Saturday, November 17, 2012

The Official Rinoa Heartilly's Duster Pattern

 
Rinoa Heartilly's Duster and Armwarmers



















 
Supplies:

Size 2 (2.75 mm) knitting needles (I strongly recommend 14” length for at least the back panel)
Size 2 (2.75 mm) double pointed needles
yarn needle
white fabric paint
two small silver buttons (The ones I used were 1/2” across)

Yarn
I used Knitpicks.com Shine Sport in Sky, 60% Pima Cotton, 40% Modal® natural beech wood fiber. Anything would be fine as long as it's sport weight. For my length I used 20 skeins of yarn. Online is definitely the cheapest way to go when buying that much yarn. Knitpicks.com is an excellent source, and so is elann.com. Because of the ribbed fabric, I might recommend you use a wool yarn so you can block it flat and have it stay, but I really liked the look of the cotton yarn.

This jacket is a size medium tall, made to fit my medium sized 6' tall frame.


Gauge: 10 rows to an inch, 6 sts to an inch.

Abbreviations:
CO- cast on                   pfb- purl front and back
k- knit                            kfb- knit front and back
p- purl                            sts- stitches


The Armwarmers




CO 60 sts onto three double pointed needles.
Join, knit 2, purl 2 all the way around.
Continue until desired length. 
They took about one skein each. 
Cast off using whatever stretchy bind off you're most comfortable with. I used Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off. (Site with description of bind off technique: http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEfall09/FEATjssbo.php)

Mine were 11 1/4” long. It is not necessary to taper the tube to fit your arm, the ribbed pattern will keep them snug.







The Duster  

The Front Panel (Make 2)

CO 16 sts on to straight needles
knit 2, Purl 2 for 6”

start increasing here. (if you have a preferred increasing technique, feel free to use it. This is just the one I used.)

K2, p2 until the last two sts, pfb the last two stitches.
K2, p2 back across
k2, p2 until the last two stitches, kfb the last two.
P2, k2 back across.

Continue until you've increased to 44 sts. Remember to always increase on the same side. Make sure you're paying attention to whether you're starting with a knit or a purl on the next row after increasing.


At 44 sts your piece should be about 10” long.

Continue knitting without increases until piece reaches from shoulder to ankle. This was 56 ½” total for me. It took about three skeins of yarn.
( I am TALL. Although once it was done I wished it was a bit longer. Make sure you adjust this for yourself.)
I did not bind off any pieces until I had all 3 seamed together so I could make sure they were all the same length, since I didn't count rows.
The Back Panel (Make One)

This is a wide piece, I strongly recommend having 14” long needles for this.

CO 16 sts each from two different balls of yarn. to start with it's gonna be two separate pieces, doing it like this makes sure they're the same length. (Pictures are done with different colored yarn to illustrate what I was doing.)

k2, p2 across both pieces each with their own yarn, for about three inches. so you'll have two completely independent pieces just hanging off the same needle.

 
kfb/pfb depending on what's needed on the last two sts of the first piece on the needle and the first two sts of the second piece. so towards the inside, increasing the pieces towards each other. keep doing this every row until the pieces together measure about 11"-12" across together. that's about the comfortable length to go across my shoulders. I increased each piece to 42 sts.


to join the pieces, do one more row of increases, except after knitting across the first piece, instead of using the working yarn from the second piece to knit it, carry the yarn over from the first piece. pull it tight so there's no gap.
k2, p2 one row after the join to solidify it. piece was 4 1/2" long, about 11" across.

Now, you increase the outsides to go down across your back and under you arms. Increases must be finished when the piece is 10” long to match up with the front panels.

Plain row means k2 p2 across without any increases
increase means kfb/pfb the first and last stitch of that row.

plain row
plain row
increase
plain
plain
increase
plain
plain
increase piece was 5 1/2" long.
plain <---- one inch

plain
plain
increase
plain
plain
plain
increase
plain
plain
plain
plain <--- two inches (eleventh row is extra to make up the length) 6 7/8" long

increase
plain
plain
plain
increase
plain
plain
plain
increase
plain
plain <--- three inches, just shy of 8" long

plain
plain
increase
plain
plain
plain
increase
plain
plain
plain <--- four inches. no need for an extra row. 9 1/8" long

increase 1 st on each side (to make sure we have a complete bar of ribbing)
plain
increase 2 sts on each side
plain
increase 2
plain
increase 2
plain
increase 2 <--- 10" long and 128 sts across.

