phila*craft

aka Mister (Baby) Green Jeans

Elio's denim pair (the pattern prototype) were only recently retired after being worn and machine-washed at least once weekly for well over a year; my husband and I were so sorry to see them go into the box of outgrown baby clothes, I had to make another pair.

MATERIALS: Four skeins 1824 Wool in Basil and one in Sprout, five yards or so of off-white dk weight cotton for embroidered topstitching details (I think this is Peaches and Creme), Holland wool felt in Willow and Valdani embroidery floss in Basil for the patch, 1" wide elastic for the waist
TOOLS: size US5 needles, needle for sewing up, embroidery needle
PATTERN: My own co-authored with Kay and published in knitty (see "blu" in the sidebar recipes)
GAUGE: 5 stitches to the inch
MODIFICATIONS: This is the largest size in the published pattern that was written for Rowan Denim. I tweaked the pattern to give fuller, straighter legs like those of a pair of my son's sweatpants the fit of which I really like. Instead of casting on 59 stitches, I cast on 65. Because it seems to me that wool wants to curl more than cotton, I knit the first four rows in garter stitch and then continued the "cuff" in reverse stockinette as specified in the pattern; the garter stitch keeps the edge from curling and is hardly noticeable against the reverse stockinette. Instead of increasing as specified, I increased one on both edges of every tenth row before the seat and crotch shaping until I had 75 stitches. I did the shaping as written in the published pattern and followed the instructions to the letter from that point on. A thorough wet-block pin-down made the pieces lie flat for seaming. These should see a lot of action over the holidays, so I'll report back about wearability and maintenance to anyone who lets me know they might try the pattern in wool.