Vanessa

• Description
• Pattern Information
• Techniques

• Vanessa Bell is perhaps best known as Virginia Woolf's older sister, but she was a talented artist and craftswoman in her own right. As a young woman she was expected to wear formal Victorian-style clothing, but Vanessa wanted to dress in a more organic way, wearing long, loose layers. The Vanessa jacket has an oversized fit, a soft, unstructured shape, deep pockets and simple fastenings - perfect for keeping off the chill in a cold artist's studio! It is worked by holding two strands of yarn together, creating a subtle, tweedy finish to the fabric. The jacket is knitted in pieces from the bottom up with short grown-on sleeves. The back is knitted in reverse stocking stitch and the fronts in stocking stitch.

  Vanessa is knitted using Susan Crawford Excelana North and Susan Crawford Mist, knitted together.

  Vanessa is shown here using shades Dock Seed (Excelana) and Clockwork (Mist).

  Our model Ruth is shown here wearing size 4.

  The pattern includes instructions for nine sizes to fit chest measurements between 71cm (28in) and 157cm (62in) and contains clear written instructions.

• Yarn
  Susan Crawford Excelana North, fingering weight, 100% British wool, 75% Cheviot, 25% Bluefaced Leicester (159m / 174yds per 50g skein approx)
  5 (6, 7, 7, 8) (9, 9, 10, 11) skeins, shade Dock Seed

  Susan Crawford Mist, 72% mohair, 28% silk (420 m / 460 yds per 50 g skein)
  2 (2, 2, 3, 3) (3, 3, 3, 4) skeins, shade Clockwork
  

  Suggested needles
  5 mm (US 8) circular needle (100 cm / 40 in)
  spare needle for three-needle cast-off

  Gauge
  20 sts and 26 rows = 10 cm / 4 in over stocking stitch using yarn A and yarn B held together, after blocking. We achieved this gauge using 5 mm needles.

  Notions
  Waste yarn, large press fastener, matching thread, sewing needle, tapestry needle.

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