Argyle Vest-Along!

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

We Have Steeks!

Blogger is being a pain so pictures and such on steeks, cutting and all that jazz will be here

Monday, August 21, 2006

The Second Wave

I actually started this KAL in the first round, but dropped out when it became clear that my vest is wicked small... Here's a pic of as far as I got:













Now I've decided that I messed myself up by swatching on bamboo, but knitting on metal, so I'm ripping back, and knitting the whole enchilada from scratch on bamboo. I also caused myself problems by using two colors - light blue and gray - that were tonally almost identical, so whenever I knit in anything less than optimal light I made mistakes in the pattern. I'm not considing this combo instead:


















I hope I can get enthused enough to finish this vest again - I think I got really confused about the sizing, because I knit super tight, and it was very hard to figure out if this had any chance of being a wearable garment (for instance, my knitted argyles are very tight and constipated, rather than clearly defined).

My First Post, Awwwwww.... : )

Wee! This is my first KAL. I'm loving my first fair isle project. This is not a very recent photo, its about 2/3 through the waist shaping on the 36". It has been so fun to see everyone else's finished vests!

another black & gray

i love all the fun color combos i've seen here, but i couldn't resist the classic black & gray as it's perfect for me for work. here's my swatch, but i've now cast on and have finished the first 4 rows of pattern after the ribbing.



i couldn't get row or stitch gauge, so i'm following the pattern for a larger size to compensate for my stitch gauge being off & just re-calculated the pattern for my row gauge. i think i should be able to "make it work."

Sunday, August 20, 2006

First gauge swatch...


Hi, I have just started to swatch. Since the yarn I want to use is something from my stash, 100% lambswool in a very thin 3ply, I have to use it double. It turned out nice in the swatch, but I'll have to wash and block it now to see how close I am to the gauge required. Wish me lcuk!!

Saturday, August 19, 2006

Back from vacation

Both Fi and I would like to apologize for not having checked the Vestalong email for a couple of weeks. We now have two new members and three more invited! This is quite a success, and I hope you all are knitting along nicely. I'm glad to see so many of you have reached the end of it with a garment you love and will wear. Not everyone (myself) did...

Happy knitting!

Monday, August 14, 2006

almost there...

I have 46 rows to go before cutting steeks, I might pull an all evening-er. I've measured for fit, and the vest is 1 inch longer than it's supposed to be, but across the bust, waste and bottom ribbing, it meets the expected measurements when stretched slightly. Here's to putting some faith into "agressive blocking".

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Results

The pattern calls for 22 stitches and 30 rows over 4 inches. With Telemark using size 4 Brittany Birch needles I got 24 stitches and 30 rows over 4 inches. I plan on using it and just bumping up a chest size (or 2) to make up the difference and just going with it over all because the row gauge matches. Hope that helps some of you with your decision on yarn.

Monday, August 07, 2006

Telemark Swatch


My 2 balls of Telemark arrived from Knitpicks and I like it. It's softer than than WotA. In fact, I can't stop rubbing it. My shmoo said he'd wear a sweater of it, and that I should send a swatch of it to my mom (who says she's allergic to wool) to test out because it feels that nice.

Don't get me wrong, it's no Dale Baby Ull, but it is nice. I can see using this for several other projects if it doesn't work out for this vest. But I am babbling here.

Here's the start of my swatch, I'll let you know of the results once I get it finished, washed and blocked. Colors are Northern Green and Rosemary.