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Now that I’ve finished up the vest- I’m turning my attention back to a couple of things that were left unfinished in the last couple of years.

First up- 2nd sock from I can’t remember when.

Not quite sure when I started these, as I can’t seem to find any earlier pictures in my photostream, and I don’t generally track “standard recipe” socks in my Ravelry projects. Maybe I cast on for them when I was traveling in May. In any case, it’s time to get them finished up.

Then there is Autumn’s End, started October 2016. I got fairly far along with this sweater- but then started to doubt if it would fit me, and took a break from it. 2 year break, as it turns out. Time to decide if it goes forward or not.

And my 99% complete argyle socks. They are truly almost done (despite what the photo suggests). I just wasn’t completely happy with the tension on the edges of a couple of the diamonds. I was trying to snug them up a bit as I was weaving in ends, and got frustrated and put them away.

And I also hope to get a some more spinning done now that the days are shortening and we turn more to indoor pursuits.

Here are a couple of new spins that I managed to turn out this week- Esther and Bam Bam (I think), drying in a little bit of sun we got today after the downpour

Have a great week-
Go Hawks! 🙂

I had the vest 99% complete last weekend, but it still needed closure.

I was originally thinking toggles, but then I came across these nice warm wood buttons that are kind of thick, with very round edges.

Reinforced on the back with little supporting buttons. Yarn loop secured in the ribbing on the other side complete the look.

I even really like how the shoulders worked out.

So excited to be able to wear it this Fall!

Sunny and cool.
Everything seems to have a gold tinge.

Got sheep hooves trimming this morning, and now everyone is just chillin’ in the pasture

(Pretty sure Dottie thought I had some apples with me)

I don’t usually have a chance to handle Frank, so I was checking out his fleece this morning while I had him haltered up.

It’s only about 2 inches long, but so beautiful and crimpy! I really hope he can keep from getting it all felted and icky over the Winter!
Dottie’s fleece is really long already, but I think I’ve missed the window of opportunity for getting her sheared this Fall.

And Survivor Chicken is back with her girlfriends in the shed

so that’s cool.

And in knitting news, the vest is off the needles (for the moment).

And I’m really happy with how the collar worked out

Now I have to go back and do the armhole trim and then finish off the cut edges of the steeks.

Getting so close!

Alternate title: Measure Twice (or Thrice, or until you are absolutely positively sure), Cut Once.

I really thought I was done with the body of the vest.
The thing about steeking, though, is that you can’t try the garment on as you go.
So I was comparing it to another vest that fits well.

Saturday morning I was up bright and early, and set to work machine sewing and cutting the steeks

It was actually kind of fun

But then I pinned it together to try it on and realized that the armholes were too shallow. Ugh.

Not as shallow as this photo suggests, because the top edge is all curled up. But short none the less.

So I needed to develop a strategy to add some depth.
I thought about knitting an inch or so more in pattern on the back and each of the fronts, but realized that since I had incorporated a few short rows at the very top to slope the shoulder just a bit, the pattern would be wonky at the edges.

I thought about knitting alternating stripes of brown and white from each front about two inches and then binding it off to the back. But that plain knitting would have a different gauge and thickness from the rest of the body that is stranded.

So it seemed the only thing to do was to knit in stranded colorwork bands perpendicular to the body stitches- like afterthought saddle shoulders.

It took me a couple of tries, as my right-handed colorwork technique is pretty rough-

It took me a while to figure out that I needed to eat up 2 stitches from the body at the end of each row.
I still need to even out the joins on the edges a little, but I think it turned out ok.

And it echos the striping that separates the front and back underneath the arms, so I think it works as a design feature 🙂

So now I’m moving on to edging- a nice deep ribbing at the bottom edge first (about and inch left to go).
Then the fronts and collar.

Whew. That was close.