FO: Veronik Avery Halter Vest

I still have a few ends (out of approximately four thousand nine hundred seventeen) to weave, but this one is basically finished. It'll be wearable before Mad Men is over tonight.

Stats
Pattern: Halter Vest from Veronik Avery's book
Yarn: Bollecine Dolly (superwash DK)
Needles: Addi Turbo 6s. Stitch gauge was spot on, row gauge was close enough.

Notes: I have a TON of leftover yarn, something like six unopened balls, almost enough to knit the vest a second time. This is despite pattern modifications that increased the amount of yardage I needed.

The modifications were:
- eliminate waist shaping. Nobody needs to see knits clinging to my ample middle.
- add bust darts to give the girls more breathing room
- narrow the back from the waist up to improve overall fit
- lengthen the vest by about 3 inches (around 7.5 cm)

I have a narrow back and a bit of acreage up front, and I must say, the combination of bust darts and back shaping really gives me a good overall fit with this pattern. I may start modifying all of my patterns along similar lines.

This was a fast and easy knit, and it would have been even faster and easier if I'd bothered to do the math for my modifications in advance. Instead, I modified the pattern on the needles, and paid for it when I had to rip and repeat a few miscalculated sections.

But I love the way it came together, and the halter shaping is very clever. Avery is rapidly becoming one of my favorite designers. I would knit another one of her patterns in a heartbeat, but I wouldn't trust her yardage requirements. This is the second pattern in the book with huge -- and I do mean huge -- discrepancies between the amount of yarn specified and the amount used. But when the patterns are this good, we can forgive a thing like that.

This is my second project with Dolly. This is one of my favorite yarns, despite its tendency to lose body after the first washing. I think it's made for drapey designs with elegant lines. It has a hand almost like light silk after that first washing. Soft and flowing and very, very nice to the touch.

A Sheepish Fairy Tale

Once Upon A Time,
There was a knitter with a slight case of controlitis. You know what I mean. She's the kind of woman with a database for her patterns. The kind of woman who knows to a penny how much she spent on yarn this year. The kind of woman with rules -- no, let's not call them rules. Let's call them parameters which define her comfort zone.

And this woman's comfort zone turns to shit when she has projects on the needles numbering in the double digits.

So, when our intrepid knitter realized she had ten projects otn (plus the crapghan, which we never, ever discuss in polite circles), there was only one possible solution. Cancel all weekend plans. Go to the grocery store and lay in a three-day supply of nomz, then stop at the video store for a stack of dvds. Then drag all nearly completed knitting projects to the awesomely comfy knitting chair by the big tv, and GET THAT NUMBER INTO SINGLE DIGITS!!!

Ahem. Pardon me. I get a little twitchy when I'm outside my comfort zone.

And then there were Nine....

FO Report:
Sandesgarne Sisu Socks
Cast on April 7 or thereabouts.
Knit plain while reading manuscripts.
56 stitches around on size 1.5 US needles.

Not much to say. The yarn is sort of lofty and I'm concerned about how it will wear. It just has that sneaky look like it will felt if I take my eyes off it for two seconds. But we'll see.


Closing in on Eight....

I took this picture when the pieces were only half-pinned, so they look a bit wobbly here. And it was a little tricky to pin out the front piece with the bust darts, because the darts make the fabric 3-dimensional. But I did the best I could, and what the heck. I can always reblock it in sections if necessary.

But all that's left of this one is side seams, neckband and upper bodice trim. And weaving. And figuring out what to do about the curl in the fabric. My current preference is those tiny little lead balls they use on fishing lines.

Also, progress is being made on other projects. Stay tuned. This will be a weekend marathon of finishing stuff so I don't go all wacky.

Curly Girly

This is the vest front. Note the way it pouches at the sides of the breast area from the short row bust darts. After only two tries, the intarsia and bust darts are exactly the way I want them.

The curling at the hem has me worried, but I'll figure it out later.

So Much For Quick and Easy

It's my own damn fault. Someday I will learn to content myself with knitting a pattern as written. Until that day, however, I will have plenty of stories like this one to tell.

So I cast on this nifty little striped vest, expecting it to be fast and mindless. It sure started off that way. I knit the ribbing without thinking at all. And then it happened. I read the instructions -- "work stripe pattern and at the same time, work waist decreases at side hems."

Hmm, I thought. If the waist decreases hit just above the ribbing, that means the hem on this thing falls ... yep. Just about navel length. That's not exactly an area of my body I want to call attention to.

So I decided to lengthen the vest by about 3" and change the waist shaping a bit. So far, so good. But then I decided I might as well pull out the old notes from last summer's class with The!! Lily!! Chin!! (*faint*), and add some bust darts.

This wasn't an arbitrary decision. I looked very carefully at all the model photos while considering pattern alterations. The model, typically, has bra cups the size of bottle caps, but the vest was pulling a little across her mammary landscape. So I figured for me -- you know, I've got a pair -- I'd better add some bust darts.

So then I had to decide where to put the bust darts. And how to work the intarsia V-shaped striping at the neckline. Should I change their placement, in light of those added darts? Nah, I decided. I'll just knit the darts and then proceed with the neckline shaping for the pattern as written.

Well, that didn't work. Not unless I wanted to hang the halter straps from my ears instead of from my shoulders. So today I ripped back a good four inches of intarsia and short row shaping, and will proceed with "Neckline/ Take Two" tomorrow.

The good news? I got the darts in the right spot, and the right depth. The bad news? I can harldy breathe and think at the same time, so working those darts and the intarsia at the same time might be, shall we say, interesting.

Yep. I'm a Liar. Again.

I know, I know. I was going to spend the summer working on sleeves and mittens. But then things happened. Bad things. Things I can't discuss on the blog because I don't want to get into a family controversy. Suffice it to say that the crib blanket was not exactly received with enthusiasm.

Sometimes, when bad things happen, you just gotta move on.

My yarn therapist, Tricia of Nana's Knits, heard what happened and ravelmailed me immediately to prescribe the immediate application of a new knitting project. Something completely new, with new yarn and a new pattern and new everything. Clean out the bad old mojo, and bring in the new.

The more I thought about it, the smarter that sounded. Of course, it could just have been an excellent way to rationalize a new yarn purchase. Not that I need any help dreaming up excuses. But I really wasn't planning on new yarn or new projects. I was planning on finishing stuff already OTN. I wrote down my goals and everything!

Of course, when she sweetened the deal with a discount, any resistance melted right along with my budgetary conscience. I spent a couple of days dreaming of possibilities -- and wow, what a great way to get over a disappointment like the one I had over the weekend. So what if they didn't care about all my hard work? I could make something new. And better. And just for me.

Something simple and quick, something I could whip out in no time and thereby regain that feeling of pride, of accomplishment.

Something by Veronik Avery, who probably has good manners. (Humor me. I want to believe it. Therefore it must be true.)

And then when my personal Color Committee showed up for open knitting Thursday, they helped me pick out some wonderful colors -- thanks to Beth and Red for their help, and sorry if I was dithering too long.

Thirteen soft, delicate new balls of Bollecine Dolly in charcoal heather, ice green, and turquoise. Could you just drool over those colors? The Committee did a great job on their selections. I'm in love with this yarn. I cast on right then and there.

Trish nobly refrained from having a heart attack when I skipped the gauge swatch. Hey, doll, you'll be glad to know I'm spot on with stitch gauge and a little tight on row gauge. See? There is a God, and He likes me best.

Now, back to my knitting. This one is going to be knit in record time. For mental health purposes only.