Vested interest

With my recent return to work and this winter being the coldest in many years, this season I'm all about the vests. My Deep V turned out well in the end, but not without some drama (taking a decent photo being one of them- this series was taken on the webcam)

As my gauge was off, I knew I'd have to do some serious modification, and to that end, I redrew the shaping of the neck and arm holes. Unfortunately I didn't modify it quite enough, and the armholes ended up far too deep and I ended up having to cut the shoulder short. I used the sewing machine to reinforce where I was going to cut, and then just got some scissors and hacked away. The whole steeking process seems very crude and primitive, I'm not sure that I'll hurry to do more, but I'm glad I attempted it and learned a lot. Next time I'll definitely use a lighter weight yarn and one that is much coarser and with more 'grip'. The highlands is a lovely yarn, but not ideal for steeking I'm afraid.

I also made this (careful .pdf file!) a couple of weeks ago. Such a simple and lovely pattern, but ridiculous in it's dimensions! 5 inch armholes! I would make it again, but with some serious modification in the armhole depth.

Guess what else I have on the needles? Yep 2 more vests! I'm really enjoying making things that I actually need, rather than more shawls and socks which are nice to have, but which aren't really necessary. I'm also starting to enjoy work too after a bumpy start. Keep your eye out for more vests from me soon!