Home

Weblog

Pattern of
the Month

On the Needles
(...and Off the Needles)

Knitalong

Stitchcraft

Vintage Patterns

About the
Idle Hands


Archive entry for August 2017

« July 2017 | Main | September 2017 »

August 2017

Beach Coat

BeachCoat1.jpg

Warm wrap for the beach with a hood - completely appropriate for a breezy British summer's day!
The wrap is lined with towelling (optional) - and I think this is an excellent idea for a beach wrap. You will need to choose as fine (thin) a towelling fabric as you can because the wrap will already be fairly chunky even though it is made from a light weight quickknit or 5ply.

Instructions.

Instructions for two sizes with larger sizes given in brackets.
Where one set of figures is given this applies to all sizes.

The pattern is in three colours - White is represented by W, Navy Blue by B, Green by G, and Pink by P.

Back

With colour B, cast on 130 (138) stitches and work 3 inches straight.
Fold work in half and make a hem on the next row.
Continue straight in B until piece measures 6 inches from lower edge. Break B.
Change to W and work 6 rows. Break W.
Change to G and work 4 inches Break G.
Change to W and work 6 rows. Break W.
Change to P and work 3 inches Break P.
Change to W and work straight until back measures 16 inches from
lower edge.
Continue in W and shape armholes by casting off 10 (10) stitches at the beginning of the next 2 rows.
Continue straight until armhole measures 9½ inches from cast-off stitches

Shape shoulders by casting off 8 (9) stitches at the beginning of the next 8 rows. Work 8 rows straight on remaining 46 (46) stitches
Transfer these stitches on to a spare knitting needle or stitch holder and leave for the time being.

Right Front

With Colour B, cast on 68 (72) stitches and work 3 inches straight.

Next row (right side facing): Fold work in half and make hem.
Next row : Purl, casting on 10 (10) stitches at end of row for facing front edge.

Continue straight in B until work measures 6 inches from lower edge. Break B.
Join in W and continue in striped pattern exactly as for back until stripe in P is done. Break P.

Continue in W until front measures 16 inches from lower edge,
ending with wrong side facing.
Cast off 10 (10) stitches at the beginning of the next row for armhole, then work straight until armhole measures 9½ inches from cast-off
stitches ending at armhole edge.

Next row (wrong side facing): shape shoulder by casting off 8 (9) stitches at the beginning of the next and following 3 alternate rows, (armhole edge).

Next row (right side facing): Cast off 10 (10) stitches at the front edge, then work 8 rows straight on remaining 26 (26) stitches.
Transfer these stitches on to a spare needle or stitch holder and leave for the time being.

Left Front

As for right front, cast on 68 (72) stitches in colour B, and work 3 inches straight.

Next row (right side facing): Fold work in half and make hem.
Next row (wrong side facing): cast on 10 (10) stitches for front edge facing, purl to end.

Work to correspond with right front reversing the shapings.
Editor's note: the cast off for the armhole and shoulder are with right side facing, and the cast off for the front edge is with wrong side facing.

Sleeves

With colour B, cast on 80 (80) stitches and work 4 inches straight in stocking-stitch for facing. Break B.
Change to W and work straight for a further 4 inches

Continue in W and shape sides by increasing 1 stitch at each end of the next and every following 6th row until there are 100 stitches, then at each end of every following 4th row until there are 120 stitches.
Work straight until sleeve measures 20 (20) inches down centre from start of W.
Cast off loosely right across.

Hood

First Half:
With wrong side of work facing, slip 26 stitches from right front and 23 stitches from back of neck on to one needle. [49 sts]

Next row (wrong side facing): * p2; purl twice in next stitch; repeat from * to last stitch, p1. [65 sts].

Continue in W and work 2 rows straight, then cast on 17 stitches at front edge for facing. Work 12½ inches straight.
Cast off.

Second Half:
Work to correspond with first half.

Facing:
Join back and top seam of hood.
With colour B, cast on 27 stitches and work a strip to fit all round front
edge of hood. Cast off.

To Make Up

Editor's note: lining the coat with fine towelling is optional (as is the colour of the lining material). However, if you are planning to do so, it is a good idea to cut out the lining using the knitted pieces as a pattern guide, at this point - before you sew the coat together. Allow ¼-½ inch turnings for the seams.

Press parts on wrong side under a damp cloth, pinning out each piece to shape and taking care not to stretch centre edges on fronts.
Join shoulder seams.
Pin cast-off edge of sleeves along armholes in between the 10 cast-off stitches at start, then pin side edges of sleeves to the cast-off stitches thus giving a square effect to sleeve top.
Sew in position.
Join sleeve and side seams, matching stripes carefully.

Fold under 10 facing stitches down front edges and slip-hem lightly in position; catch down neatly at neck and lower edge.
Fold under 4 inches of blue facing on sleeves and catch down lightly all round on wrong side.

Press lightly and turn back 2½ inches of facing on to right side for cuffs.
Sew the white facing ribbon all round neck on wrong side just below start of hood, inserting cord as you do so. With W wool, bind or knot cord 1 inch in from each end, then fringe ends for tassels.

Sew blue facing all round front of hood, right sides facing, and along cast-on stitches at each side; turn width of facing on to wrong side and press; catch down neatly all round so that stitches do not show through on right side. Fold back on to right side and catch down at sides to keep in position.

Press all seams.

Line back, fronts and hood with yellow towelling if required.

Materials

Quick-knit, 5ply, or light double knitting: 14(15) 1oz balls in White, 6(6)oz in Royal Blue, and 2(2)oz each in Carnival Pink, and Shannon Green.

A pair of No 9 (3¾mm) needles.

2 yards of fine yellow towelling for the lining; 1 yard of white facing ribbon; 1¼ yards white cord.

Tension

26 sts to 4 ins on No 9 (3¾mm) needles.

Size matters

To fit chest
32-35(36-39) inches.
Length from top of shoulders: 26 inches
Sleeve seam: 16 ins with cuff turned back.

Abbreviations

stocking stitch: one row knit, one row purl.

k2tog or p2tog: work 2 sts together to decrease.

A Word on the Wool

The original yarn was Patons Quickerknit Botany.
Note that 1 oz is about 28g.

I believe "quicknit" wools evolved as a compromise yarn for baby designs. They were half way between traditional DK and 4 ply; Phildar marketed Pronostic (a synthetic) which was much used for their baby patterns, being hard wearing and practical.
These days light worsted weights are much more common than when this pattern first appeared.

Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino is one such yarn being of superb quality and available in wonderful range of colours. [Though if you really want to use it a lot on the beach you might want to look for a less luxurious fibre option].

Disclaimer
(well...almost)

In transposing any pattern it is always a risk that errors will be introduced, in spite of dedicated proof reading.
If you have any problems with this pattern, please and I will try and assist.

Make a Hem

There are a number of tutorials on You tube about making an invisible hem as you knit.

This one shows you two ways - the first part of the tutorial applies to the type you need here.

This one shows you a number of ways to make a hem starting with just making the hem at the end when you sew up. The latter part of the tutorial applies to the type you need here.

BeachCoat2.jpg

© Christina Coutts 2007

Helpful Stuff

Pattern Archive

Categories

Yarn Links

Fabric etc

Stuff to do

  • Little rabbits
  • V&A 1940s Patterns
  • Monkey Socks
  • Necktie Bag
  • Posh Gloves
  • Criss-cross coasters