OK, I am finally taking some time to really write down all my notes on my vest so I don’t loose them on my millions of stickies.
First, I finished the increases for the darts last night! Here’s what I’ve got so far:
The instructions are sort of hazy as to how you are supposed to do this whole sequence. The waffle stitch is: knit two rows then k1,p1 the third row. So the instructions tell you to work in waffle: on row 1 place your markers, work two rounds even (which I read to mean knit one row then k1,p1 the next), then an increase sequence is given (on a knit row, right?), then it just says to repeat that increase on every following third round 5 times more. So here is what I worked up:
row 5: knit
row 6: k1, p1
row 7: increase
row 8: knit
row 9: k1, p1
row 10: increase
row 11: knit
row 12: k1, p1
row 13: increase
row 14: knit
row 15: k1, p1
row 16: increase
row 17: knit
row 18: k1, p1
row 19: increase
I’m hoping that’s what I was supposed to do. Here is where I get worried: the increase row is always following a k1,p1 row. The increases are RLI and LLI – which meant that sometimes I was lifting stitches off a purl stitch, which was just really awkward. I don’t think my increases are as neat as they should be because of that fact, but the pattern is so textured and my yarn is pretty rustic, so I’m saved. Still, this whole thing is perplexing me. My goal for my knitting this year is to really focus on technique and not just turning out FO’s. So I’m frustrated by this somewhat unclear pattern instruction and/or the incomplete instructions in my reference books on how to lift increases. Here are close-ups of the darts:
And now the bad news: remember how I had trouble swatching the waffle stitch so I just gave up and used a smaller needle? Well, now I have enough of the waffle going on to really get a good gauge, and I am WAY off! My gauge is 22.5 sts and 27 rows over 4”. The recommended gauge is 18 sts and 28 rows over 4”. Crap!! But, I have actually been a little worried that this was going to be too tight because I didn’t allow any positive ease when I selected the smallest size – and it has since occurred to me that I will be wearing this over a shirt and I’m probably going to want a looser fit. So, I’m not super upset. I’m going to try on what I have so far over a button-up and see how everything is fitting before I decide to panic.
And one more thing: I’m not sure I’m loving this yarn for this vest. It has little bits of silk that are popping out to give it kind of a rustic texture, but the waffle stitch pattern is so elaborate that I think a clean yarn would have shown it off better. C’est la vie.
OK, that commences my deep thoughts about the back to school vest.
Your vest looks great despite the rather confusing directions.