Wednesday 25 March 2015

On my needles now - Moto Vest

Moto Vest on my needles 
Today I've got a little sickie in the house so no 'What to knit Wednesday' post today but I thought I could quickly share my current project.

A couple of weeks ago when I posted about the Dragon Aviatrix that I made for Sir S I briefly mentioned at the end that I was taking some time for a bit of 'me' knitting and had cast on the Knitterly's Moto Vest for the Woolful March KAL. The pattern is for a beautiful trans-seasonal open cardigan styled vest that is knit with bulky yarn. I was hoping that it would be a quick knit since I started mid-March after I had finished the birthday knits for the kids.

It has truly been a nice feeling to be knitting for myself for this project. The last object I finished for myself was months ago; even before I started the gifts for last Christmas. As much as a love knitting for others, and it was the desire to knit for my baby that motivated me to rediscover the craft in the first place, I do recommend a bit of 'me' knitting as necessary in the making schedule. Knitting something for yourself can be a form of therapy. It can bring pleasure and excitement to your day when you work with beautiful materials that you have hand selected for yourself, on a project that you are personally crafting for yourself.


So, for this Moto Vest, I have selected some sport weight/ 5 ply superwash merino that was hand dyed by Red Riding Hood Yarns in the 'Gone Girl' colourway and I paired it with a grey fingering weight/ 4ply alpaca/wool blend from Isager. By holding one strand of each yarn I am creating a thicker yarn that will knit up quicker and the grey paired with the blues of the RRHY gives the piece a marled look. It was a total experiment and I wasn't sure if it would work out but as I kept going I really liked the effect.

'Gone Girl' Sport weight RRHY and Grey Alpaca 2 Isager yarn
When I saw the pattern for this project I noticed that it has a very similar shape to a vest that I bought last winter from Metalicus. It is a beautiful drapey cardigan vest that can be worn right way up and upside down to give two different looks. This is a favourite piece from my wardrobe despite it being store bought and containing only a small percentage of wool. As I knit this vest I am drawing inspiration from that vest. The Moto Vest designer, Shelli Westcott herself has knit this pattern multiple times and made it differently each time. It is such an easy pattern to adapt and change to the knitter's liking.

Wearing the vest right way up
Now wearing it upside down and open
Upside down buttoned up gives it a snuggly cowl like collar
I have just started on the back section after knitting the scarf to 52" in length which will give me a vest slightly shorter than the Metalicus one. I want a narrower back between the shoulder blades but am toying with the idea of adding some increases as I work further down to widen the bottom. I haven't quite worked out how I will do this but I'll explain all my MODS in a finished object file later on.

Now I'm off to give my little sickie a cuddle. Happy knitting, friends. Tell me, what's on your needles right now?

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