Knitting Kylo's coat

Because I love fiber arts, I was contemplating a way for me to create the fabric for Kylo's outer coat myself. I was imagining building large looms to weave it myself, when I realized I could also knit the fabric instead of weaving it. So I knit a swatch with different stich combinations that came to mind to see which, if any, best matched the fabric used in the movie. I started out on 100% merino yarn, which soon proved way more fluffy than the movie's fabric. Only after that, I read that the outer coat is made of cotton, so I switched to some mercerized cotton I had laying around (excuse the color, I didn't have any black at the time so I opted for the darkest color I had, which was this purple):



I decided that the bottom third of the picture above resembled the structure of the movie fabric best, so I got me some (non-mercerized) black cotton yarn and knit a larger swatch. Here's a side-by-side comparison with a reference photo:



Compared to the reference fabric, my 'warps' are shorter, which I tried to reconcile by using different stitch patterns, but the results of this can be seen in the middle and top parts of my purple swatch and in my opinion, these resemble the original fabric less. In any case, I like the look and feel of this black swatch. It has a decent drape to it without being too flowy, but I'd have to knit a larger sample to see if it will resemble the movement seen in that Vanity Fair gif.

Next steps:

• Knit swatches out of black mercerized cotton, because this has a sheen to it, whereas the black swatch above does not. The sheen of the yarns I'm going to try first can be seen in the followin nasty flash-photo (apologies for the blown-out labels, but this picture really demonstrates the shine of these yarns):
  

• Wash and block the swatches to see if blocking straightens out the stitches more and whether or not the yarn loses its shine after a wash. The purple yarn of my first swatch does lose its shine, so if that happens, I will have to coat the fabric to get it glossy again. I'm hoping that the mercerization of the yarn will give it enough shine not to have to coat the fabric with anything else.
• Figure out how to increase and decrease stitches without disrupting the stitch pattern.
• Make a mock-up overcoat out of regular fabric to derive measurements from so I can knit this coat to the right fit.

I'd very much like to hear what you think of this project and whether you think the fabric I created is close enough to the movie's. I'm not intending to join the 501st or anything, so it doesn't have to be exact-exact, but of course I'd like to be it as close as I can get it. Also, I don't know if there are any more knitters here, so I won't bore you with the exact stitch patterns now, but if anyone is interested in them, I'd be happy to share them

Tips and advice are very welcome!

Awesome...definitely some dedication in knitting it. How is the weight of it? Does it seem to lay the same way as the film version?

Thank you! So far, I haven't knit large pieces of fabric yet, so I can't be entirely sure of this yet, but these swatches look very promising when it comes to how they drape and lay. I don't know yet what washing will do to the fabric, because that relaxes the stitches and evens them out. Often, a knit fabric will be a bit looser and more drapy after a wash. So that is my next step: knit something bigger to see if it indeed behaves the same as in the movie and if it still does so after a wash.

OOOOOh I want to see how this turns out! I might have to teach myself knitting.

EDIT: I would also like to know what the stitching patterns are.

Jamestan said:

OOOOOh I want to see how this turns out! I might have to teach myself knitting.

EDIT: I would also like to know what the stitching patterns are.

Click to expand...

Cool! I recommend Youtube for knitting instructions, tons of great material over there. In particular, the videos from Very Pink Knits are really well-explained and clearly demonstrated. I'll include some links below to her videos demonstrating the stitches and techniques I use to create this fabric (which are very basic and easy techniques, nothing fancy, so once you get the hang of it you are good to go!).

Stitch pattern
I am going to continue working with the black swatch above. This pattern is worked over a multiple of 2 stitches. To that, add 4 stitches for neat edges (i-cord edges, to be specific). Here's a video demonstrating the cast on method I use for this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sN9cNEozOLc. On each row (right side (RS) and wrong side (WS)), I knit the first two stitches and slip the last two with the yarn in front (sl2 wyif).

Knitting techniques and abbreviations

The pattern itself


Repeat these four rows until you have reached the length you want.

Here is a comparison of what the right and wrong side of the fabric will look like:



I hope this helps! I have never written out a knitting pattern before, so please let me know if you have any questions or anything is unclear.

.... Wow!!! Your knitted Kylo is Awweeesome! Can't wait to see the finished costume! Just one question: How long will it take you?

Thank you! That's a really good question! It depends on various things how long it will take me. On the one hand, I am a fast knitter and I can knit an adult sweater in six days if I have the chance to knit all day (although I'd give myself carpal tunnel if I made a habit out of that). On the other hand, I estimate Kylo's coat to be more than twice the amount of fabric of a sweater, so it will take me more time. On top of that, I'm graduating in three months, so my knitting time will be more limited. I think a realistic estimate would be to say that if the force is with me and nothing goes terribly wrong (knitting-wise or planning-wise), I may be able to knit it in a month once I really start knitting it. Right now, I'm still swatching to try what works best, and then I'll sew a mockup out of regular fabric to derive my measurements for the knitted coat from, and then I'll start knitting it for real.

As far as the whole costume goes, I don't have a timeframe in mind for when I want it finished. This is the first piece I'm going to be working on, actually. To be honest, I haven't got a clue what I'd do with a finished Kylo costume, but I so badly want to make one that I can't resist. I'm sure I'll eventually find a use for it