FO: Shawl Collar Vest

In spite of October and November's busyness (this has been an incredibly fast-paced fall term), I managed to get something off of the needles. This shawl collar, shrug-like vest using the Bingo Shawl Collar Vest pattern and done up in Manos del Uruguay Silk Blend (violets colorway).

After completing the piece and blocking it, I discovered that 1) silk really does stretch during blocking and 2) the Manos yarn doesn't draw up as much in the ribbing as the original yarn the pattern called for. Consequently I had a lot more ribbing than I needed. I had to rib back the bottom ribbing and re-knit it to narrower dimensions. Once that was done, I stitched up the seams and tried it on. Second time is a charm!

Because of the softness of the yarn and its variegation, the textured pattern on the back doesn't show up as clearly as it would with a crisper worsted and a single color. Still, I like my little vest, and the Manos yarn is as soft as a cloud. Mmmm! Goes well with the vintage cashmere turtleneck, also soft as a cloud (something my mother ::gasp:: didn't want any more and asked if I'd be interested in).


Now it's back to bed to try to get the better of this nasty chest cold I seem to have picked up. Hack, cough, hack.