“Measure twice and cut once,” my father says as he measures now for about the fifth time. He is deliberate and methodical. He writes each measurement down on a scrap piece of paper, the back of an envelope he’s fished out of the recycling. He uses a fat red genuine graphite pencil he has sharpened with a knife. He studies the numbers on the sheet of paper, his reading glasses at the far end of his nose. He considers them and then goes to work on the business of cutting or sawing or warping the loom . . .

For this process, one must be well fed and watered, be rested, be calm, for I have witnessed that it is true what Lao Tzu says in the Tao Te Ching: those who rush ahead never get far.

With all that in mind, I’d like to say a bit more about fit before we chug along to the shoulders. Please take some time to consider carefully the fit of your Ella bodice at this point. Ladies, prevail upon those closest to you for help! There are opportunities everywhere to bring us closer to those we love and who love us!

I take this moment to include here two questions from the comments you might not have seen. And if you have seen them already, they bear re-reading. How are these questions and answers relevant to you at this point? Part of the objective of this Knit-A-Long is not only that we all are working on the same project and make lovely coats to run in down cobbled lanes in early spring, the hems dancing around us as we go, but also to deepen our understanding of how to make a garment fit each and every one of us uniquely, perfectly. It is the rare pattern that can do everyone’s shape justice without a bit of personal adjustment of its measurements. Without further ado, here are the questions that two ladies have asked and my answers. There are some expert knitters among us, so if you find that there is something you would like to add to what I have said, please do so. We will all benefit from your knowledge.

Dear Dr. Nora How do we measure the bodice across our chest to see if it is too big or too small? Do we use a lifeline and move all of our stitches on same to measure or is there an easier way? Sincerely, Janet

Hi Janet, A lifeline is a good method, then make sure the piece lies nice and flat and check your measurements. I have also been known to use a circular needle with a long cable but I don’t think the results are as accurate. Keep in mind, as you do this, that you will have ruffles or plackets to bridge the distance between the front edges. You also have blocking as a tool to reach finished measurements.
This sort of pick it up and try it on method is great for the big picture, for seeing if the sizing is way off in either direction and you definitely want to do this now instead of later. If you put the bodice on your body and find that the fronts are between 1 and 2 inches apart at the center and everything else is fitting great (the armholes are going to be in the right place, the increases are positioned under the breast points (for those of you who have never heard this term before I’m going to spell it out more or less: you want the increases or knitted dart to lie directly in line with the pointiest part of the breast. My breast-fed boy used to call them nibbles. . . : )
If the darts are in the right place and the fronts are, as I mentioned, just a bit apart–up to 2 inches–you are getting a good fit. Darts not in line and too far out in a way that is too much for blocking to remedy? The bodice is too small. Darts not in line and too far in, the bodice is too big.
I saw some remarks in the chat last night (I was in there reading the archives this morning) about fit. Some folks wanted less positive ease (that is, less room in the garment). If you want the coat to be more like a sweater dress, then you will want to make a size where the finished measurements are your measurements (no positive ease, no space between your body and the coat). As written, the coat should give you 2 inches of positive ease. This means that you can wear a t-shirt underneath and it will fit just a bit loosely.
If you want more positive ease because you want to wear a sweater underneath, or an extra ella, then you will want to go up in size.
Also remember that this coat worked on a 9 will give you a nice drape, a fabric with some give and stretch rather than a dense fabric.

Thank you for your question. Keep ‘em coming, Ladies! The more good questions and answers, the more educated everyone becomes about the process and if I don’t have the answer, then I bet there is a knitter out there who does.

Thank you to everyone for pitching in and helping out. This is how a knit-a-long can be a positive and wonderful community experience for us all.
My compliments and thanks again, Nora

Dear Dr. Nora I knit quite a few rows and discovered I had chosen a size that was too big. I’m starting over, and would like to have a coat with very little ease, so I am picking size 36 because my actual bust size is 38. However, my waist is 30, and that would leave a lot of ease at the waist. Is it possible to start with size 32, and then increase into a size 36 at the bust?  Thank you, Gwendy

