This first of the Ella coats came into being after I made a felted coat for little girls. The striped pattern in the little girl's coat was inspired by the piled up mattresses in the Princess and the Pea story. I even sandwiched 3-dimensional green peas between the stripes. Because a felted garment must be made so much larger than the size it will become, I was able to wear the coat before it was felted. I was smitten with the fit of the unfelted coat and the first Ella Coat was born.

Ella is a body-skimming sweater coat for women with an A-line silhouette that is created by making the bodice first from the high waist to the shoulder. The advantage of starting here is that you ensure your coat fits perfectly before you finish the entire coat. A perfectly fitted bodice will ensure a beautifully fitting coat. Then pick up at the high waist and work the skirt, stopping when the coat is the desired length.

For a detailed tutorial on choosing colors for your coat, fitting the coat to your own body, adding beautiful details, including alternate ruffle edgings, consult the Ella Coat Knit-a-Long that was conducted through the Noni Blog.

Pattern Difficulty

Intrepid Easy: Requires knowledge of knitting, purling, picking up stitches within the knitted fabric, increasing, decreasing, knitting in the round, and some hand-sewing during the finishing process.

Gauge

18 sts and 24 rows over 4"/10cm in St st using worsted weight yarn on a size 9/5.5mm needle or size need to obtain gauge.

Yarn Requirements

Solid Coat

6-8 skeins worsted weight wool

Solid Coat with Colored Ruffle

Coat: 4-6 skeins worsted weight wool
Ruffle: 2-3 skeins worsted weight wool

Striped coats

2-3 skeins of color (A), 1 skein or 100-250 yds (91 - 230m) of every other color

Needles and Other Materials

Size 9 (5.5mm) 32" (80cm) or longer circular needles
Size 10 (6mm) needles
Size 10 J crochet hook
Row Counter (optional)
Locking stitch markers
Sewing needle and sewing thread
Velvet ribbon to line the plackets (2" (5cm) wide and twice the length of one placket)

Pictured Samples

Cover samples were made in Shepherd's Wool by Stonehedge Fiber Mill: the coat on the front cover was made in Plum with Lime Ruffles. The striped coat on the back cover of the pattern was made using the Ocean Coat strip pattern (see chart on pattern).

The Tango is a beautiful, sexy dance: its movements are sensuous, and small gestures and details are emphatic. While I have not yet learned to Tango myself, when I designed this coat, I imagined a coat for Ella to wear when she goes to take her dancing classes: the sleeves are wide bells that follow the movement of the arms in graceful arcs. The skirt swings with a lovely drape that looks like dancing itself.

Ella Learns to Tango is, like the other Ella Coats, a body-skimming sweater coat for women with an A-line silhouette that is created by making the bodice first from the high waist to the shoulder. The advantage of starting here is that you ensure your coat fits perfectly before you finish the entire coat. A perfectly fitted bodice will ensure a beautifully fitting coat. Then pick up at the high waist and work the skirt down, stopping when the coat is the desired length.

Because there is not a lot of positive ease in the finished coat: I envisioned that this coat would be worn in place of a sweater, over a t-shirt or sleeveless camisole. If you want to wear this coat as an outer garment, you may need to make a larger size. When I wear my Ella Coats as outer garments, I wear two same-sized Ellas layered. I even have two Tango Ellas in the same color and I wear them layered. One is slightly shorter so there is a double ruffle at hem and cuffs - very pretty!

For a detailed tutorial on the original Ella Coat, including information on choosing colors for your coat, fitting the coat to your own body, adding beautiful details, including alternate ruffle edgings, consult the Ella Coat Knit-a-Long that was conducted through the Noni Blog.

Look at Additional Materials for more information about sizing as well as required materials. If you fancy the necklaces on the mannequin, they can be found in related items below and purchased here in the Noni store.

Project Difficulty Level

Intrepid Easy: Requires knowledge of knitting, purling, picking up stitches within the knitted fabric, decreasing, knitting in the round; hand-sewing and riveting are required for the finishing process

Coat Sizes

For the pictured look, we recommend Shepherd's Wool in Garnet (Stonehedge Fiber Mill Shepherd's Wool (worsted weight; 100% merino wool; 250 yds [229m] 4 oz [110g] skein).

Gauge

18 sts and 24 rows over 4" (10cm) in St st using worsted weight yarn on a size 9 (5.5mm) needle or needle size to obtain gauge. Check your gauge.

Yarn Requirements by Size

NOTE: Yardage in the table above is given in yards. Please multiply by 0.9144 to get meters.

Needles and Other Materials

Size 9 (5.5mm) 32" (80cm) or longer circular needle
Size J/10 (6mm) crochet hook
Row counter (optional)
Locking stitch markers, 1 of a different color or size
Stitch holders or waste yarn
Sewing needle and sewing thread
1 - 2 JUL Venetian Hinges (pictured) or 3 JUL Locks for front of coat 
4 JUL Latches for French cuffs (pictured: 2 for each cuff)