The Vestes

Hand sewing sucks.


Completed Vestes

I would rather clean the kitchen, scrub toilets, and watch my husband pick at his softball sliding wounds than hand sew. The only thing in my recent history that's more unpleasant is seeing a large, man-eating garter snake, screaming at the sight of it, and causing a lady trying to take a casual walk with her dog run to my assistance.


Back view

That almost put hand sewing right up there with shopping at Trader Joes.


Inside out-Must have nice seams

Almost.

Estes Vest by Hana Jason
Interweave Knits, Fall 2008
Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Bulky, Pistachio, Wool/Mohair blend

You Heard It Here First

You know how you see a wildly successful business with a really simple idea and you wish you had thought of it? I had one of those ideas yesterday. An idea that's simple, yet potentially huge.

I've been pitching the Businessman for the past 24 hours.


Look. I bought a zipper.

And it's nothing like the idea I pitched to him when I was pregnant with our first child. That idea was to set up a gym that hooked all the machines into the powergrid so the energy used during the workout could be converted into electricity.


I'm interfacing with polka dots to hide the fact the zipper doesn't match.

I still like that idea, it would solve so many problems; obesity, crude-oil dependancy, office productivity...oh wait...that was my idea that cubicles should be set up with treadmills so employees could walk or jog while they work.

I couldn't sell TBM on either of those. In fact, he still makes fun of me. Something about gerbil wheels.

But if those treadmills were set up so they powered the computers...


Baby sweater being blocked.

...hmm...I'll have to come back to that one.

I'm close to selling TBM my latest idea. It doesn't involve treadmills, but it could be big. Provided I can assemble the right team...


The mountains, a mama, and yoga on the rocks.

...Starting with a Businessman.

I Can See The Finish Lines

Well, the Vestes is almost done. Possibly today, possibly Friday. I took a quick pic while it was wearable:



The seams are sewn, the collar is on, the armholes are finished. After this pic I took a 40" circular needle and picked up about 300-350 stitches down the front, around the hem and up the other side. Now it's a squished blob and won't be camera worthy until it's off the needle. Then it's a matter of setting the pockets and hiding those dangling strings...

...and inserting a zipper. The last time I inserted a zipper it took me a year. Want proof? Here's the link before zipper July 2007, and after zipper (it's just the back but I promise the zipper's there) which was inserted August 2008.

But I think a zipper would look sportier than the buttons the pattern calls for.

In deck project news, take a look at this bench. The businessman recruited me to stain it.



That is one beauteous bench, if I do say so. But mostly because of this.



I thought that might get your attention.

The deck is finished now, but since I don't know if the Vestes will be off the needles tomorrow, I had to save the picture just in case.

Deck, Vestes, And Baby Sweater Status

It took the Vestes three days to dry while it was blocking. Seriously. I got desperate and put it out on the deck all the while promising myself I would bring it in once the Businessman started sanding.

Oops. You can see it on the leftmost railing. Downwind from the Businessman. The half naked, sweaty, well-sunscreened, Businessman.



The Businessman threatened to pull me over his knee and spank me if I didn't take a picture of our lovely, freshly sanded deck.

I was tempted to let him.

I'm feeling a little attention deprived since he's spending all his freetime with the sander and powerwasher. Getting all dirty and sweaty...and hot.

What I He Made (so far):



If I spent that much time getting exfoliated and cleansed I'd look pretty good too.

Now we wait for a 24 hour dryspell so we can apply stain/sealant. Colorado, I apologize in advance as this guarantees at least two weekends of rain.

What I Made:

I had three days of baby knitting. I should block my wool in a damp basement more often.



The baby sweater is coming along nicely don't you think?

Vestes Days 10 And 11. Bonus: A Cat Bath

Day 10 of the Vestes: Also note the huge holes in the deck.



I had a rare day of no kiddos. Fortunately it resulted in a decent chunk of knitting. Unfortunately it takes me a good 36 hours before I fully realize the potential that can be had from having no kiddos around.

They were gone 28 hours. I dontated blood. Sat in my quiet house. Played computer games. Took a nap. Pouf. The kids were back. Where did the time go?

I did intend to work out, I really did. But my achiles were having none of it.

Day 11: Look, new boards!



I am at the part of the pattern that says Finishing. Of course, those instructions are about two full magazine columns. You can see I'm working on the pocket linings now.

In other news, I washed the cat.



He spent the night outside and the Businessman said he stank. I have a remedial sense of smell so, rather than assume it was my new deoderant, I gave the kitty a bath.

He's mad at me right now.

The cat, not the Businessman.

The Staghorn Longhorn Cable

Estes Vest, Est Vestes, Vestes; Day 10? I think that's right. This monogamous knitting could drive me batty.

Thank you, voting populace, for not choosing the lace on size 0s.



Not a whole lot of knitting time for Day 10. Mondays are never ideal, even for stay-at-home-moms.

I've been pondering the names of the stitch patterns in this vest.



In the above picture, the leftmost cable is called a Rope cable, no explaination necessary. The cable pattern on the right is called Hexagon. Refer back to geometry if this escapes you.

The final cable is called a Staghorn cable. It took me a while to figure this one out. Then, while taking my promised daily picture, I had the random thought: It sort of looks like a Texas Longhorn.



Or maybe a stag. I'm leaning toward the Longhorns myself.

Good to know, should I ever need to knit for any University of Texas alumni. Hook 'Em Horns and all.

Day 11 was much more productive.

Estes Vest: Days Three And Four

So how do you feel about a knitting blog getting back to its roots?

Estes Vest, day 3



I'm a little past the armhole here. I had a typical amount of knitting time today--a few moments snatched here and there between doing my chores, running errands and maintaining my children at a level of care slightly above reptilian.

And let me tell you, those crocodile moms are a tough act to beat.

Since Ravelry is basically a huge database for knitters, I'm able to search this pattern, look at other people's projects and see what problems they may have had. Regarding this pattern, there were a couple trends I noticed:

1. The vest seemed a little too cropped and
2. The armhole was too tight

Both situations are easily remedied. I added an extra inch to the length of the body (1/2 inch at the waist and 1/2 inch before the armhole decreases).

And on Day 4:



I added an extra inch to the armhole length. And cast on for the left front. Day four was the day of my SnB, so I had a good couple hours of knitting time.

Are you enjoying watching the development of garment? I think I might do the vote thing more often. It's healthy for me to practice monogamy. And stash busting.

And people pleasing.