Hello Gwendy,
It is possible to start with the measurements for the 32 for the cast on. . . in order to increase to the bust measurements for the next largest size, you will need to figure out how many increases you will have and you will have to do it faster. It’s pretty simple math. You’ve got 4 increase locations in the bodice, so you subtract the starting (CO) figure from your ending figure (stitches around at the bust) and then divide by 4. This gives you how many increases you need per location or the number of times you will increase. Then divide by the number of projected rows (using your gauge and the distance from cast on to armhole) to get the number of rows between each increase. As long as you keep the armhole depth the same as the size 36 you would then follow the instructions for the sleeves for the larger size. You will follow the skirt instructions for the smaller size. If you need more flair faster than you get it in the 32, then you just decrease the number of rows between each skirt increase.  Sincerely, Nora

Homework for everyone if you have not already done it and maybe even if you have. . . Check the fit of your bodice both in height and circumference, making sure that the increases in the bodice are properly positioned under the breast points. The last increase should be completed before one reaches these points. For those seeking an extra high waist–that would be with a waist just under the bust (a true Empire Waist)–you will want to make your increases quickly, with only a few rows between them so that the widest part of the bodice occurs just below these points.

Check back later today for the next installment in the Ella Coat KAL entitled Bodice II: On to the Shoulders!

As you work on Ella’s bodice with the goal of reaching the armhole bind off, please stop at that point without doing the bind off. Here’s why: It is important that the bodice fit you nicely and that the bottom of the bodice hits your body where it should–just above the natural waist.

Here is one way to see if the bodice to the armhole is long enough for your particular figure. Use the schematic in the pattern (for your convenience, I have included that schematic here) to measure from the armhole bind off to the shoulder.

To help you with this customization here is a link to a short little video we did that shows a quick way to get a sense of whether you need to add or subtract rows (or whether it is just right as it is).

After you finish your knitting for the week, it would be helpful to all of us {Melissa and I included} if you were to consider the KAL so far. Did you have enough to do? Any concerns? Tweaks? Are you all ready for Ella Diversions? Can we get a jump start on our fabulous embellishments if you all are ready? Is your schedule so filled that this week’s knitting assignment has been just right? Our sincerest hope is that we at Noni Design’s are able to provide you not with just a beautiful garment to knit, but a beautiful process of knitting.

Today is the day we cast on!

For those of you that have the Ella Coat Reinvented pattern, you can begin as described. . . just follow the pattern.

For those of you who have the Ella Coat for Women pattern, there is a tweak. I am actually in this category myself, because when I began my new Ella, I was using the original pattern. The tweak makes the coat easier and, I think, more fun to knit. Instead of casting on all those bazillion stitches at the bottom for the ruffle, we will begin our coats at the bodice. It is not wrong to start at the hem of the coat. I would say it is more traditional. I made my original 2 Ellas this way . . I also made several little Ella and the Legume coats this way and that coat starts from the bottom as well.

The Big Picture: How we will proceed

For this Knit-A-Long, we will all begin with the bodice, work up to the shoulders. Easier. More fun. And safer: you can try the coat on and make sure the bodice fits before you have finished all the knitting and finishing.

So, needles poised, ladies and any participating gents. Yarn at the ready.  I’m a long-tail cast on girl myself, so that’s my recommendation, but I’ve always advocated a more democratic teaching style, so cast on as you will.

For those of you with the original Ella pattern, you will see Coat Bodice in the second column not quite mid-way down. Second sentence toward the end there, you’ll see the total number of stitches you need to pick up in the skirt for the bodice. . . these numbers are, for you, now the cast on numbers. Locate your chosen size and cast on.

I am now going to supply you with the locations for 6 markers. 4 of those markers will locate your increases for the bodice: 2 locations in the center fronts just under the breast points and 2 locations that mirror these on the back. They look like darts and give the coat bodice its lovely shaping. The other two markers will locate your side seams–this comes into play when you are separating the fronts from the back to do your armhole shaping and work to the shoulder.

Ok, for you long tail cast on people. . .  you’ve cast on and now I want you to purl row 1 (see below) . . . why, you might ask, tempted to ignore me and just knit. Don’t do it. Here’s why: the purl row puts that lovely more knitterly (as opposed to purly) texture on the right side. I like this and think it’s pretty. When you go to pick up stitches for the skirt, you will be glad you didn’t ignore me. . . (if you do a knitted cast on, you can knit the first row).

So, here, without further ado and more bibble babble is the relevant, life/knitting-made-easier in an instant tweak . . . marker locations:

Row 1 (WS): Purl across, placing 6 markers as follows: p18 (20, 22, 25, 27, 29), pm for center left front;  p18 (21, 23, 25, 27, 30), pm for left side seam; p18 (21, 23, 25, 27, 30), pm for center left back; p36 (40, 44, 50, 54, 58), pm for center right back; p18 (21, 23, 25, 27, 30), pm for right side seam p18 (21, 23, 25, 27, 30), pm for center right front; p18 (20, 22, 25, 27, 29) to end.

