Once I got my Winter Wonderland Vest to a point where I didn't need the pattern anymore (making it perfect for my work bag) I went back to my Dusky Nor'easter and cast on for the body. I had caked up the next skein when I was caking up skeins for my vest. I did a long-tail cast, knowing that with the next row being a right side row I would end up with the purl bumps along the bottom edge, matching what I did on my sleeves. I had to cast on 224 stitches so I pulled out three good lengths of yarn from my cake for the tail. A length is pretty much the distance between my hands with both arms stretched out - so about 5 feet for me. The pattern has you place stitch markers as you cast on, which makes counting a lot easier. While I don't usually use stitch markers when working shawls, I will use them when working garments. I kept the button and button hole bands per the pattern but replaced the k1, p1 ribbing between the bands and the cable panel with k2, p2 ribbing to match what I did on the sleeve cuffs. I am now ready to start working the body proper, but first I need to figure out button hole/button spacing and shaping.
The pattern as written gives you a 17" band for placing your buttons and button holes. The first buttonhole is worked at 4" and the remaining 4 buttonholes are worked at 3" intervals. I like visuals so I drew up a quick schematic. (My only real gripe about this pattern is that it doesn't have a proper schematic.)
I have a notebook that has graph paper in it so I counted out 17 squares and then marked where the button holes would be. The numbers next to the button hole marks are the row numbers. The nice thing about doing a quick schematic of your own on graph paper is it gives you a visual sense of the spacing, and if you don't like it you can easily experiment with other spacing options. I know I have 28 rows in 4" or 7 rows in 1", and the first buttonhole is at 4", I then added 21 to each buttonhole row number (21 rows in 3") until I had all of my buttonholes marked. So, now I know I will be working buttonholes on rows 28, 49, 70, 91 and 112. For my buttons I found some nice light-weight shanked buttons in my stash.
I have six buttons, but only need five. I like to use shanked buttons for knitwear because they naturally provide a little standoff, making it easier to button and unbutton. I like using light weight buttons so they don't distort the knitwear.
The last thing I need to do before I start working away at the body is figure out where the body shaping happens. The pattern indicates that decreases are worked at 5", 7", 10" and 12" from the cast on edge. That would equate to rows 35 (5" times 7 rows/in), 49, 70 and 84. The increases are worked at 13" and 15" from the cast on edge. That would equate to rows 91 and 105.
Pattern: Nor'easter by Thea Colman
Needle: US 6 (4 mm)
Yarn: Dream in Color Classy in Dusky Aurora
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