About the Tokyo Jacket Free Crochet Pattern at Naturallycaron.com

I'm elated that I've been awarded the Set My Picot Free Award for Crochet Excellence and Phenomenal Fashion by the Fearless Leader of the Crochet Liberation Front :)

For the Tokyo Jacket design I actually have the "eureka!" moment on paper. Want to see it?

I remember that: "OO! OO! LACE SIDE PANELS!!" (dates from June 2008). You can see from that scribbly sketch that the construction is the simple & easy "T-shape," just like a traditional kimono (a cropped one). The lacy sections disguise this. So do my exaggerated corners. In other words, it's easier to make than it looks.

There's a Ravelry forum thread devoted to this pattern. I posted some comments there regarding the sleeves. Regarding adjusting the length of them, "The length of the sleeves is easy to shorten because they are crocheted from the shoulder down. Each row pair adds 2-3 inches as I recall."

Someone asked about making it sleeveless. My response was: "Normally [with T-shape construction] the shoulder seam lands part-way down the arm and looks bunchy or clunky, but here it’s all lace. So if you make the Tokyo Jacket sleeveless, the solid part will still land at your shoulder and look fitted to your size, but it won’t widen to fit your bust and hip. The lace takes care of that in the pattern. You could add your own lace panels at the sides to make it fit as a vest."

The yarn is Naturallycaron’s Country, which is the worsted wt. one with merino content (vs. Spa, which is the sportwt. one with bamboo content). Country doesn’t grow a lot from weight but it could from steam blocking (which I don’t recommend!). Spraying it with water to block is enough. Blocking photos and more in the previous blog entry.