KNITSTER

Yes, it’s true. I actually finally finished a project, and a big one at that. I’ve been working on Dad’s sweater vest for a while now, and you saw the start of it a while ago, but now it’s truly FINISHED. It was rainy enough today to warrant not going outside for much of anything, so I finally got it done. So, without further ado, here it is:
Dad’s Sweater Vest!

Here’s another view, with an actual model! (No it’s not Dad, but rather my husband instead. Hey, he looks pretty good in this too, but he didn’t want his face shown.)

Our “model” displaying it. Excuse the messy family room behind it. Proof of our 6 year old’s existence.

There are certainly mistakes on this sweater, and things learned in the process. There were some slight alterations too, but for the most part, I’m happy with the results. First alteration was with the front panel. In that process of losing track of where I was, the front would’ve been too long in the front had I followed the pattern, or at least where I thought I left off. I’m quite proud of the seaming of the garment– it looks rather professional-like, and you can’t even tell where the seams are especially on the sides. The other change in the pattern that I made was that the armbands were supposed to be the main color (the green), and the collar was supposed to be green with the blue stripe. I was rather tired of all those stripes and seeing so much green, but I think the all blue accents there look really good. I goofed up the V at the bottom a little, so it does look slightly out of kilter. I didn’t know it was supposed to look as if the stripe had been broken, so I was trying to show continuity. Oops. Oh well. It doesn’t look THAT bad. Additionally, I learned, because I suck so badly at picking up stitches, that after I have done so, I should start with a garter stitch “base” to create a good baseline for the rest of the collar/armband/etc. I did that with the collar with good success, but failed to do that with the armbands, so they don’t look quite as nice in my opinion.  In the end, I know my dad will be tickled by having a cool garment made by his daughter, and I am confident he will wear it.

I also finished another item I don’t like as much. It started out to be a shawl of sorts, but ended up as a scarf instead. It’s made with Lion Brand’s “Incredible” ribbon in the color “City Lights”. Yes, there are photos for this too.

Ooh! Look at the carnival colors!Here’s a slightly closer look, although it has some yellow/orange tones in the photo:

A closer look–nothing fantastic.

I just didn’t like where this was going, so I thought, although I’m not a scarf person, I’ll make it a scarf instead of a whole shawl. I will say that due to the stitches and the yarn material, it is rather stretchy, so I can see why the authors of “Big Girl Knits” were saying that ribbon yarn is a big girl’s friend.

Well, at least now we have proof that the Knitsters are still quite active! So now, back to working on the Doctor’s Bag for the next month or so. My goal is to work on it for the whole month of August, so that way I might just have it ready when I have a new job in the fall. (The new job is positive thinking on my part for the moment– two interviews this week!) That one takes a little more thought, so I still have my other “lace”/mesh shawl that I’ve been making as my non-thinking project as well. I also want to do the Mosaic Skirt in “Big Girl Knits” as well, again, as a possible work garment. I’m determined to get more finished projects out soon. I’ve just been starting and juggling too many projects at once. So, let’s stop adding them, and start finishing them!

Posted on July 29th, 2007 by Dani
Filed under: Finished Objects, Photos, Projects