AND NOW: I’ve got what I hope is a “worth the price of admission” tip (or at least makes you glad you came) . . . Once you know the location of these markers (you already know I like lock markers as I find they work well in most situations) it is trivial to count again as you pick up for the skirt and re-place them. . . however, if you are like me you might think of ways to save time and counting later, or, to say it a better way, to double-check your counting now and later. Here’s what I did. I set two markers at each increase location.

One set of markers stayed put at the cast on edge (ready for when I pick up the skirt stitches to just jump over to the skirt side) and one moved with my knitting. This way, when I pick up for the skirt, I can pace myself, instantly know where I need to have the markers, and double-check marker locations, stitch counts, and that my stitches line up from bodice to skirt.

Now, all of you can follow the pattern as written until you get to the armhole bind off!

Don’t Forget Your Homework!  As you work through this part of the KAL, remember to post on Ravelry in your Ella project log.Take lots of pictures! Be creative! There is an awesome prize up for grabs . . .

Happy Ella Knitting!

How many colors are enough. . . it’s a good question. And it requires a thoughtful answer. I’ve got an answer but not enough time to do a lot of swatching to show the answer–sorry about that! Bags to design, an Ella to knit!

I think quite a bit of mileage might be gotten out of just two colors. On the one hand, this seems almost impossible, but if you think of stripes not just as colors, but as differently sized bands of color, then the options increase greatly and the power of two colors expand in kind.

You see, if you set up all your stripes as the same width the eye searches for the pattern, figures it out, and the brain finishes with your coat.

If, however, you play with width and resist the urge to map out your stripe pattern on a graph (2 pink, 3 blue, 2 pink 3 blue. . . ), instead forcing yourself to do different things all the time, the mind not only stays busy as you are working, but the mind is more interested in the results. It searches for the pattern, can’t find it, searches again, searches again. The lack of a predictable pattern keeps you interested.

I have written about stripes before in this blog and urge you to look at those old posts in the next few days. They can be mined not only for colors and ideas but also for stripe width inspiration. In one (the set-the-table-myself place mat, the perfect fit laptop bag), I used many colors.  More than 11 in one of the laptop bags, I think. In another perfect laptop bag, there were  fewer colors and while the pattern does eventually repeat, the repeat is so long that the eye will have to search a long time to find it.

Here are some pictures of those projects to give you ideas.

Even non-matching stripes can look great.

Green & Brown Striped Laptop Sleeve

I can’t tell you how to combine your colors or graph out a stripe pattern for anyone. I can, however, tell you what I do and urge you to try it.

I put the different colors I like in a box. Then I pick out a group of colors I like together and line them up on the floor (or on the tray table of the airplane last October and November when I was traveling a lot) I work with the color I come to. When I have worked through all the colors in the line, I rearrange them in another line I like. All the while careful to vary the widths of the stripes:  3 of this, 2 of that, 7 of this, 5 of that, then 1, then 6, then 2, then 4. . .  I do this over and over. If I’m tired I look at what I’ve done, pick out a combination I like and do it again, but with a difference, reorder slightly, make sure all the widths are different.

Remember, your taste rules. If you don’t like it, don’t do it.

Always Buy Knitting Insurance:  Ok, a non-sequitor: if you are making an Ella coat with the tweaks I advocate on the blog, you will need more yarn than the pattern calls for. I recommend purchasing between 2 – 4 skeins extra in colors you like. At least 2 – 3 for the ruffle. Better to have more than enough and use some for flower decorations or Ella Diversions than run out and regret.

There is lots of advice out there about colors, color combining, picking colors. I will not point you to color wheels and wax on about complimentary colors. It can be very academic and there are folks who can speak that language much better than I.

I have feelings about colors, respond to certain combinations more than others, have my own preferences, likes, dislikes.

I always hesitate to give advice about colors because I have very defined tastes of my own. . . and as I always say to the folks who take my workshops, “your taste trumps mine.”

That said, part of the objective of this Ella Coat Knit-a-Long is to help you unleash your inner knitting artist self. For those in touch with this power, I am in full support. For those who feel well, a bit stifled or maybe a bit at sea with no land in sight, I have an exercise for you.

