On vests

A happy breakfast was made by Sandra for Rainer this morning, wishing him a very happy birthday.   Happy Birthday, love!  You’re only more amazing each year, so keep the calendar flipping along its merry way.

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My vest is coming along swimmingly. I’ve gotten it to the point where all that is left is to sew the shoulders together and do the ribbing at the neck and armholes. Sweet! I realized just before dividing at the armholes that I had forgotten – once again – to go down a size for the ribbing. D’oh!  Why is this such a recurring bit of stupidity? I debated ripping back, which seemed the only choice since cutting it off and knitting down seemed very difficult with the cable down the front. I decided to leave it. If it’s a bit wider as my body widens for my hips that’s not necessarily a bad thing, and if it isn’t working I can always try a little elastic threaded along the back or even spot felting. Or I could just rip the whole thing; after all, this has knit up very quickly and it’s not the end of the world. We’ll see. I have tracked down a smaller needle size for the rest of the ribbing though. Who wants floppy necklines or armholes?

Of course, there’s a bit of pressure with Norah Gaughn herself excited about Vest-uary.  Berroco’s wonderful designer blogged about Vest-uary the other day. She joined Berroco after Ticuna was designed, but still…maybe I should be on my toes.

Now that I’m nearly done this one, my thoughts are turning to a second vest.  I’m surprising myself by being tempted away from the very classic vest I’d planned by a trio of similar cardigan-style vests: the Drops sleeveless jumper with belt (seeing Lolly’s gorgeous brown version knitting up isn’t helping at all), the eyelet front vest from the Holiday 2008 Vogue is  calling to me, particularly as the side-to-side construction is something I’d like to explore, and the Pink Mimosa vest from Interweave.  Shifting plans from a garment that is practical and utilitarian to a new pattern seems to have changed my sense of knitting a second vest from something off of my To Do list to a brand new adventure.

Prizes: Many people at the Ravelry group have delighted me with their generosity and are helping me supply prizes.

-I’ve 3 balls of gorgeous Babykid in purple, enough for a shawl or vest
–Goldiegirl on Ravelry is donating the “Folk Vests” book
-my awesome friend Jen will send a gorgeous multi-strand necklace of her own making to set off your vest-framed neckline.
-Travellersyarn from Yarn Workshop is donating a vest’s worth of the gorgeous Bellingen
–Celticmemory]will send you your choice of boucle yarn for a vest, in either variegated blue (merino) or natural (mohair)
–Charity will also be sending your choice of  either 5 skeins of Patons Classic Wool Merino in the Peacock colourway, or 10 balls of Mission Falls 1824 Cotton, in the Peony colourway. Both fine Canadian yarns!

(If you want to donate a prize, let me know.)

You can, of course, participate in this craft-a-long on your own terms. But those of you who finish a vest by the end of the month can enter for at least six prizes. I’m not going to be a strict stickler for starting the project in this month. If you’ve already begun, no problem. We’re just having fun and games, after all.

To enter, simply send an email with the phrase “Vest-uary FO” in the subject line to poppinsclassical(at the ever present)hotmail(insert punctuation here)com. Please include a link to Flickr, your blog, or Ravelry to show me your vest – more for my own oggling pleasure than for strict checking up on you. If you make more than one, simply send another email and you’ll get another chance at the goodies.

Go forth and celebrate the sleeveless!