I realize the increases are unevenly split on the rows, feel free to change this if it bothers you, as long as you have the same number of increases. Do not change the last inch of increases, it is important for the shape to have more increases in the last inch. This is what worked for me.

Again, make sure you're paying attention to whether you're starting with a knit or a purl on the next row after increasing. Since you're only increasing one stitch on each side for the first few inches it's going to be a little strange. Pay attention.

After the final increase row, continue to knit without increases until piece is desired length.  This took about 9 skeins of yarn.



Once pieces are done, seam together using the mattress stitch. I was very careful to pick places for the seams so as to not interrupt the ribbed pattern. This will be awkward if you didn't bind off to make sure that all three pieces lined up. Once you're sure, bind off using the same stretchy bind off you used for the armwarmers. Wash and block.

BLOCKING STRONGLY RECOMMENDED. The nature of ribbed fabric is to pull in, so these pieces will look small. Blocking will set the stitches and stretch out the ribbing so it looks nice. Blocking also provides a perfect opportunity to paint the wings on the back of the jacket.

The Wings

A few notes. I opted to paint them on because that is how it looks to me in shots from the game.
Looks like paint to me.

The image I used for my stencil can be found here: http://www.cosplay.com/showthread.php?t=129189
in the first response from Leradny she has a link to the image. I've included it here just in case. I stretched the image until it took up the entire page. That size seemed to match best to me. Also, make sure to place the wings fairly close to the neckline, they're supposed to go across your shoulder blades.



My method was to paint it on with a sponge using the stencil, but this smudged the details quite a bit. I would suggest adding a bit of water to the paint and using a spray bottle to spritz the paint on. I have a theory that this would go on cleaner. Keep in mind, I have not tried this. I cleaned up my wings by mixing a bit of blue with the white and painting in the smudged details.
Blocking is the perfect time to do this, once it's dry, because it's all pinned down, stretched out and secure.




 






 
Stitch the two shoulder straps together once everything is dry. I used a basic whip stitch.

The Trim

CO 8 sts
Knit in stockinette until desired length.
It took two and a little more skeins of yarn for all of it.

you will need three pieces, one long piece to go around the front and neckline of the jacket and two to go around the sleeve openings.
once the pieces are long enough to fit, (length will vary depending on how long you made your jacket.) stitch the two edges together with the knit side out. The fabric will be curling this way naturally because of the way stockinette curls.

Sew the flattened tubes around the edges of the jacket.





For the strips that close the jacket in front make one more small strip the same way about 6” long. This one will be the one you sew the buttons on.

For the strip with the buttonholes, make another strip with the buttonholes at 1 ½” and 3 ½”. Strictly speaking two buttonholes aren't necessary, if you just to one, center it on the piece. For my buttons I made the buttonholes 5 rows long. Vertical buttonholes simply involve switching to a new ball of yarn halfway through to row to create a separation. When I sewed the edges together on the back I simply stitched the edges to the edge of the buttonhole on the front to leave it open.

If ypu have a different method for making buttonholes, feel free. This is just how I did it.


Now you're done! Get a black v neck tank top, a denim skirt and black shorts and go save the world with your knight!





If you have any issues please feel free to contact me, either by commenting, or through my Ravelry account, which is linked in my sidebar. Have fun!

24 comments:

  1. I'm knitting this duster too and have come to a bit of a problem. I'm new to knitting so I don't know. At the left edges of my pieces, I'm getting these knots. I've searched and it's an official edge that people use. I don't want to use this edge. I want to edges to look even. I already finished my side panels so I'm going to have to deal with it, but I want to try and avoid this for my back panel. I'm not sure if it's the tension or what. Have you had this problem? And were you able to get your edges smooth? I don't know what to do.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. do you mean the side the increases are on? are you using the same knit front and back/purl front and back increase I did? It may just be the yarn looping over awkwardly. When I did it, the edges were a bit lumpy. Honestly, unless they're really huge knots, sewing on the trim ought to cover any unevenness. I did exactly what I described in the pattern, and adding the trim made the edges nice and smooth. If it's too big a problem for that, I would double check your increasing technique. watch youtube videos or whatever to make sure you're not missing anything. If that's not the problem, maybe try a different increasing method.

      Delete
  2. It's not really on the increases, it's down the whole left side of each piece. It happens when I end a row with a purl and start the next row with a knit. I've searched everywhere and there are some people suggesting that it's tension or something. But when I go to fix my tension like others have said to do, it's not working.

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  3. This is why I wish I could knit. The accuracy of this duster blows me away.

