Sunday, October 10, 2010

The Provincial Sweater Vest

Oh, this sweater. This dumb, dumb sweater.

the vest

I thought this was going to be an easy project to use up two skeins of Cascade 220 I had laying around. I certainly used up the yarn (to the last 3 feet or so), but I cannot give this pattern a shining review. 

The pattern is Provincial Waistcoat (Rav link) from Interweave Knits Winter 2006, and it did not live up to expectations. The fit is kinda terrible, but I probably only have myself to blame for that - I was worried I was going to run out of yarn, so I knit the size medium while following the length for the size small. So, yeah, if it was longer, it might be more flattering on me. It just makes me look a bit chubby as is.

In general, this pattern is not well written. It's vague, and assumes you can magically infer shaping from photos or something. Also, the pattern on the back does not line up for any of the sizes larger than small. I was extremely confused while comparing the magazine photo to what I was knitting. After reading a few reviews on Ravelry, I know I'm not alone. Frustrating.

the vest in action

And I did run out of yarn, hence the edging in a nice grey. Not the worst thing to happen to the sweater. Luckily I had the perfect matching vintage buttons, which pulled the whole thing together nicely.

the front of the vest

Check out my snappy photos! Rae - who also lives in the Midwest and suffers from perpetual darkness from September to May - posted these great tips for taking photos, and they have totally changed my life. 

the back of the vest

At least it looks nice laid out!

5 comments :

  1. Perhaps you could give it to someone as a gift? It's what I sometimes do when things don't turn out as planned... Oh, and unclear patterns are the worst.

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  2. Too bad I already have a sweater in that yarn...which I love, by the way!!!

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  3. The vest looks fantastic!! great job.

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  4. Thanks Julie!

    Mom, don't you want a matching VEST!?

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