My First 10-Stitch Coat

My First 10-Stitch Coat

Travelling across the country, I purchased lots of $1/skein yarn.  I would buy either ten or twenty skeins.  My most colorful yarn was a red-yellow-blue combination.  When I knitted it, it was too crazy.  I needed something to tone it down.  Eventually, I chose black.

I used size 13 needles with a double strand of yarn, one of the colorful skein, the other, black.

I cast on 10 stitches and knit garter stitch until the strip measured the length of my arms from wrist to wrist.  For the yoke, I cast on twenty stitches and knit the same length.  For the fronts, I knit twenty stitches half the length.

To assemble the coat, I stitched the fronts to the yoke, leaving a “comfortable” neck opening on the top.  I stitched under the arm all the way, yoke to front.

Then I began stitching the ten-stitch strips from the front, under the arm and across the yoke and under the other arm to the other front.

I did this until I reached the desired length for my coat.

I stitched around all the edges with a contrasting yarn for style.  I used Voo-Doo yarn in black.  It is whimsical with its thick and thin, fluffy and straight sections.

One more ten-stitch strip serves for the belt and has a button and yarn closure.

I used ten skeins.

I lined my coat because yarn can stretch and I want to enjoy this coat for many years.

I cut rectangles to match the parts of the coat and hemmed them.  Then I hand-sewed them to the inside of my coat.  I tacked the lining across the skirt section of the coat.

This is my first ten-stitch coat.  It was so easy to knit while we were travelling, and even in the movies, so I have made a couple more.  It is easy to add variations based on the yarn you choose, how full you want the skirt, and if you want to shape the sleeves differently.