When I saw my sister-in-law Michelle in Dublin back in January 2011, she asked me to knit a warm jacket sized for a 3-4 year old for her son Harry for the next winter. Well, that winter will soon be here. I started researching jacket patterns in late September by going through my dozen or so books of patterns for children. I narrowed the possibilities down to what I liked and thought Michelle might like. I then had George go through my choices and narrow them down further by what he liked. We ended up choosing the
Riddler Jacket pattern out of the book "Rowan Tadpoles and Tiddlers" by Louisa Harding.
I knew I wanted to knit the jacket out of some of the Jamieson's Shetland Heather that I had bought from Simply Shetland when I was working there. Again I consulted George about which colours to use as I wanted to do the two colour Riddler Jacket. The available colours were:
Water Cricket (an autumny blend)

Loden (a very dark green):

And Gingersnap (a heathered orange):

We decided on Water Cricket and Loden, and I started by knitting a sleeve as a gauge swatch. The swatch seemed to work out well so I knitted the rest of the parts, using a little Gingersnap for the pocket linings.
Here are all the pieces blocked out and ready for the next step:

Now I need to sew the shoulders together, and pick up stitches to knit the button bands and collar. I sure hope it fits Harry when it's done. And that Michelle likes it!