action and none of my wardrobe is safe.
"Is that battered old cardigan really 'sparking joy' for you, Beaut?"
I picked at a sleeve.

"Well, I don't feel joyful about the felting and pilling on the cuffs, but I am really fond of this one."

Elinor was not so easily to be thwarted. She intends to take a full bag of my clothes to the charity shop.

"Consider, would you dream of wearing that cardigan outside the home or are you just wasting cupboard space on an item of limited function for foolish nostalgia?"  
I hugged my droopy knitwear round me.
"This is precious. And vintage. I remember buying the yarn in the 1990's at Liberty's and it cost me an absolute fortune. Back in the day, I'd never seen knitting wool like it, quite irresistibly gorgeous. I think the yarn must have been Noro and I think maybe it can still be salvaged."

Once the collar and cuffs had been cut away, the body of the cardigan unravelled quite readily into about 450g of aran single ply yarn, looking like a loose blend of wool and silk in a long colour change. 
My companion positively snarled when she caught me heading upstairs to tuck it away in my yarn stash.
"Surely storing a cardigan as balls of wool must be a step up on folding your Tee shirts really small?" 
Elinor dragged the charity bag into the hall.
"Use it or lose it, Beaut."

With plant dye baths, I find it jolly difficult to achieve slow transitions of dye on yarn. A vague idea of using a long colour change to knit entrelac, as suggested in Margaret Radcliffe's book, The Essential Guide to Colour Knitting Techniques, has been on the back burner of my mind for some years. On a wet Saturday afternoon, I took the book off the shelf and read through the instructions.
"Looks a bit fiddly to do. Have you ever tried this, Elinor?"
My companion was bolt upright on the sofa, transfixed by the rugby. She turned to me as they reset the scrum.
"Entrelac is my middle name. Get a backbone, you'll be fine."
Casting on 60 stitches on 4mm needles, I followed the instructions to create six 10 stitch base triangles and spent happy hours rapt in the pleasure of seeing what colour would appear next and how it would play with the adjacent sections. Entrelac is satisfyingly interesting knitting, holding my attention just enough, but not too much to critically appraise controversial decisions in several successive Six Nations Rugby games. 

"Referee! Knock on!" 
My companion bounced on the sofa as George North charged up the field. 
Like the French team, I'd have done better to start with a game plan and stick to it. When more than half the yarn was used up, I still had no idea what to do with my piece of entrelac fabric, 52cm wide and now 45cm long. Time to finish with a top row of triangles.

Folding it in half, crocheting the long edges together and tucking in the corners to create a squat, oblong box shape, I decided that with a wide brim on top, the piece could become a bag. Casting on 20 provisional stitches and knitting a strip in stocking stitch, when it was just a little shorter than the total distance around the top of the bag, I joined the two ends with a three needle bind off.

"I doubt you washed that cardigan very often." My companion watched the dirty water swirl away after the two knitted pieces had had a thorough scrub. I heaved a sigh as I laid them out flat to dry.
"The strip for the brim has curled up and though I hoped hot water would tighten up the entrelac, it seems to have got looser. Hey ho, lining the bag with some of Mum's leftover upholstery material might firm up the construction."
"What about folding some of this jute upholstery webbing inside the brim piece? That'll uncurl your knitted strip."

Two inch herringbone webbing fitted perfectly inside the folded circle of knitting I'd made for the brim, forming a stiff belt from which to suspend the entrelac bag. To give the bag shape, I sewed another length of webbing against the seams on the short sides and tacked it to every junction of entrelac squares across the base, folding each end of the strip over the belt for the brim.

A third length travelled up from under the base webbing, crossing outside the brim, looping over to form a handle, passing back down under the base and coming up on the other side to loop over as the second handle and finishing under the base. Wherever they touched, the strips of webbing were sewn against each other, except where the handles crossed the brim.

It took an unconscionable number of pins to hold the lining against the brim, the brim against the top of the entrelac and the knitted strip over the brim, but once everything was in place, a single circuit of running stitch sewn with button thread through the lower edge of the brim webbing held all these elements securely together. Next day, I was due to travel up to Edinburgh to visit my daughter. Desperate to find a project to keep me entertained on the journey, my companion watched me scuffle about, madly rejecting patterns and casting aside unsuitable skeins of yarn.

"Calm down, Beaut. Why not take the entrelac bag with you as hand luggage and use up the last of your recycled yarn knitting covers for the handles while you're away? You could even use the buttons off the old cardigan to reinforce the handles flat against the brim."
Sounds improbable, but this plan worked perfectly well.

When crocheted inside a ten stitch wide strip of knitting, the webbing didn't so much roll as crumple into a tube shape, but the handles are both sturdy and comfortable to hold. I even had enough time and yarn to knit pockets for inside to hold my purse and phone. 
This could become my basic construction method for all sorts of knitted bags, upholstery webbing making them strong and giving them shape without needing to felt the knitting. All in all, I'm very pleased to have recycled something old and learned something new.
E.E.G. Elinor Entrelac Gotland. I never would have guessed.

