Confident that my gauge problems with this design are over, I did not block the body of Downton again and instead used the day to forge ahead with the collar and front borders. Much as I love the knitted-in buttonholes on my early version, I did not want to replicate them. For one thing, my buttons for this version are much bigger and would, I am sure, eventually cause gaping wounds to develop in the fabric (even with Debbie Stoller's "bestest buttonhole"). For another, I like being able to position the buttonholes when the knitting is mostly done and I can try on the jacket for button placement. I opted not to go with shaped lapels (after an aborted short row experiment), and decided on a crochet edge done from the wrong side and going all around the lapels to the collar. No photos this evening; it's too dark.
Once this was done, I went for a breath of fresh air and looked around my neighbourhood for some examples of Victorian gothic architecture to put me in a Downton mood.
I found this:
and this.
Next I must look for a location to take photos of the new jacket...
