Denim Cabled Vest - Completed

I thought I would do a post before heading off to work. I am way behind in my knitting reviews and live model pictures. When I have a good hair day, I will be back to post those pictures.

In the meantime, here's my review on my Denim Cabled Vest:




Name of Pattern:
Cabled Vest from the Tahki Yarns Terra Collection, Spring/Summer 2008

Designed by:
Rosemary Drysdale

Pattern/Garment Description:
Cropped sleeveless lace vest with cabled fronts.



Size(s):
Small (38), Medium (42), Large (44-1/2), & XLarge (48-1/2)

I made a size Small.

Yarns Used:
Plymouth Yarn Fantasy Naturale in Denim Tweed color. This is 100% mercerized cotton yarn. I used less than 4 hanks of this yarn (140 yards each).

This yarn splits a bit. It's also a bit heavy.

Gauge:
18 sts = 4 inches in lace pattern stitch pattern

Knitting Tools Used:
- Circular needles: 40 inch in size 8
- Cable needle (size 8)
- Stitch markers to mark beginning of armholes
- Yarn/tapestry needle with bent tip
- 4 buttons - 5/8 inch (right now it's optional)

Techniques I used:
- Long tail cast on
- K2,P2 ribbing
- M1 - used M1R and M1L to knit the increases along the sides
- K2tog & SSK - to knit the decreases along the front edges
- CB4F and CB4B (cable stitch patterns)
- BO in pattern

Changes I Made to the Pattern:
Instead of knitting 8" before BO at the front placket, I knitted 9". Just like the previous version I made.

No buttonholes were knitted. Ooooops, I forgot to knit them.

What I Like About this Pattern:
A challenging knitting project. Still challenging the second time around.

What I Dislike About this Pattern:
Nothing to dislike

My Pattern Rating (Beginner, Easy, Intermediate, Hard):
Intermediate. There's a lot of challenging moments, especially with the front pieces.

Conclusion/Additional Comments:
Another version of this fabulous cabled vest pattern. This denim tweed yarn is a beauty.

I did have some knitting issues on this second version. It was all operator errors. I really wanted to knit this 2nd version, but I had so many other projects on the needles vying for my time and many distractions that I wasn't as focused as I should have been.

I forgot to knit the buttonholes on the front right. For now, I'm leaving the vest plain and wearing it open. I have receive many helpful suggestions from fellow knitters that I'm thankful for. I'm sure one of the suggestions will be used.

When I was seaming/attaching the front pieces at the shoulders, I had reversed the left and the right. I didn't realize it until I had finished the seams and looked at the garment. My front plackets were now at the sides and my armholes were in the middle of the vest. *Sigh*

I had done an excellent job of weaving in the ends, that I could not find the ends. I ended up pulling/stretching the shoulder seam (RS) and clipped the sewing yarn in the middle of the shoulder. For beginner knitters, I don't recommend doing this as you may end up cutting the wrong yarn. It took me awhile to undo the seams, but as you can see I was able to fix my major problem.

All these major and minor errors happened in the late morning hours when I was tired. That could mean only one thing. Do most of my knitting from 5am-9am.

I'm glad I'm done with this project and I have a vest to wear into the upcoming Fall months. It's one of my transitional garments. It's also machine washable. ;)

A Quick Picture Day

Happy Wednesday!

A quick picture post. I've finished my last shrug. A review will follow as I made a minor change to this garment.




Here I am knitting the neckband on my vest. Still have two rows to go and then BO. Notice the empty front plackets?



I plan on wearing these two garments...A LOT. Both are machine washable. You can't beat that.

Knitting Updates

We're getting ready for our trip to Chicago to participate in a Leadership conference. I've collected a few things to wear and put them in piles. So, I'm not really packed...yet. The suitcase hasn't even shown its face. I'm getting ready to put my two knitting projects on lifelines and then I can pack the projects and needles in my luggage. I don't plan on doing any knitting while we're in transit to Chicago. That's what my iPod is for. DH and I will be watching a movie or listening to tunes. Thank goodness for my dual headphone adapter.