The Betula Jacket Knitting Pattern

The Betula Jacket is a variation on the Shorelines Shawl Collar Cardigan pattern and I'd say it's an improved version. My daughter liked it so much, it now belongs to her. 

This one is knitted in World of Wool Chunky Superwash Merino and Silk which I scoured and dyed with silver birch tree bark. The yarn is quite heavy and drapey and the knitted fabric actually increases in size after washing. Maybe not for the purist, but good news for my daughter, superwash yarn does have the great advantage of making knitwear less likely to be accidentally shrunk in the wash.

Materials
300m chunky yarn in Contrast Colour (CC)
600m chunky yarn in Main Colour (MC) - my MC is actually 200m of three shades of pink knit in stripes
4.5mm and 5.5mm circular needle with long cord
Pair of 5.5mm straight needles
4 Stitch Markers
4.5mm crochet hook
Tapestry needle for sewing in ends
35cm open ended heavy duty zip
Sewing needle and thread and 40cm x 20cm fabric for facing zip if desired.

Tension after washing - 10 cm squared = 14.5 stitches and 18 rows 

Size
Finished jacket has a bust measurement of 108cm and a hip measurement of 98cm (with ribbing intended to stretch to fit).
In the photos, it is worn as a loose jacket by my daughter who is size 10, though it was actually made to fit me, size 16, with 100cm hip and 105cm bust measurements.

Abbreviations
CC = contrast colour
k = knit

k2tog = knit 2 stitches together

M1L = make 1 stitch angled left

M1R = make 1 stitch angled right

MC = main colour

p = purl

PM = place marker

RS = right side

ssk = slip 1 st as if to k, slip the next st as if to p, slide the left needle through the front loops of the two slipped stitches and k together 

SM slip marker

st = stitch

w&t = wrap yarn around needle and turn to work back in the other direction

WS = wrong side

yo = wrap yarn over needle before working next stitch

Pocket linings (make two)

Using 5.5 mm straight needles and MC, cast on 22 stitches and knit 4 rows of stocking stitch, then break yarn leaving a long tail for sewing up the pocket later. Keep both pocket linings on a straight needle.

Body
Using 4.5mm circular needle and CC, cast on 133 st (I used a twisted longtail cast on method)

(WS) Edging Row One   
P1, *P1, K1* repeat from * to * to last two st, P2

(RS) Edging Row Two   
K1, *K1, P1* repeat from * to * to last two st, K2

Work this pattern for 13 rows to make ribbed edging, ending on a WS row.

Change to 5.5mm needle and MC (if you are making stripes, change colour every two rows, carrying yarn up alongside fabric edge).
Row 1 k
Row 2 p

Row 3 k 27, pm, M1L, k 25, pm, M1R, k 25, M1L, pm, k25, M1R, pm, k27 (137)

Row 4 p
Row 5 k
Row 6 p

Make pocket fronts:

Row 7 k 23 and turn, leaving the other stitches still on the circular cord - you will now be knitting only these 23 stitches to create the front of the right pocket.
Row 8 p back to edge
Row 9 k 21, k2tog (22 stitches)
Row 10 p back to edge

The sloping opening of the right pocket is created by repeating rows 9 and 10 another 10 times. Slip the remaining 13 stitches onto a holder.

Using a straight needle, slip 23 stitches off the other end of the circular cord. Attach yarn at the edge which will become the pocket opening to knit the front of the left pocket.
Row 7 k
Row 8 p
Row 9 ssk, k to end (22 stitches)
Row 10 p
Repeat rows 9 and 10 another ten times. Break yarn and leave the remaining 13 stitches on a holder.

Making more of the body and completing the pockets:
Row 7 Using the needle at the opposite end of the circular cord to the right pocket and starting from the far edge of one pocket lining, with its RS facing, knit across the 22 stitches of the pocket lining from the straight needle, then knit across the stitches on the circular cord, slipping the markers as you reach them, to the junction with the left pocket front. Take the straight needle with the remaining pocket lining and knit across these 22 stitches to finish the row.
Row 8 p (135 st)

Row 9 k to marker, M1L, k to marker, M1R, k to one st before marker M1L and slip marker, k to one st before marker MRL and slip marker, k to end (139 st)
Row 10 p
Continue working in stocking stitch for another 6 rows.

Row 17 k to marker, M1L, (k to marker, slip marker) repeat, k to one st before marker, M1R, and slip marker, k to end (141 st)

Row 18 p removing markers.
Continue working in stocking stitch for another 4 rows

Once the work across the pocket linings and the main body reaches the same height as the pocket fronts (a total of 22 rows stocking stitch), slip the stitches from the pocket tops off the holders and onto two separate straight needles.

