Rorschach Jacket is ready for the spotlight. She’s painted New York City red (seriously… she did the East Side bars with a cowboy showing his concealed handgun permit to bouncers… but that’s for another post) and now she’s ripe for her debut on the internets:

Click for bigger, as always. This is, as far as Google and I can tell, the very first Elizabeth Zimmermann Rorschach Jacket to model live on the web. I hope it won’t be the last, because this excellent pattern deserves a renaissance. Specs:

Rorschach Jacket from Knitting Workshop

Unspun Icelandic wool, two strands held double, most of four 300 yd-wheels cream and most of one blacksheep

US #8 needles, 4 stitches per inch

I cast on the number of stitches given for the 40″ size, but stopped when I reached the body width for the 36″ size. In other words, I have a long torso and a medium bust and I wanted a slimmer, less boxy fit. After weighing the many opinions you offered about buttons, I went with the smaller, square-within-a-circle choice. And I’m happy with the effect. I did make some slight modifications to the sleeves, working them over 80 stitches (decreased over 10 ridges to 70 for a small gusset) instead of the suggested 1/3 of the total for a blousey look. Then I nipped them back to 38 stitches for a snug cuff. I can’t tell whether EZ’s version had full length sleeves, but I made mine 3/4 length. I also sewed the two halves together inside-out, intentionally creating a raised seam to emphasize the construction. It’s a pleasing detail, I think.

I didn’t get any pictures of Rorschach in NYC, as we killed our camera card on our friends’ wedding ceremony and forgot to bring the device to dump the photos onto the laptop. But this afternoon the sun came out, and after I guzzled a mint Dewlep (no bourbon in the house, but some leftover Dewar’s from my grandmother’s memorial party did the trick handily) while cheering Street Sense to his Derby win, I gussied up and made Mr. Garter take pictures of me with my bicicletta. It’s fun to play that you’re in an Anthropologie catalogue. There are some little girls down the street who like to dress up and play Fairy Princesses… this is my interpretation. And Portland is a great location for a photo shoot right now: spring is at full throttle.

Next time I’ll have a report and a few pictures from my New York sojourn. Teaser: Of all the wedding dresses I’ve ever seen, I coveted this one the most.

 Update: Gah, you guys aren’t making this any easier! Such well-reasoned advocacy for both buttons, and people whose taste I admire–nay, covet–on both sides! Even some votes for white buttons, which I hadn’t considered at all. I realized that EZ placed her black buttons on the black stripe, except for the top and bottom buttons, which does something visually different than what I’ve presented here. But my sweater has less ease, so placing them on the white band is more practical. I’m going to have to take both sets on the plane tonight and ask the flight attendants to parade them through the aisles and keep a tally of the responses! Seriously, I think I’ll sew on the small buttons (because I have to have some way to hold the jacket closed for now, but keep the large ones so I can change them if I want. And maybe I’ll look at some white buttons, too. Thank you all for your opinions!
Rorschach is still damp, but I need to act speedily and get some buttons sewn on if I want to take her to New York. And I need your opinions, my friends. Let’s meet the contenders:

Button #1 is the lower, smaller button. It’s shinier, and has a square shape within the circle that pleasingly echoes Rorschach’s mitres.

Button #2 is the larger button. It’s got a geometric design, too, although it doesn’t remind me of any of the sweater’s visual elements. Button #2 is also closer to a matte black.

Now let’s see them in situ:

As always, click for big. The closure in either case is an EZ button tab: a loop of i-cord with both ends hitched to a short tab of garter stitch, attached to the edge of the cardi front. This brings me to a final question: Do you think it matters which side the buttons are on? Is that whole men’s-on-one-side, women’s-on-the-other thing relevant? I can never remember which is which anyway.

Okay, cast your votes!

…And they sure do like an elbow-length sleeve. Thanks to all of you for your thoughtful consideration of the matter — I had a good chuckle over your concern about me revealing my potentially flabby arms in cap sleeves. (I’m glad to be able to allay your fears and say that an active youth of horseback riding, tree climbing, and construction work, as well as skinny-arm genes from my mom, have rendered my limbs fit for exposure. But I’m grateful you’ve all got my back when it comes to averting tasteless fashion decisions!) The point that swayed me, though, was the astute observations by Emily, Karma and Debby that the tweedy nature of the yarn seems better suited to longer sleeves. I hadn’t even thought of that, but I completely agree.

In case you’re wondering how the mods worked out, I offer you a few cruddy self-portraits. Mr. Garter has departed for NYC (I’ll be hot on his heels Friday night, and I can hardly wait to see my New York pals), so I had resort to ye olde mirror shot. With low light on a gray day. Lucky you.

I don’t have the placket stitched down yet, as you can see, and I haven’t attached the hooks and eyes, but I think at least we can see that the modifications were largely successful. The thing is going to close in front, and the waist shaping falls at the right place.

That’s Great-Aunt Priscilla (we have to distinguish, because there were two great-aunts Priscilla: this is the knitting, rug-making, ubercraft Priscilla, as opposed to mountaineering geologist Priscilla) looking over my shoulder. I can’t tell if she approves or not, but she’s always watching. She’s also way cuter than you can tell in these pictures — if only I’d gotten the red-headed-babe gene along with the skinny-arms gene. Mr. Garter would have been so psyched.

Better photos when Glee is really done, I promise. And pssst — look what’s blocking:

Oh fie, oh spite! I was dividing up the stitches for the arm and body of Rorschach’s right half last night when I realized the numbers weren’t coming out aright. I spread it against the left half and was dismayed to find the body a good two inches shorter. Much invective-laced counting ensued. Could my gauge have changed? Nay, my haphazard notes were to blame. I had jotted on a crinkled scrap of paper, “CO sts for M size.” However, EZ does not label her sizes S-M-L. She gives them in inches, sensible woman. And when I cast on for the second half, I used the stitch counts for the 38″ size rather than the 40″ size I’d followed for the first half. (I’d correctly worked the width for the 36″ sweater on both halves, in case you’re ever trying to recreate my dimensions.)

There’s nothing for it but to frog Half the Second. While there’s a sting in undoing so much work, my real concern is for the Unspun Icelandic to survive the experience. It’s delicate at best, and I’m going to have to unknit and wind up my two little mare’s-tail strands with great care if they’re to survive being knit a second time. Also, I want to have this sweater finished for my trip to New York at the end of the month, in case it should still be wintry there. The good news? It’s the second week of Spring Break and I’m working at my little elementary school every day, but it should be very quiet. If I get the best of some long-term projects, there should be a bit of time for knitting.

Wednesday afternoon begins a new seminar at the university on art & religion; I’ll now have Tuesdays and Thursdays free for my other work and for knitting and pattern drafting. Huzzah for the spring term!