The Joy of Wearing a Finished Object

I had hoped to have finished my Knit Swirl Coat over the MLK 3-day weekend, but the best laid plans of cats and women always seem to go awry. The seaming of the coat has taken over several evenings over the past week alone. One sleeve took 1.5 evenings to complete.  Plus, there were times I had to redo the seaming in certain places so that I was happy with the results.

Also, unfortunately, the sleeves on the coat were a bit too long. I missed her Technique Tutorial on creating the perfect sleeve length on her website. However, apparently, this problem is common enough that Sandra McIvers has a tutorial for cutting down the sleeves. I had to cut nearly 8.5 inches of sleeve!

I read the instructions and decided to make a few modifications:

1. I used Eunny Jang's tutorial on crocheted steeks. This process allowed for a much cleaner and enclosed edge, which made picking up stitches a lot easier. Plus, it gave the cut-off sleeve portion a finished edge as well.
2. I decided I wanted a slight bell-shaped sleeve, so I picked up more stitches than necessary.

The whole process took a bit more time, but I liked the end result a lot. Now the sleeves are the correct length.(Of course, I repurposed these sleeves, which will be the topic of another post.)

I LOVE this coat. I love the colors and the fit (mostly), and just how it hangs. There are several small problems with it, but it was of my own making. I think picking this project up multiple times over the year changed my gauge or somesuch, but it's not highly noticeable.

I wore it today to work, as the morning was cold. The sweater was cozy warm and I had already received a few compliments on it. My colleague at work mentioned that it looked very Peruvian and was very surprised that I had made it myself.

Also, I know I think I said I would never make another one, but I love this coat so much that I just might be tempted -- maybe not now, but I think sometime in the near future, I might have to cast on for another Knit Swirl Coat. Maybe....just maybe...