The Vest

May23

And so, stepping back in time a week or so, David’s vest is done.


Supermodel mode.
He’s very happy with it, in fact he’s even worn it two or three times since I finished it. He could teach Em a thing or two! (The sweater I finished for her a few weeks back? Hasn’t seen the light of day yet)
I really, really enjoyed this knit! The yarn worked up super quick, the cables gave me enough entertainment that I didn’t get bored, and it fits him well.
Specs:
Pattern: Cable Vest by Patons Australia, from Paton’s “Jet Mens” (#1266)
Yarn: Paton’s Jet in Shade 809
Needles: Knitpicks Options in 4mm (US 6) and 5mm (US 8) (Down one size from the recommended due to tension issues)
Modifications: A few, all structural. First off, the pattern calls for you to knit the front and backs separately, then seam them, but I couldn’t see the point. So I knit it in the round up to the armholes. The front has more stitches than the back to accommodate the cable, so I had to count a few times to make sure I’d marked the side seams in the right places.
Apart from that, I followed the pattern exactly up to the shoulders. Again, it called for you to cast off then seam the shoulders, but as you’ve all no doubt figured by now, I’ll go to a great deal of trouble to avoid a seam, so I used short rows to shape the shoulders, then did a three needle bind off.
This caused some momentary confusion, because the front shoulders have more stitches than the back, so some fudging had to happen, but there were no major dramas.
Then the neckband and armbands were picked up and knit in the round.
So I managed to finish the whole thing without a single seam. In fact, the only time I had to wield a darning needle was to darn in the ends.
Yay me!!

I have raved about this yarn before, after finishing Em’s sweater, but it warrants saying again – I love it. It knits up nice and quickly and the resulting fabric isn’t too heavy. I soaked it in “Soak” then dried it flat, but I washed it again today by tossing it into the washing machine on the “Wool” cycle, and laid it flat to dry, and it’s come up fine.
Final verdict? A+!
By the way, I did finish Flicker-ish, and Em did wear it to school yesterday, but I don’t yet have a pic. Stay tuned.

19 thoughts on “The Vest”

  6. Oh I think you will have to knit him more sweaters and socks now that he is such a good model and loves wearing your handknits. It does look a perfect fit.

  8. Great Modeling!! Love this pattern,hoping to do it for my Dad,currently knitting beanies in Jet for 2 younger boys,I agree with you,love it!!!!

  11. I love Jet too! I love the colour you’ve used . Working with Inca at the moment, it’s my second jumper with it so thick & cosy, and 7mm needles which is great for men’s big sizes

  14. Looks fantastic!! It came out really well. Thanks for the support on making mine – I’m giving it to the recipient later today so look out for photos of mine!

  15. my comment was eaten – hope it doesn’t show up twice!
    anyway, I said it look fantastic and thank you for your help with making mine. I’ll be handing it to my brother this afternoon and taking photos.

  17. Well sounds like it has all been said.
    What a great Vest, and the model isn’t too bad either.
    Flicker-ish looks great on Em as well.
    I still can’t get over how much you too are alike.
    As for Twinkie, sometimes we just have to miss out. 😀

  19. Love the catalogue modelling: they went….. thataway!! Such a nice vest and glad to hear it is so easy to look after and good to wear!!!

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