Blue Vest

Swatching with stash yarn.
The holes are yo/k2tog's which indicate
the needle size I used. I started on a US 5
and decided on the US 7.

10 stitch steek and decreasing for front V-neck.

10 stitch armhole steek and decreases.

The steeks after cutting,
picking up for the button band
and armhole trim and blocking.
Preblocking

Blocking

Buttons
FO

Knitter: Rebecca
Yarn and needles:The yarn is GGH Via Mala from my stash. This was a 4-ply chunky weight yarn calling for size US 10.5 needle. I separated it into 2-ply, which was simple to do as the singles weren't twisted (plied) ~ they were just 4 strands laying next to each other (see photo #3 for a peek at the ball) ~ but it was tedious and so handy to have knitting friends willing to help. I'm not fond of knitting with needles bigger than US 8 and I ended up with about 2,900 yards of yarn I can happily knit on a US 7. For this vest I used a #4.5 Addi Lace 32" circular for a gauge of 5 stitches to the inch. This revised vest pattern only took about 820 yards so I have plenty left for more projects. I can also separate the yarn again, into singles, and have some lovely lace weight for shawls.
Pattern: The Artisan Vest from Green Mountain Spinnery, tweaked. I changed the pattern to be knit in the round with steeks and it worked out well. I also changed the button band and the armhole trim from crocheted to seed stitch, so that they matched the border. I added back-neck shaping and short-row shoulder shaping for the three-needle bind-off.
Project notes: Began knitting on January 11th, 2008 and finished on January 27th. The steeks are knit in seed stitch, which lays so flat that I didn't have to deal with the fabric curling after it was sewn on the machine and then cut. I didn't even need to tack it down. Even though the pattern is a cardigan style and I did put button holes in the band, I ended up sewing the button band closed and so wear it as a pull-over. Next time I'll remember to save myself some time and leave out the button holes. The buttons have little thistles on them and came from my button box where they have languished for years. It's nice to finally use them. The difference in the blues is totally my camera, with and without flash, cloudy days vs bright sunshine, etc. The photo closest to actual yarn color is the close-up of the buttons.