Once we arrive and get settled (outside of Chicago), I do plan on visiting one or two yarn shops in the area. I also hope to get some knitting done...an hour here or there. As to what we're going to see and do in Chicago...we're going to be spontaneous.

I thought I would give you an update on my current projects:

Cabled Vest in Denim

Yes. I've started another cabled vest. I couldn't help it. This Plymouth Fantasy Naturale in Denim Tweed called out to this pattern and now the two became one. The yarn is beautiful! I love the marled look. I can't wait to see how the cable (front pieces) will turn out. I plan on wearing this version right through the Fall season. I guess I've started knitting my transition garments.

Cabled vest in denim. Isn't the yarn color gorgeous?


Finished the increases @ the sides (M1s at each side, slanting appropriately) every 4th row, 6 times


Lace Panel Cardigan in Violet

I'm moving right along with this project. The back piece took awhile to finish. It's all stockinette stitches. Not too exciting. Once I got beyond the bottom armhole, the knitting seemed to go a lot faster.

Lace panel cardi in violet - back piece completed

I've started the left front piece. This is more interesting as I'm now knitting the lace pattern.

Lace panel cardi - front piece


Here's a non-flash picture of the lace pattern detail:

Lace pattern for front piece...pretty simple design

The only minor issue I'm having is remembering when to knit or purl the stitches. There are no charts for this pattern, just line by line instructions.

Both of these projects will be traveling with me.



Log Cabin squares

I managed to finish the last square. I'm glad I picked out two completely different color yarns. Interesting to see what I ended up with.

Second square


Both squares completed and waiting to be integrated with the other squares at work

That's what I've been up to.

Oh. I almost forgot to mention this. A friend of mine gave me some old crochet and knitting magazines and patterns that she had collected over the years as well as patterns given to her by friends. I was skimming through them and uncovered some wonderful finds. Vintage knitting patterns. Yes, I call them vintage as they are dated from the 1940s. There are a lot of cardigans and twinsets. Some plain and some with intricate details. I'm in awe. A nice surprise. I will do a separate post on these old knitting patterns along with some pictures when I get back.

Happy Knitting!

Cabled Vest in Sage - Completed

It took me awhile to knit this vest. About two weeks. The seaming and finishing only took a few hours to complete. So, I present to you my cabled vest called Sage and its review. Enjoy!

Cabled Vest - Plymouth Fantasy Naturale in Sage. Actual color


Name of Pattern:
Cabled Vest from the Tahki Yarns Terra Collection, Spring/Summer 2008

Tahki Yarns Terra Collection booklet

Designed by:
Rosemary Drysdale

Pattern/Garment Description:
Cropped sleeveless lace vest with cabled fronts.

Size(s):
Small (38), Medium (42), Large (44-1/2), & XLarge (48-1/2)

I made size Small. The vest came out slightly smaller in width because of the type of yarn I used...mercerized cotton. See additional information below.

Yarns Used:
Plymouth Yarn Fantasy Naturale in Sage. This is 100% mercerized cotton yarn. Lovely sheen and the stitches form beautifully. The yarn tends to split a bit, but it's not a problem for me as I know how to handle this type yarn.

This yarn is heavy worsted weight with 18 sts/4 inches (#8 needles) and comes in 140 yard hanks. This heavier worsted weight yarn pulls the garment in length slightly which will cause the width to be slightly smaller. If I had used a non-mercerized heavy worsted cotton yarn, I'm sure the vest would have had a slightly looser fit. This is my personal assessment.

I used 3.5 hanks of yarn.

Gauge:
18 sts = 4 inches in lace pattern stitch pattern

I was right on gauge with this yarn.

