Tag Archives: vest

Conservative Dad Vest

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Here’s another project that I’ve been working on. Strange but true – it’s wool.Conservative (but Pretty!) Dad Vest by Julia Trice knit in Regia Kaffe Fasset Design Line by Deborah CookeThis is the back of another vest for Mr. Math. It’s knit of a heavy sock wool – Regia Design Line 6-ply – in a colourway designed by Kaffe Fassett. The yarn is doing the striping, all by itself. The pattern is Conservative but Pretty Dad Vest, which is a free pattern – here’s the Ravelry link and here’s the designer’s link. (It’s the pattern in the bottom left corner of this display – if you click on it, you can download the pdf.) The pattern is great – very easy and straightforward, and also easy to modify. Mr. Math is leaner and taller than the designer’s dad, but I’ve got it covered.

These socks are knit from the 4-ply variant of this same yarn, in the same colourway, but in the variegation that doesn’t stripe. Here’s my post on the socks – I can see now, though, that there are slight differences in the colours. There’s no brown or dark green in this variant.Socks in Schachenmayr Regia Design Line by Kaffe Fassett 4-fädig knit by Deborah Cooke

Why knit with wool in the summer? Well, because it’s my favourite. Wool isn’t frustrating to knit with. It doesn’t shed. This is unlike the KSH projects I have on my needles right now – I have no patience for finding mohair fibres everywhere when it’s hot! Wool has elasticity, too, so tension comes out beautifully even. I have a cotton sweater on my needles right now, too, but knitting with cotton is never my favourite. Also, this vest is mostly plain stockinette – I just knit a row and purl a row and repeat. Self-striping yarn is a good choice for this weather because I find it entertaining. It keeps me knitting, just to see how the colours come out next.

Which is why I’ve knit the back of this vest in less than a week, in a heat wave.

What do you knit in the summer, and why?

Sonny Vest

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Here’s a finished project to celebrate the end of the week. This vest is for Mr. Math and is knit of Rowan’s Colourscape Chunky. The colourways were designed by Kaffe Fassett, so you can imagine that I’ve been fingering this yarn (and lusting after it) since it was introduced. It’s a single ply chunky weight yarn, spun of merino – and now it’s discontinued.

Here’s the vest:Sonny vest by Sarah Hatton knitted in Colourscape Chunky by Deborah Cooke

The pattern is called Sonny, from the Colourscape Folk Collection pattern book. I knit it almost 2 inches longer because Mr. Math is tall. It’s even knit in the same colourway as in the book – Camouflage – and Mr. Math is very happy with it. It was a pretty quick knit.

The yarn is fabulous. It has so many more colours than even show in the photograph. And it’s soft. I hope it doesn’t pill as single plies often do, but we’ll see. On the one hand, I’m disappointed that it’s discontinued because that means it will eventually disappear from the world. On the other hand, the fact that it’s discontinued means that it’s on sale at a lot of outlets, and that price drop makes it easier to acquire.

I’d bought four skeins – the pattern calls for three – thinking I might need more for the extra length. I did go into the fourth ball to play matchy matchy on the second side of the v-front, but all my bits together weigh more than one skein. Theoretically, I could have bought just three skeins, but I do like the matchy matchy. And I love the orange on the neck ribbing. I was hoping for that!

Tuffy Socks and Easy Peter Vest

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It’s been a while since we talked about knitting, so today is the day. I have a couple of things to show you. They are both man-knits.

First off, new thick socks for Mr. Math. These are knit from Briggs & Little Tuffy. He loves to wear these around the house in the winter and inside his rubber boots. The colour is a wonderful purpley blue with red flicks – it’s called Blue Jeans.Ribbed Sport Socks knit in Briggs and Little Tuffy by Deborah CookeSecondly, a bit of a surprise. I knit a vest for my FIL for Christmas. He’d lost a bit of weight over the past year – whereas once I would knit something to fit Mr. Math and know it would fit his dad, this time, I knit a bit smaller. It was snug for Mr. Math and I figured we were golden. No. My FIL has gained back some weight. This is all good, but the vest doesn’t fit him.

So, now I have a new vest, and I need to knit another one, in the next size bigger. 🙂Peter Easy by Berroco Design Team knit on Patons Classic Wool by Deborah CookeThis is the vest from the free Berroco pattern called Peter Easy. (The other Peter has some fair isle flash, which evidently makes it less-easy.) The pattern is for a pullover, but I split the front to add a zipper so it would be easier for my FIL to put on and take off. Then I decided I should add a 4-stitch cable on either side of the zip to fancy it up. They turn in opposite ways, to make a V. I also added I-cord on the zipper side of each cable, to ensure that there was a nice edge for sewing in the zip. (Thanks to my brilliant photography skills, what you mostly see here is the plastic teeth of the zipper. Yippee.) The vest came out well, and I’m not that disappointed to end up with it myself. The yarn is Patons Classic Wool in a nice flecky variegation that they only seemed to have at the mill. My Ravelry project page is here.

Another man-knit coming off the needles this weekend – a new sweater for Mr. Math. I should be able to show it to you next week, with all the ends sewn in. No seams with a top-down raglan, which works for me in a big way. Lots of plain knitting in the man-knits, which is good for tv knitting but makes for some pretty dull photos. I’m ready to work on one of my more adventurous projects. Winter is always a great time for knitting lace IMO and I have a shawl whispering that it wants to be finished.