Crafting Towards Autumn (But Happily Still Deep in Summer!)

This is the finished outcome...

Circular Vest Take 2

 
...of the pieces shown in a photo I posted on Instagram the other day:

I started this in May and really never got into a groove.

I truly have no idea why the slightest sign of rain makes me crazy - but this flinty/stormy sky colourway fills me with happiness.

It is by no means my most capably-knit garment. And yet I don't care. It's a really versatile and cool piece, IMO. It's also got more drape and weight than my version 1. Mind you, I don't know if that will make it my fave of these 2 garments in the end. The blue one has more heft in some indefinable way. I think the key to giving this the appropriate fall is to make it too big. The dilemma with that is that the collar of this garment is the same depth as the rest of the waistcoat piece (it's a circle) and that's already on the voluminous side in a modified medium. It's not a perfect garment unless you fit its proportions perfectly. Oh well, it can still be pretty good.

I used 2 different yarns (diff brands, weight and fiber) and yet they worked together almost seamlessly - each one being a variegated shade of gray. It was for reasons of yarn gauge, more than colour, that I opted to stripe these yarns every other row (or every 4 as I began to run out of the Biscotte). Man, that was a total pain in the ass. As the circle of knitting began to grow, the yarns got mega-tangled, every row, in the already-knitted section of the waistcoat piece.

If I don't end up wearing this often enough, you can bet it's going to a friend. I would never try to unravel it. 50 per cent of my effort was in the invisible striping! I can't say if I'll make this again (certainly not any time soon- it's a bit of a production, though not difficult) but I do recommend it.

This morning I cut out the Charlie skirt and marked the pieces. Tomorrow I'll start putting it together. Right about now, I do wonder how it's going to fit. It could easily be too big or too small, I really have no sense of it. The good news is that I have just about enough of the rayon denim to try again, should it be necessary.

I'll let you know how it's coming along...