Knitting Tools Used:
Circular Needles: 40 inch in size 8
Cable needle (size 8)
Stitch markers to mark beginning of armholes and to mark the button placement on the placket
Crochet hook to help pick up stitches around the shoulders
Yarn/tapestry needle with bent tip
4 buttons - 5/8 inch

Techniques I used/Things I learned:
Basic techniques that I've used before on other projects.
- Long tail cast on
- K2,P2 ribbing
- M1 - used two types of M1s to knit the increases along the sides
- K2tog & SSK - for the lace pattern and to knit the decreases along the front edges
- YO - for the lace pattern
- CB4F and CB4B (cable stitch patterns)
- Knitting 4 buttonholes
- BO in pattern
- Pickup stitches along neckline

Two front sections with stitch markers marking button placement on the left placket and matching buttonholes created on the right placket

Close up of the front plackets

Changes I Made to the Pattern:
I basically knitted the garment according to the instructions. I made an oooops in the front section. Instead of knitting 8" before BO at the front placket, I knitted 9". I was knitting merrily along and forgot to measure. I bound off and then continued knitting for a few inches and realized my mistake. Must remember not to knit and chat at the same time. :)

I was suppose to pickup about 110 stitches around the front and back neckline which would allow me to start with K2 and end with K2 on the RS. I've learned from previous projects not to pickup every stitch, so I just picked up stitches randomly and came up with 96 stitches. I knew 96 wouldn't work because when divisible by 2 it would give me an even number. So I tinked about 10 stitches and picked up 8 stitches for a total of 94. When divided by 2, the resulting number was an odd number. This would give me the starting K2 and ending K2 around the neckline.

What I Like About this Pattern:
A somewhat challenging pattern. The cable and lace patterns kept my interest. It turned out to be a fun project.

Close up of front lace and cable patterns

What I Dislike About this Pattern:
No dislikes.

My Pattern Rating (Beginner, Easy, Intermediate, Hard):
I rate this pattern as Intermediate.

Conclusion/Additional Comments:
Over the last year, I have been slowly collecting the Tahki Yarns booklets. I envisioned tackling these seemingly difficult projects when I got to the advanced knitting stage of my life. In the last two months of my knitting career, I have dismissed looking at the pattern experience. I now look at the finished garment pictures (is there a Wow factor) and then read through the instructions to see if the project is worth my time.

I'm happy to say that I'm over that knitting hurdle and feel I can tackle anything I put my mind to it.

There are no errors in this pattern. The cable and lace patterns went well together. Rosemary did an excellent job in designing this pattern.

The only difficult part of this project was knitting the front right section. I thought I found an error, but it turned out that I needed to reverse the lace stitch patterns as well as the cable pattern. At the same time, reverse the increase stitch pattern and the decrease stitch pattern. The instructions for the front right section is typically what you find in most pattern instructions..."reverse shaping of the left front". I ended up writing my own instructions for the right piece, but ended up not needing them after all.

This pattern is from the Tahki Yarns Terra Collection, Spring/Summer 2008 edition. I highly recommend this lovely pattern.

My TNT vest

Front placket with silver buttons

The back side

I will be back to post live model pictures.

Happy Knitting!

** Update: I came across the cable & lace vest pattern. Check it out. :) **

More Knitting Updates

Log Cabin:
I finished a log cabin square. It turned out beautifully. Hope to start the next one while at work.

One square completed, one more to knit

The Noro yarn is very hard and scratchy. I know I won't be able to wear any garments made with Noro Kureyon. The colors are gorgeous.

Cabled Vest:
My front left section is completed. I found several potential buttons from my button stash. I used stitch markers to mark my button placement on the front left. I have casted on the right front and will knit the matching buttonholes.

The fun part is picking out the buttons. I will be using 5/8 inch buttons

That's all for now. Need to gather my knitting and head in to work. Happy Knitting!

Knitting Updates & Pics

New Project:
At my LYS, we are working on a group project called the Log Cabin Blanket by Liz Ungar. Each of us is knitting two squares. Each square has 5 sections of garter stitches. We are using Noro Kureyon. It's my first time knitting with this yarn. All I can say is...the colors are Wow! I love how the colors are developing in each of the sections and then the squares as a whole.

Two balls of Noro Kureyon I'm using


Here's my first section (middle) completed:

Section 1 completed


I am picking up the stitches along one side:

Picking up stitches along one side


Here's the 3 completed sections:

Section 3 completed


I have two more sections to go and then I'm done. It's a quick and easy knitting project.


