FO: Cricket vest

1. cricketvest1, 2. cricketvest2, 3. cricketvest4, 4. cricketvest3

Created with fd’s Flickr Toys.

Pattern: (name, author, source) Veste Everest by Veronik Avery from the Fall 200?5issue of Interweave Knits [My Ravelry Project Page]

Size(s): (to fit, finished size) Followed instructions for the 28″ size to fit 38″ (see modifications)

Yarn: (name, fibre, weight, colour) Vermont Organic Fiber O-Wool Balance Aran-weight 50/50 organic wool/organic cotton.  550 yards (500 m) cream and 40 yards (36 m) ruby

Needles: (size, material, style) US7 Denise interchangeable needle set and 4 mm bamboo circular

Knitting style: (for stitch patterns) Combination/Eastern Uncrossed throughout.

Modifications:

• Lengthened by 1 pattern repeat plus added several inches of 2/2 ribbing
• Used temporary cast on to achieve the above
• Omitted alternate cables to give more of a cricket vest look and to make the yarn go further!
• Added contrast bands in a red colour to make it into a Lancashire/England cricket vest (as requested by my mum)
• Worked v-neck and armhole bands as K1tbl, P1 rather than as written because I mis-read the instructions at first!

Notes: My mum was very pleased to (finally) get this vest after a year of promises and I was very pleased to actually have it finished!

I’ve detailed my modifications above, but I wanted to address one aspect of this design.  As written, the vest is very short (9″ from underarm to hem); it’s more of a cropped top, to my mind.  In the magazine photo, the model is sitting down, so you can’t really see where the hem hits her.  As I was knitting this, I knew that if I followed the instructions, it would be too short for my mum.  I added one pattern repeat in the body (which made it about 10.5″ long) and I then knit down from my temporary cast on and added another 4.5″ in ribbing.  As you can see from the photos, it’s the perfect length for my mum!

Now, on to the lyrical waxing!  I love how the cable splits at the neck and the way the decreases are worked so the two “strands” of the cable continue up the neck.

I love how the ribbing leads into the cable/rib pattern in the body (I’m not sure I’d have noticed this if I hadn’t extended the ribbing)

The yarn shows of the cables well, although it feels more like 100% cotton than a 50/50 wool/cotton mix.  It also had an “odour” that I can’t quite put my finger on.  It’s not unpleasant, but it did set off my cough (could just have been me!)

And that concludes my finished objects of 2008.  Here’s to a fruitful 2009!

Now with added crochet!

Hang on!  Come back!  Sorry for mentioning the c-word, I promise this isn’t going to turn into a crochet blog!

See how pretty?

I love the texture you can achieve with crochet and how lacy stitch patterns are so much easier.

And also – woohoo!  I managed to start with 41 stitches and I currently have 41 stitches.

3 pattern repeats of the lace.  You’ll have to trust me that the sides are straight; the lace part pulls in quite a lot.

You have no idea how happy this makes me!  The above is the Treenah scarf from the inaugural issue of The Inside Loop and is destined for my neighbour’s neck.

I keep checking and it does look like the pattern photograph.  The designer used alpaca, but my neighbour can’t have anything woolly/itchy near her, so I’m using an acrylic.  I’m hoping I’ll be able to block it out and I may even apply heat to try and “kill” the yarn so it stays blocked.

An “interesting” week:

The past seven days haven’t been easy because it contained anniversaries of both of my grandfather’s deaths.  It’s also been very cold and I don’t do well when the temperature drops below about 20 C!

Look what happened on Saturday:

Spooky!

More traditional pursuits:

I’ve been knitting steadily on my three active projects and here is where I am with all of them;

Veste Everest/Cricket vest for my mum:

4 repeats completed, with 1 full repeat of 14 rows plus 12 rows to go before armhole shaping.

Toe Up Socks with a Difference:

Just knitting around on the leg now – totally mindless, but has to be done!

Mystery socks/Mad for Plaid:

I’m only doing a couple of rounds a day on these so it’s slow-going and I’m still on the gusset decreases on the second sock.  The first sock’s toe has been grafted.

Erm … yeah.  So.  A mixed time in the past seven days, but could have been worse!

If you celebrated Thanksgiving I hope it went well.  As well as large gatherings of family ever can, of course!

Next time, I’ll tell you why I agreed to design a garment for a knit along for free!  Hint: the answer may involve questioning my mental stability!