Vested
A few days before Christmas, I finished the main knitting of the big gray blob. It was so big I had to be very careful when picking it up and carrying it, lest it get stretched out. For extra peace of mind, I waited to take a pre-felting picture until I had basted together most of the openings. The picture isn’t the greatest, but should give an idea of just how big this thing was!
Just for kicks, I tried on the vest while still in its pre-fulled state. It was comical, too big to be a dress, but certainly long enough to qualify. The armpits went down below my hips, and the bottom hem was about six inches from the floor. Crazy!
But all that knitting, knitting, and knitting was worth it to get this awesome, outdoorsy vest!
(Two things to note: my mom has uneven shoulders from back surgery many years ago, and the vest needs to be pressed. Mom didn’t want me to press it, even preferring the rustic appearance. It would probably hang a little bit better once the wrinkles and ripples are smoothed out.)
The vest dried just in time to be wrapped on Christmas Eve. I removed the basting, but left the waste edging intact. I wanted Mom to try it on before I started the edging, in case it needed further felting. Once we were sure the fit was acceptable, I was able to finish up the vest.
I love the contrast between the fulled fabric and un-fulled edging. The edging holes were disappointingly larger in this vest than in my test swatch. There are a few areas where they seem a bit too obvious, especially at stress points (top of shoulders or along curves in the collar). Next time, I’d definitely use a DK or light-worsted cotton, instead of the heavy worsted yarn I used.
Instead of the tall, ribbed collar used in the pattern, I simply continued the rolled, overlap edging up one side, around the neck, and back down the front. It turned out very well, but took two days to work, with nearly 300 stitches on the needles!
One thing I would do differently next time (goodness, I almost can’t believe I’m still planning to knit another vest!) would be to split the body work into two sections, the top and bottom halves. Knitting both pieces separately and then grafting them together would reduce the bulk and weight on my hands and the needles.
Whew! I’m happy with how the vest turned out. Mom loves it. Hooray!
Pattern: “Felted Vest” by Beverly Galeksas, Felted Knits Size: L/M Yarn: Patons Classic Merino Wool, Grey Mix 8.5 skeins and Black 0.5 skein Needles: Crystal Palace Bamboo US 11 (8 mm) circular, and Takumi Clover and Addi Turbo US 7 (4.5 mm) circulars (for trim only) Started: October 7, 2007 Completed: January 3, 2008
Tags: beverly galeskas, black, felted vest, felting, fiber trends, gift, gray, mom, patonsknitting, sweaters |
17 stitches to “Vested”
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Wow, what a big project! It turned out great, and I’m glad she loves it.
WOW. It turned out great!
I love it! What a lot of knitting though.
Very cool! I like it! All that knitting, though….
HUGE project! Turned out great.
That is awesome! love it!
Nice work! Looks like it’s a perfect fit for your mom.
The vest looks great. It’s hard to believe that the object in the first picture turned into that. What a HUGE amount of knitting!
Great!
Oh! I have that book but never gave that pattern a second glance. But now….hmmmmm.
Oh very cool! That huge grayness would give me the shivers! Until it felted nicely down into a warm cozy vest.
Great! Boy, that looks like a lot of work. I’m glad she likes it!
Looks good. Isn’t it nice when a project turns out so well?
What an awesome undertaking! It was well worth the effort though as it came out beautifully. :)
It certainly isn’t a gray blog anymore. That’s beautiful. Great job.
erm blob, I meant to say blob
Any my kids laugh at how big my slippers are before felting….just think what they would say if I made a vest lol! Great job, it turned out really well!