Cabled Lace Vest:
I am making a lot of progress on the vest. I started the front section on Sunday and re-read the instructions and just knitted what I thought would make sense. Do you know how hard it is to knit the lace pattern and do cable stitch pattern at the same time? To top it off, I had to remember to do an increase for the sides and then remember to do a decrease at the neckline. It was cumbersome at the beginning, but I think I've got a handle on both patterns now (after so many repeats).

Left front with cables and lace pattern

I have a few more inches to knit and then I start the BOs for the shoulder area.


I'm off for the next two days. I have a huge "to do" list. Half of the list are self-inflicted items (computer work, phone calls, organizing, cleaning) and the remainder are tasks I need to take care of for DH. One task requires a sewing project for DH. He originally wanted me to go out and purchase the items. To save money, I suggested I make the items for him. So, I better get moving and crank on my sewing and embroidery machines.

Happy Knitting!

A Fun Filled Week

I can't believe how quickly this week went by. I started out on Sunday, meeting with my knitting group and teaching a refresher course on the basics of knitting. I purchased some beautiful yarn from a fab sale at one of my LYS and went back a second time with my friend, Sarah, to help her pick out a fabulous silk/cotton yarn for her first knitted garment project. The yarn is gorgeous. For most of the week, I took pictures for our VBS (Vacation Bible School) at my church. The kids are fantastic and a few will even ham it up and strike a pose for me.

My DH is a wonderful hubby. To celebrate my day, He took me to a wonderful Italian restaurant in Old Town. We had a quiet evening and enjoyed our conversation with a wonderful Italian meal.

Normally, we see two movies a year at the theater. Today, we're planning on heading to the movie theater to catch the 10am showing of HP. Yes, I did say "10am". I don't think we've ever gone to see a movie in the morning. This should be fun.

On the knitting front, I still have 3 projects going at the same time. It's been hard knitting 3 at a time and they all happen to be the back sections which seems to take forever. In the next day or two, I plan on knitting one project at a time so I can feel like I'm completing a garment much faster.

The back piece of Sage is now completed. Hoping to cast on the front left section today.

Cabled Lace Vest back. Note: the stitch markers at the side marking the start of the armhole area


Close up of the stitch patterns


Violet is moving right along. I have a few more inches to knit before I start the BOs for the armholes.

Lace Panel Cardi back piece

In order to move along with Sage and Violet, Charcoal (cabled v-neck top) will be put aside for now. I will more than likely take it with me on my travels in August. It will make a nice Fall garment.

For a quick knit, I will be casting on a Shoulder Shawl that I saw at one of my LYS. I've done some test samples with different yarns. We'll see what I come up with.

I have to share another yarn purchase I made that was 40% off. This Tilli Tomas silk yarn is absolutely gorgeous and couldn't be passed up. DH was happy that I made some special yarn purchases for myself. Saved him the trouble of trying to figure out what to get me.

Disco Lights in Parchment color by Tilli Tomas


Happy Knitting!

Three in the Running

I have three knitting projects in the works. No two are the same. See, I can really knit one version instead of two.

I started my Cabled V-Neck top called Charcoal. This will be my slow knit while in front of the TV. It doesn't help that I don't watch much TV to begin with. Okay, so this will be my "sitting in the front porch knitting" project. Knitting this in natural sunlight will help me see what I'm knitting. This charcoal color is quite dark.

Cabled V-Neck Top in Charcoal (Lion Brand Cotton Ease)


Many hours later and I only have this many inches knitted


Here's my second project a Lace Panel Cardi called Violet. This will be a slightly faster knit, as I'm knitting mostly in stockinette stitches until I get to the front pieces. Another front porch knitting project.

Laced Panel Cardigan in Violet (Lion Brand Cotton Ease)

The results of a few hours of knitting


And my third project Cabled Lace Vest called Sage. This one gets worked on at my LYS. Another lace knitting project and this one is knitting fast. At the rate this one is going, I might be able to put CeCe back on my radar.

Cabled Lace Vest in Sage (Plymouth Yarns Fantasy Naturale)


A few hours of knitting and I have this to show. Definitely a lot more work completed than my other two projects above