Everything Old is New Again

With the Unspun Sweater pretty much wrapped up, I finally given myself permission to dig in to Thea Colmans Smokeshow vest.

When I first acquired the pattern back in Dec, I was thinking that I’d use the Chone yarn I have in my stash. But when I dug it out and took a look, I realized that it was not all the same weight. About half two-ply DK, and half 3 ply worsted. So I went back to the drawing board.

I had a big ole hank of DK-ish yarn that I purchased from Abundant Earth fiber at the St. Distaff’s Day spin-in last month (mill end, irresistible deal ) that I thought I might be able to use. At a total of 12 oz, it might have been enough itself. But doubled, it was a little too heavy.

Then I remembered that I had a long neglected sweater project that was still on the needles. Autumn’s End. It’s been sitting in a bag since 2016, and I’ve known since at least 2018 that it wasn’t going to make it to the finish line. So this week it got frogged and repurposed.

It’s nice that this Griff yarn gets another chance to contribute to a sweater project. I’d felt bad for keeping it sidelined for so long. Held together, the yarns achieve gauge and have a nice texture, too. Substantial, but lofty.

So this morning I made a start! Cast on is complete, and ribbing is underway.

A good place to be. Ever since I started using the Norwegian purl technique, I just love ribbing.

Feels good to have this underway. I’m still not exactly sure how long I’m going to make the body. The pattern is written for a cropped length garment, and I tend not to wear tops that short, but I don’t want to substantially change the character of the vest. I might just lengthen it by a couple inches.

The other thing I started this week is my tribute to Yellow Chig.

I’ve pulled out the chicken pattern that I started working on a number of years ago (how time flies!)

I was so pleased to find that I could fit all the pattern pieces one piece of Esther felt that I made last summer

I dyed the felt a bright sunshine-y, Yellow Chig color, and it’s currently drying outside. I hope I can remember how I assembled the prototype!

Have a great week, folks 🙂