Start the next row by knitting 1 st from the right pocket front, then for the next 12 stitches, holding the pocket top in front, knit together one st from the right pocket top with one st from the main piece. Knit across the work to 12 stitches from the end, knit together one st from the left pocket top in front of one st from the main piece and finish by knitting the last stitch from the left pocket front (143 st)

Continue working in stocking stitch until the work measures 32cm in total finishing on a WS row

Sleeves (make two)

Using 4.5mm needle and CC, cast on 33 st (I used a twisted longtail cast on)

(WS) Cuff Row One   P1, *P1, K1* repeat to last two st, P2

(RS) Cuff Row Two    K1, *K1, P1* repeat to last two st, K2

Work this pattern for 9 rows to make ribbed cuff, ending on a WS row.

Change to 5.5mm needle and work in stocking stitch for 2 rows, change to MC and work another 8 rows, ending on a WS row. (If you are making stripes, change colour every two rows, carrying yarn up alongside fabric edge.)

Sleeve Increase Row   K1, M1L, K to last 2 st, M1R, K1

Work this increase row on the eleventh row and every following eighth row until you have 49 stitches on the needle. Continue working in stocking stitch until sleeve measures 41cm. Place first two stitches and last two stitches on safety pins, cut yarn allowing an end for weaving in and leave remaining 45 st on needle.

Yoke

Starting with a RS row on 5.5mm needles in MC, k 34 across body, place 4 st on a safety pin and PM. K 45 across one sleeve and PM. K 67 across body, place 4 st on a safety pin and PM. K 45 across the other sleeve and PM. K 34 to the end of the body. (225st)

Purl back across all st, slipping markers.

Decrease Row for Neck and Yoke

K1, K2tog (neck decrease) *K to 3st before marker ssk, k1, SM, k2tog, K to 2 st before marker, ssk, SM, K1, K2tog* repeat from * to *, K to 3st before end, ssk (neck decrease), K1

Purl back across all st, slipping markers.

Repeat these two rows 9 times in total (135st)

Decrease Row for Yoke only

*K to 3st before marker ssk, k1, SM, k2tog, K to 2 st before marker, ssk, SM, K1, K2tog* repeat from * to *, K to end

Purl back across all st, slipping markers.

Repeat these two rows 12 times in total (39st)

Final decrease row

K1, ssk, K1, remove marker, K2tog, K1, SM, K1, K2tog, K19, ssk, K1, remove marker, K1, ssk, remove marker, K1, K2tog, K1 (33st)

Purl back across all st, slipping 1 remaining marker and leave 33 st on needle.

Front Edge and Collar

Using 4.5mm needle and CC, with RS facing, starting at the bottom of the right front edge and working through the spaces between the first and second columns of stitches, pick up one st through the first four row interspaces, miss a space, continue picking up 4 st from every 5 rows up the front, along the neck angle and up the straight edge of the neck, knit the first 5 live st from the needle, SM, K 28, pick up 4 st from every 5 rows of the straight edge of the neck, from the angled edge of the neck and from the left front edge.

First Row (WS) P1, *K1, P1* repeat from * to * until you reach the marker. Remove marker. If you just made a purl stitch, w&t now, if you just made a knit stitch, P1, w&t.

Second Row (RS) *K1, P1* repeat from * to * for 24 st, w&t

Short Rows for Collar

Working in the established rib pattern, when you reach the wrapped yarn, knit it together with the next stitch, P1, w&t. Repeat this for 40 short rows, at which stage the collar will cover the entire slope of the neck line.

Next Row

Working in the established rib pattern, when you reach the wrapped yarn, knit it together with the next stitch, then continue P1, K1 rib to the end of the row at the bottom of the right front.

Next Row

Working in the established rib pattern, when you reach the wrapped yarn, knit it together with the next stitch, then continue P1, K1 rib to the end of the row at the bottom of the left front.

Work in rib for 9 full length rows

Either, cast off in rib and bend the width of the straight edge of the front border in half, sewing the cast off edge to the front of the work on both sides, 
Or use the working end of the yarn and a crochet hook to fix each live stitch of the straight edges of the front border into the stitches of row one of the border, 
Cast off all the collar stitches loosely to allow it to fan out.

Pocket Edging

With right side facing, pick up 20 stitches evenly across opening of pocket.
Knit one row
Cast off knitwise and sew down edges.
Repeat on the other pocket.

Finishing

Using Kitchener Stitch, graft together  the four safety pinned stitches from the sleeve with the four stitches from the body at each underarm. Sew up the sleeve seams and sew in the pocket linings. Weave in all loose ends. Wash and block then set the zip in to the WS of the straight edges of the border, completing the job with fabric facings.

Note to Self - I do want one of these jackets - the fabric would be fuller and bouncier knitted in a yarn woolen spun from a Down type sheep fleece and the collar could be fab made in a mad art yarn, possibly even with tail spun locks.