May 27, 2005
N-i-n-m-c sweater vest
This should officially be my last back-dated entry. From now I, no more livin' in the past, sista!
In my last back-dated entry I would simply like to document the finishing of the no, it's not my child's sweater vest. It's out of the Spring VK (#11), I used koolaid dyed bemidji and I have to say, lately, these colors speak to me, and they're starting to say "enough already, what's this the 4th thing you've made outta us - jeez." But I really like them, that and any combo of pink, orange, and/or red. Back to the n-i-n-m-c sweater vest. I used 1 set of 7 circs (but flat) and my guage was spot on (4 more times and I'm gonna own that phrase baby!). I skipped over the xs and went right for the small sizing, 'cause, you know, I am.
Now this sweater vest begins with some damn deep ribbing, 2X2 forevah, right up under the boobs, it goes. Stockinette is next, with some arm hole shaping (first time for that, and it shows) and a sweet little v-neck. Okay, first off, this pattern woulda been way more pleasent if it were knit in the round but alas, I said I was going to follow a pattern for this and I did! So up the back I went, right on up to the arm hole shaping, which btw, I don't think is really my fault.
When the directions read:
dec row: blah blah blah
next row: blah blah blah
knit decrease row every other row 7 times and then every 6th row 7 times.
When it reads that, I'm gonna do that. I knit that decrease row, then the next row, then the decrease row, then I purled across the back, decrease row, motherfucking purl across the back et all.
Nowhere did my eyes spy a sentence that said knit those 2 rows 5 times... or even knit the dec row...and all ws rows as the next row and all the rs rows that aren't dec rows, purl the 4th stitch from the edge(which btw, is how it looks best, letter of the pattern law and personal proclaimations be damned - if it needs changin', I change the hell outta it.) So the back looks like a drunk straight-edger knit it, while the front, which is where I woman-handled the pattern, looks, well...right.
The front was fun, it was the first time I shaped a neck and I had to do it at the same time as I shaped the shoulders. It's very nice, though I do wish that people would stop claiming that ssk (or skp) is the opposite of k2tog. I know they slant all opposite and shit, but identical twins (except for the slanting) they aren't. They're more like, hey, except for that slanty thing, we look kinda alike, can I use your ID to buy beer.
Hear me now -- someday I will find the perfect match, or I'll die trying.
Anyhoo. I blocked it and all was right with the size according to the diagram, plus the addtional 2 inches I added in length which I didn't tell you about earlier because I didn't want to water down the part where I was gonna follow the pattern but then had to change it. It was the perfect length, 21 inches, and the ribbing fit great, but as soon as it hit the stockinet, it bagged out, all over, like I was carrying small puppies around, both in the front and back. So I decided that it's the stockinet part that should fit perfectly and the rib can stretch to accomodate. The whole thing measured 17 inches across (34 inches around) all the way up. So I washed that baby in the sink, and threw it in the dryer for 10 minutes. Yeah, tough love.
And it worked, for the most part. The circumference was now 14 inches, which fit like the glove that any sexy little sweater vest should, but the length shrunk back to what the pattern called for -- 19 inches. Egads. I suppose I can deal, I mean it's not like it's a belly shirt, well, it kinda is if I wore it alone but who besides brian (yum) on queer as folk wears a sweater vest with nothing under it? Not me.
And I've only had to say "no, it's not my child's sweater" once, and that was to a friend that thinks she's way too funny.
Posted by jacey at May 27, 2005 06:26 PM