Mélange Coat (Rebecca Magazine No. 51-2012?)

Hi there, knitting 🧶 experts! About 2–3 years ago, a former acquaintance gave me the pattern for the marbled coat from a Rebecca magazine 🙂. I love taking on new challenges, but I’m still pretty much a beginner when it comes to knitting! Since I used a different type of yarn 🧶 than the one specified in the pattern, I went to a knitting shop for help 😏. I never finished the coat because I couldn’t figure out the pattern. Now I’ve dug my coat out again and realized that, unfortunately, a few mistakes have crept in 😯—and they’re so serious that I have to unravel everything! again 😱. To make sure this doesn’t happen again, I’ve taken it upon myself to convert the stitches. However, the increases for the front curves are giving me a few problems. I need your help with this! Gauge according to the pattern: 10 × 10 cm, 12 stitches over 16–17 rows Gauge for my yarn: 10 × 10 cm, 15 stitches over 18 rows According to the pattern, cast on 58 stitches and purl the 1st wrong-side row, then knit in stockinette stitch. For the front curves, cast on 1x 5 sts, 1x 3 sts, 3x 2 sts, and 5x 1 st on both sides of every 2nd row, and 2x 1 st on every 4th row = 100 sts at a height of 36 cm. I would need to cast on 70 stitches instead of 58 and end up with 131 stitches at a height of 36 cm. How should I distribute the increases to maintain the shape? The same question will arise later with the sleeves and when decreasing for the armholes in the main body.
I’m currently wondering if it would be possible to knit the coat in the next size up (74 stitches cast on according to the pattern) and thus avoid having to do all the recalculations. The only question is, what ratio should I use for the number of rows??? Right now, I feel like I’m facing an insurmountable problem 😧 and I’m really hoping for your help. Thank you so much in advance! 

Dear Patricia,

why don’t you make a gauge swatch with different needle sizes? Maybe a larger or smaller needle will work, and you’ll be able to knit everything exactly—or at least similarly—to the instructions?

Best regards,
Anja 

Dear Anja,

Thank you so much—sometimes the simplest ideas just don’t occur to you.

I’ll give it a try.