I have been playing with the contiguous method and had/have a pattern in mind but my gauge didn’t work well with it and the increases sucked…I’m also not fond of the stitch used. (Could she have used more pages to explain a simple vest? 12 is about 8 pages too many. Her font is ginormous and I refuse to print it all!) So, I looked around for different ways of doing it and came up with something sorta my own… kinda a combo of 2 or 3 techniques and it’s working really well:-)

Jan.19th

I am almost done the upper 1/2 and have made many changes to the original vest.

• Different shoulder shaping with a 4 stitch saddle seam.

• The stitch numbers are to gauge and not to a “pattern” per se’ and is really a knit to fit vest. This seems to make more sense that specific stitch counts.

• Started increasing on the neck edges after 3 inches, 1 stitch every 4 rows, 12 x’s

• I will cast on 3 to 4 inches worth of stitches to the front inside edges. (split in 2, of course:-)

• I did a p1, *sl1, p1* on the first pattern row and a k2, *sl1, k1* for the second row. (every 7th and 8th row.)

• I am I-cording the armholes and neck edges. For the shoulders, I bound off the center 2, of 4 and used one for the front I-cord edge and the other for the back. The neck edges, I cast on 2 extra stitches for the I-cord on each side from the get go.

• At 8 1/2 inches I increased one stitch EOR for the underarm increases and will cast on approx. 2 inches worth of stitches between the fronts and the backs.

• CO 12 stitches either side of the neck edge at 8 inches and 12 stitches under the arms after the 4 increases for the armhole opening.

• I’m doing 3 button holes.

Feb. 4th

I did an increase row about 3 inches down from joining the front and back. the increases seem to show because of the way I did them and has left me an option to run a lace through them. (I had better run that tie through them before I wash the vest or they might disappear with the bloom!) I need the extra drape and increased 1 stitch every 4 using the K1R technique from the original pattern.

I am also widening the pattern rows as I head south too. The to 1/2, to the increase row, is every 7th and 8th row to every 9th and 10th row x’s 5… and the bottom is every 11th and 12th row.

I will I-cord BO.

Feb. 5th

The knitting is done but it rolls on the bottom. I’m going to wash it first before making any changes to the hem…It’ll be easier to frog the cast off if it’s washed first.

March 12th

My buttons came and now I can colour this one done! I LOVE it! The buttons look fantastic:-)

I did end up crocheting around the armholes and neck edge as it hung too low…darn that silk! It’s perfect now and I am very happy with how it looks:-)

* The colour is actually much closer to the colour shown in my lace swatch! It is not neon:-)