Better In Person

I’ve been on a vest kick. Not so much with the actual knitting of the vests. More of a “boy, I wish I had more vests!” feeling. I fought it off in the fall, but couldn't resist this spring.

Back at the end of March, we had a quiet afternoon at Bloomin Yarns after running our final set of classes for the Shetland Triangle KAL. We had a couple of knitters concentrating on starting their Shetland Triangles and I started itching for a vest.

I started flipping through the store’s three-ring binders for women’s vests, and I found the perfect pattern. After a brief quest (with an entire LYS at my immediate disposal, I had plenty of options), I settled on Blue Sky Alpacas Skinny Dyed cotton. Then I was off to the races.

It was a very quick knit. Would have been well under a month had I not rediscovered my mojo on the evil Cloning Anemone socks. I finally felt like I saw the finish line on those and knew I had to strike while the iron was hot.

The plain stockingette back was my hospital knitting when the Hubster had his shoulder surgery back at the end of March (he’s doing great, BTW! Not quite halfway through his physical therapy, but a couplea weeks out of the sling).

I wanted a pic before I went to Maryland. This was it.

The cable front was fun. I used a modified version of Hungry Stitch (YouTube link) for my SSK’s, so I feel like I learned something on this project. After knitting my armbands and neckband, I chose to bind off all in knit, rather than K1P1 rib. I like the smoother edge.

I should have tucked in my shirt (and lost 30 lbs) before this picture. Oops.

This is the handknit I wore to Maryland Sheep & Wool, as you may remember from my recap post. I got several compliments on the vest while traversing the festival grounds (hence the post title), which was fun. This was a great knit, it fits me perfectly, and it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if I knit it again. Highly recommend!

Necklace is from CreationsbyUli on etsy. Love. It.

Cabled V-Vest
Pattern: Cabled V-Vests by Lisa Carnahan (pullover version) SW-004
Size: 48”
Yarn: Blue Sky Alpacas Skinny Dyed
Color: 310/Coffee
Source: Bloomin Yarns
Needles: US 6 (ribbing)/US 8 (body) Lantern Moon Destiny Circular Needles
Started: 21 March 2009
Finished: 26 April 2009
Mods/Errata: No actual mods, but there is one exceptionally nit-picky small error in the pattern. I have two purl stitches leading up to my cable panel. On Row 1 of the front for my size, it should begin with a purl stitch, not a knit stitch. By the time I got to that point and realized I had a problem, I was not going to rip and re-knit 53 sts of 1x1 ribbing.
Ravelry Project Link

Special thanks to CelticQueen, who was kind enough to take the two "modeled" shots this afternoon when she stopped in at Bloomin Yarns. I particularly like the last one of the neckline!