Knitting on Friday

I’m busy working on my green trinity stitch shawl, my pink mohair shawl (what was I thinking?) and my yellow summer shawl. I’ll get the most wear from the green one. It’s wool and warm but it takes forever. Plus, it's from an afghan I’m unraveling. It’s all crinkly like the old-fashioned phone cord and it’s full of frayed sections. I’ve gotten to the point where I carry a spray bottle around when I’m knitting this so I can splice the pieces together. Did a moth(s) “feast on its flesh” at one time (many times?) Or was this sun damage? Whatever; wool is very durable, and, the main reason I’m fooling with this project, very warm.

But the big news is that the brown yarn (25% wool) is now a brown vest and I’ve worn it twice and....... First the news about the yarn: I think I had so many false starts with this yarn because I really don’t like it. It’s Berella Special Canadian Worsted and I got it long ago when a store was closing. I remember eying it at regular price and not being interested so they must have made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. I should have. While it was easy to knit up (finally), I’ve noticed pilling already on the inside.

The second problem is the pattern. While I don’t say it makes you look like a bear (no pun intended; brown - bear) a waffle stitch and *P3, K2* ribbing gives you the “big” look when knitted in double weight yarn.

Having said that, I think it’s a good pattern so here it is:

(First, the disclaimer: I “invented” this pattern in that I combined some pattern stitches. Use and enjoy it. Sell the finished garment. Please don't copyright it. That wouldn't be nice. Oh, and I’m only giving you what I did so you’ll have to adjust for your size.)

Waffle Stitch Vest (I’m calling it waffle stitch, I don’t know if there is such a stitch.)
Equipment: double knit weight yarn, about 4 50g balls; US 10 and US 11 needles;
darning needle, row counter, marker, yarn holder - the usual stuff you need
Size: Small - less than 36" bust. The vest body is stretchy.
Special Stitch: crochet crab stitch (backward single crochet)
Gauge: I got about 3 1/2 stitches to 1 inch in pattern which should have given me a 40+inch width. But it didn't. I got about a stretchy 36 inches, which is why I hate gauging.
Skills Level: Advanced beginner
To Know: knitting even means no increases or decreases in that row; live stitches means stitches ready to be worked, not bound off; Kitchener Stitch and the three-needle bind-off - google these for very good explanations.

Waffle Stitch in the round:
Row 1: P 2 stitches together (P2tog) around
Row 2: Knit in front and back of each stitch (Kfb)
Row 3 and 4: Knit (K)

Waffle Stitch in rows:
Row 1 RS: Purl 2 together (P2tog) around
Row 2: Purl in the front and back of each stitch (Pfb)
Row 3: K
Row 4: P (all your increases and decreases are done on Rows 3 & 4 when you get to the armholes.)

Ribbing: With US 10 needles, cast on 130 stitches (sts). Join, mark beginning of round, and *K3,P2* for 4 to 5 inches. The ribbing should be this long or longer.

Change to US 11 needles.
Next round: Knitting around, increase one stitch (Kfb) in every 8th st then every 10th st to about 146 sts. Next round: Begin your waffle-stitch pattern in the round and continue to the armholes.

At armhole: Divide the vest in half (73 stitches each half) and put one-half on a spare needle.

Front Section: Working with 73 sts, switch to the waffle-stitch pattern in rows, starting on Row 3. Decrease 3 stitches at beginning of Rows 3 and 4. Knit Row 1 and 2 even and then decrease 1 stitch (do this decrease 1 stitch in from edge) both sides of Row 3 (K) and Row 4 (P). You have decreased 5 stitches each side. Continue knitting even to the neck, ending after Row 2. This was about 8" for me.

Divide your stitches in thirds (1/3 shoulder – 1/3 neck – 1/3 shoulder.) My stitches worked out 20 – 21 – 20 – obviously I lost stitches somewhere.

1st shoulder: Starting on right side (RS) at armhole edge on Row 3, work across the 1/3 shoulder stitches (20 for me.) On Row 3: K across to 3 sts before neck edge, K2tog, K1. Turn and work back in Row 4: P to 3 sts before neck edge, P2tog, P1. Turn and work even on these stitches in the waffle-stitch pattern to top of the shoulder ending after Row 3. Put the live sts on a holder. (About another inch for me.)

2nd shoulder: Attached yarn to RS neck edge at and bind off the 1/3 of the stitches for the neck. Don’t do this too loosely since it’ll sag. Then continue knitting across the 2nd shoulder with Row 3 as K1, K2tog, then K across. Turn and working Row 4, P to three stitches before the edge where you P2tog, P1. Turn and work even in pattern to the shoulder, ending after Row 3. Put the live sts on a holder.

Joining shoulders: Join the live stitches from the front and back shoulders using the Kitchener Stitch or the three-needle bind-off in purl.

Finishing. Work the crab stitch around the armholes and the neck. (I worked two crab stitches for every Row 3 and 4 and this brought in the natural sagging of the pattern edges nicely – you’ll see what I mean.)

That’s it. You get a very nice looking vest. A vest was about all I could do with this yarn. It just seemed too bulky for a full sweater. However, if you have finer yarn, sleeves in the ribbing might look attractive. I wouldn’t recommend sleeves in the waffle-stitch pattern since you get a horizontal strip which should be matched to the body .

Another variation of this vest is the jerkin. After the longer ribbing section, separate the front and back and knit the waffle-stitch pattern in rows to the neck/shoulders. Continue with directions starting with the 1st shoulder. This gives a very open look on the sides. The crab stitch up the sides will tidy up the look or you may like the pattern edge look. If you try it that way, let me know.

Note: Writing this pattern was an interesting experience since I made the vest without a pattern – just on the fly. No, I’m not bragging about how accomplished a knitter I am – it is a very easy pattern. But what surprised me is how much I had to write in the directions since I wanted to be sure even a beginning knitter could follow it. It really can become a tedious job because you’re constantly tweaking it to make it easy to follow; and I probably still made mistakes. Just one more reason why I admire people who put up lace patterns – and for free!

Final note: I wore the vest yesterday in order to get a picture to put in today. However, I spent the day hunting down a discrepancy on a bank statement (about which I may blog later) and it took the entire day. OK, I may be very slow when it comes to math but this one was a killer. Even the vest was frowning by the end of the day.