Fairy Queen Coat

Fairy Queen Coat

I started Earth Tricks's Fairy Queen Coat yesterday. Truth be told, my obsession with it began Sunday when I found it on Ravelry. I stressed over wanting it until Wednesday when I finally purchased the pattern ($8 for a pattern!? That's a lot! Wait, it's a detailed coat. Why doesn't it cost more...?). Wednesday night I tried my damnedest while tired to size it up. Earth Tricks has said it would be straight forward to size up...

Results of bad mathing. Mind you, I've taken math straight through Calc II...

Maybe for the extremely talented crochet tailor, but for me, it was a bit more difficult. Truth be told, maybe I shouldn't have attempted it while tired. Then the next day maybe I shouldn't have worked on it before coffee.

Post coffee crochet tailor mathematics. 

My bust is 49" and my gauge was on point, so why so much trouble getting it to come out the right size? I'm still not sure, but I had to size it down to a  44". Even that is pretty stretchy across the back. Granted, I'm using worsted weight merino. It's springy. My back is 16.5" across. I tend to wonder why the knitting/crocheting community doesn't use the same idea as in sewing, which is the stretch test. It's what you do to check to see the stretch on a fabric to make sure it's got the right amount of ease. 

Shameless nicked stretch test diagram care of sewingwithknits.com

Maybe *I* should start to use this method and write some patterns. Hm.

Anyhow, I sized it down to a 44" and the back section seems to be working out so far. Here are my Ravelry notes thus far. I'll keep updating as the sweater progresses, but I make no promises as I'm getting very distracted by the knitting machine and the idea of making gradient yarn for a shawl.