Based on recent posts, it might seem that knitting has become a long forgotten pastime of mine. Rest assured that I have been knitting, every day in fact, but a strange aversion to taking photos of works in progress prevented any of that knitting seeing the light of day. High time I got over that, I think.

Dad’s vest seems to be well on track to be finished by the end of the month. The back is finished and I’m just about to split for the v neck, so I regard that as being well on the downhill run. The front’s pictured on top of one of his vests, which I’m using as a template along with a pattern. It seems to be a pretty close match to the template vest at this stage, which is quite a relief.

While mindlessly knitting stockinette day in day out, I’ve been thinking about the next project. My cardigan still needs to be seamed up, so that’ll be done first, but I’m really itching to do something else. That’s a post in itself though.

There’s still a long way to go, but I feel a lot better since destashing never-to-be-used yarn and ripping out never-to-be-finished projects. It’s so easy to stop once you get that initial sense of achievement, but I have to make sure I stick with it. To that end, for every new knitting project I start and finish, an old one needs to be finished up. This is to make sure there’s a bit of variety in my knitting diet, but also to make sure I keep clearing out stash and unfinished projects.

My new project is a vest for my Dad’s birthday.

I borrowed one of his vests for measurements and am using this pattern (rav link) as a guide. The pattern uses a 5 ply yarn whereas I’m using a 10 ply (stashed Lincraft Balmoral Tweed). The miles and miles of stocking makes for good tv or conversation knitting, as it requires minimal concentration.

I’m not sure if it’s the right motivation, but being able to chew through stash yarn is really making me want to motor through this project. If this enthusiasm keeps up, it should be finished in plenty of time for Dad’s birthday at the end of next month.

Writing an intro for a finished project is always nice, but my words feel clumsy today so it’s straight to the photo.

Cropped Tryst Vest by Kristen TenDyke
1.75 balls of Bendigo Woollen Mills Rustic 12 ply, Elm
4.50 and 5.00 mm needles
Start: January 2009
Finish: March 2009

I feel funny calling it Tryst Cropped Vest, because out of those three words, only ‘vest’ is still valid. I thought elm would be a nice colour for the vest, so I was going to make Rustic 12 ply work, but hook or by crook. Luckily, I got gauge straight away. Twelve ply is a lot bulkier than what I normally work with, but it’ll be good for the cooler months.

The vest was also lengthened so it ended at the hip rather than at the ribs. There is some shaping in the cropped version, so I mirrored that shaping in the rib to hip section. With the lengthening, there’s now eight buttonholes rather than four.

The only thing I’m a bit funny about is the buttons. The buttons used are the best ones I’ve found so far, and happily are ones I had stashed away after a buttonmania button sale frenzy a few years ago. However, I just don’t know if they look right.

The vest is my most heavily modified knit to date, and I’m pretty happy with the results. It’s entirely wearable, and it’s given me more confidence to modify other patterns. Look out hefty stash of vintage leaflets.