Tuesday, May 08, 2007

Vestibule



pattern: Gilmore Vest
yarn: 5 balls of Fable Handknits 100% baby alpaca in "grey"
needles: 3.5 and 4mm bamboo clover straights

I cannot believe that I am finally finished this thing. This vest has been on the back-burner I think longer than any other project. I got a great deal on the yarn at pick up sticks. It was all 50% off, and it's the softest stuff I have ever knit with, so I kind of went a little crazy buying it. I bought 3 balls in "mist" as well, with which I knit this cowl (pattern from the same website), 3 balls of a coral colour, and 3 balls of the black which I'm thinking about making another cowl in as well. I got a lot of wear out of the light grey one this past winter so it stands to reason that black should take me a lot farther!

As far as the pattern itself goes, I wouldn't recommend it. It was riddled with type-os for starters (though after checking it again on the site it does seem as though some changes have been made), and a lot of the number counts were off in the larger sizes in terms of how many stitches/rows you should be at at any given point. By far the most annoying part though was the V-neck:



Which you had to knit seperately and then pin into place to seam it on. Saying that I am TERRIBLE at this would be the understatement of the decade. Particularly given that it's the last thing to do, and I really just wanted to get it done, my efforts at this were half-assed at best. Plus the ribbing didn't really seem long enough to fit the gaping neck hole, so I had to stretch it (which for ribbing is fine), but means that it's seriously puckered around the back of the neck where there's too much material. I know these are all mistakes that no doubt only I will notice, but you know how that goes. I have yet to block it though, so that could make all the difference. I also didn't block the front and back prior to seaming them together either (I know, I'm bad) but they were appropriately sized so I just went for it.

This vest looks a lot longer in these photos than it does on me (due in large part to my giant rack, no doubt!)

(image deleted)

I likely won't get around to wearing it until the fall, plus somewhat like my last angora experience, I think I'm allergic to it. Though that kind of thing doesn't affect me so much in the wearing as it does the knitting, so it's probably just as well I worked on it in fits and starts.

One more item to go before the board is cleared and a whole HOST of new projects can begin. Inappropriately it may be a wee scarf party for me this summer!

5 comments:

Julia said...

Yay! Look at you finishing all of these mamoth projects! Ungh - that V-neck looks like it was a bitch! There must be an easier way - wouldn't picking up stitches all the way around make more sense? Regardless - you're a trooper and it looks great. I'm sure blocking will make a huge difference. And BTW - I think my grandma totally had that flowered shirt!

Reckless Glue said...

hilarious! Yeah i think picking up stitches would have been the way to go...I had to do that for the armholes, not sure why they made it different. Anyway all these giant projects pretty much now means that I'm only interested in sea of little ones from here on in.

Sarah said...

Hurrah! It looks so fab - as you didn't enjoy knitting it I thought it may not be such a thing of beauty, but lo it is lovely.

I am so hearing you about small projects though - they are the way forward!!

Great patterns by the way.

mishi2x said...

That's awesome! We needs pics of you IN the vest!!

Sarah Ditum said...

Love it! I've avoided sewn-on bands so far - the whole idea of them just seems dreadful to me (and I agree that picking-up stitches would be an alternative). But the look of the your FO makes it worth it.