    Would you ever knit one to sell? :P The duster is the part that's killing me. I'd hate to buy one that isn't as accurate.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thank you! you're so sweet! I might knit one to sell, but the thing is, with the massive time and effort this took, I'm afraid I'd want more money then most people would want to pay. :D

      Delete
    2. Sorry, I have another question!

      Do you think your pattern would work on pre-purchased ribbed fabric? I hear that ribbed fabric is a pain to work with and I don't want to ruin any of the ribs =/

      Delete
    3. you mean just cutting out the outline? Probably. I couldn't say for sure, since I haven't done it. Just cut straight. I've never worked with premade ribbed fabric, so I don't know much about it.

      Delete
    4. Hi lilysatig3r, I can't knit to save my life otherwise I too would have attempted this pattern, but in regards to the pre purchased rib knit fabric, I just had a Rinoa duster made for me with some fabric I sourced on eBay and it worked a treat. I can link you to the picture of my duster on Cosplay Island if you want to have a look at it :)

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  4. I love this! I don't know that I'll ever work up the courage to start a project like this but it's nice to have goals/dreams. :D I'm only just learning to knit (though long stretches of stockinette are easy during TV shows!). Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thank you! It wasn't really difficult, just super tedious. I did an awful lot of this while watching tv. it certainly does help.

      Delete
  5. This looks fantastic and the accuracy is amazing. This whole thing was easy to read and understand except for one part; I was wondering how exactly you attached the trim. I tried looking it up but I couldn't find how to sew on a stockinette tube.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thank you so much! I attached the trim with just a basic whip stitch with a yarn needle and some of the same yarn. I just put the needle through about two or three loops on the edge of the stockinette tube. The stitches blend in to the fabric. Does that make sense? If you actually do this, I'd love to see pictures of it.

      Delete
  6. Hi Jessica, can I ask how long this took you to make?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. all told about 5 months. it was about a year or so in the planning, but once I sat down to knit I did it in about 5 months, at a fairly slow pace so as not to burn myself out on tedious repetitive knitting.

      Delete
  7. Hey Jessica!

    Loved the duster and confess that you have given me courage to try to do the knitting Rinoa duster. I did it once but did not come out cute, got weird tee hee ^ - ^

    I'm trying to be a little more accurate and based on his teachings! See how this getting:

    https://31.media.tumblr.com/cd098118c006c1f08669b0c50984c8f2/tumblr_n23pdeHPyN1qkqgeno1_500.jpg

    Thanks for making a simplified tutorial <3

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. that looks great so far! I'm so glad it helped you. I can't wait to see it when it's finished!

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    2. Something that made ​​a difference was in the size of knitting needles, smaller give a very beautiful result, every progress is possible I will take a photo to show you! The only thing I feel difficulty and understanding from inches to centimeters but the rest of this simplified ^___^v

      Delete
  8. Greetings from Germany!

    Your cosplay is awesome, i wanted a cosplay like this for years. But i´m new at knitting, too, so my question: Do you have a short video tutorial for the pattern? Because it is really hard for me to translate the knitting words into my language, so i don´t really understand. I hope you still read this!

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    Replies
    1. I'm sorry, I don't have a video of it, I wish I could be more help!

      Delete
  9. Ugh, I can't knit if my life depended on it. But sourcing the right fabric is just impossible. So I'm stuck...
    But this is a beautiful thing you did. It's so cool you created her duster and posted your whole story for us to see. Kudos!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh thank you! I know, I ran into the same fabric problem, I actually tried for a long time to find something that would work and I never could. That's why I eventually turned to knitting. It was a lot of work, but I'm proud of it.

      Delete
  10. Ugh, I can't knit if my life depended on it. But sourcing the right fabric is just impossible. So I'm stuck...
    But this is a beautiful thing you did. It's so cool you created her duster and posted your whole story for us to see. Kudos!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I love this pattern, and I'm currently making it. I just noticed that there might be typo.
    For the increases on the two front panels, where it says:
    K2, p2 until the last two sts, pfb the last two stitches.
    K2, p2 back across
    k2, p2 until the last two stitches, kfb the last two.
    P2, k2 back across.
    I think that the knits and the purls on the rows after the increases are reversed. I tried the pattern at first the way it's written, and it went all wonky on me. I tried it again with swapping the order of the knits and purls from how they're written, and it came out how yours looks. Just thought it'd be a good idea to share, for in case that was a typo.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Please make one for me! I'll pay reasonable price tho. .😭😭😭😭

    ReplyDelete