Many people think that creativity springs purely from the self. One must wait to be inspired. . . But this is not quite the way I think of creativity. Creativity takes work–it is pleasant if hard work sometimes, mind you–and it also springs from living in the world. We can only hold so much in our own minds. If you want to understand how flowers are made, for example, you have to look at them, take them apart, garden them, understand them, and look at them. . . look at them. If you want to sketch the joints of a beetles leg, it will not spring from your imagination . . . you must study in the world.

I listened to an interview of a panel of esteemed writers. The reporter asked them about the creative process and asked if they waited to be inspired. . . they all laughed. Every last esteemed guest positively guffawed. One person finally said, “If I waited to be inspired, I would never produce anything.”

Artistry takes work. Every day.

Picking colors needs, like any artistic production, to arise out of living in the world. Nature is an unequaled painter. She is an endless source of inspiration and has put together some of the most startling and beautiful color palettes you can imagine. Even today as we were driving home from seeing HUGO (fabulous movie. . . magical and beautiful with a wonderful overarching theme about everyone having a purpose) I was seeing Ella coat color palettes everywhere.

Put simply: I don’t start in the yarn store necessarily for a beautiful selection of colors. I start with the throat of the foxglove, the petal of the stargazer lily, the sunset over the Rockies, even in that patch of grass by the road where we drive there are several green shades and above the celadon, the bright yellow-green, the darker bright green of more mature grass blades there is the grey of deciduous bushes and trees, the overcast sky.  I filter out the signs, the brick houses, the shops. Focus on the patch of greens (3 shades) and greys (2 shads). These are the colors for an Ella Coat.

The last day I was skiing in Colorado I skied down the mountain (amazing!). . . through the most beautiful birch forest. The palette was limited: creamy white, creamy grey, bits of chocolate, dark grey, a dark purpley blue. The effect was incredible. It was silent, cold, serene. A beautiful Ella Coat.

Colors in the Close up of a Birch Tree Trunk

The other night as I was talking to Melissa on the phone I kept staring at a box of chocolates across the room. The box was chocolate brown and on the side was a bouquet of crimson roses. A beautiful Ella coat, or many beautiful and very different Ella Coats. I can see a chocolate brown coat with stripes of Berries (only a little), Garnet, Christmas Red, maybe even Antique Rose (but that might be too light . . . I would try it and see how I felt. If I used it, only sparingly because a color so light in a dark field has incredible power).

Extract the flowers from the entire picture and focus on the reds, keeping the dark chocolate. . . Sometimes the pixilation of the photograph helps to extract the different reds in the picture.  Here I see Midnight Lake, Berries, Garnet, Christmas Red, even Hot Pink. There is also gold. . . I would omit this, but that’s just me. Maybe a splash of true gold or pumpkin would be fabulous, maybe not. In any case, it should be used sparingly because in such a palette the color has tremendous power.

Picture the coat in reds stripes, with slender stripes in the darker chocolate and possibly also Midnight Lake. Maybe I would harness the power of those darker colors for the ruffles, or just the tips of the ruffles.

If you see a combination of colors that you love, take a picture, then limit the possibilities by narrowing your attention in the photo. Use the crop tool in Photoshop to focus on a section of the landscape, picture, photo, greeting card image that you like. Here is an example. The first images is of a painting. There is too much going on in this painting for me to want to represent all of these colors in an Ella Coat. I’m overwhelmed. But what about the tree at the top right of the picture.  I’ll limit my focus to that tree.  I love the complexity but limited palette. . . A beautiful grey coat with green stripes at the hem and cuffs, or a striped coat that uses all the shades of green and grey . . . or a green coat with grey ruffles. . . or a green coat with stripey waist or stripey bodice. . .

I’ve highlighted other areas of the picture to show how limiting your vision can make for exciting possibilities and is less overwhelming. . . Those fabulous blue domes with a hint of purple. The darker blue palettes on the buildings, the neutral palette of the building at the center of the painting.

Here are the extracted color palettes:

Blues

More Blues

The Green Tree (you could segregate the lower and upper halves for very different coats).

Neutrals

Here is my challenge to you: Go out in the world, take some pictures. Then crop the picture to focus on a color palette. . . Post your ideas on the Noni Facebook page along with the yarn colors you pulled out of the picture(s) you took. You do not have to knit the colors you find into your Ella Coat, but you will begin to see color combinations you had not noticed, and you will start to notice which ones you like (and which you don’t). I want you to love your coat. And I want you to be the artist of your own color choices.