Knitting Pam Allen's Indian Floral Vest

Yes, I am finally knitting Pam Allen's Indian Floral Vest! I started yesterday afternoon. I actually started with the left front. (I know you should start with the back, but I just felt like knitting the fronts!)

The left front is finished and I have marked the location of the buttons in order to place the buttonholes properly on the right front. (I am looking forward to making the buttons, they are crochet buttons!)



The detail on the vest is beautiful. I love how Pam Allen worked the bottom edge. It is so feminine, and the waist shaping will be so flattering. And the way my red handspun Shetland is knitting up is making me so happy!



Before I go, I wanted to tell you Mr. SockPixie loved his Moth Mittens, and wore them for the first time today!

Moth Mittens

Mr. SockPixie's Moth Mittens are finished and just in time! It has been really cold here in Boston over the last few days.



To quickly recap the pattern came from the book All New Homespun Handknits by Amy Clarke Moore. I am happy they are finished, but a little sad too as I had so much fun knitting them. I might just have to spin some yarn to make another pair...

I have cast on for the Indian Floral Vest, and am getting ready to reknit the American Girl Doll Sweater. This should be a busy but really fun week, with lots of new knitting to share with you.

Swatching

I worked on Mr. SockPixie's Moth Mittens last night, and then I knit a swatch with my newly spun red Shetland roving...Yum...I thought knitting the yarn would be bliss, and it definitely is.



My yarn is a little finer than the yarn called for in the pattern, and so I will be making some adjustments, but that's just part of the fun, isn't it?

I am off to finish the mittens. I might just be able to put in a few minutes of knitting before I teach French Conversation in the Brookline adult ed tonight. Tonight we are discussing campaign financing in France! There is nothing like the calming effect of knitting before discussing a hot topic like campaign financing!

Fairisle Moth Mittens

Yesterday, the children wanted to go to their favorite hangout, the bookstore, after we were done with school. (We are homeschoolers). Even though, my spinning wheel is a Louet Victoria, and I could just have packed it up and taken it to the bookstore to continue spinnning the roving for the Floral Vest, I decided not to, and instead chose the easy thing.

I picked 2 skeins of contrasting wool yarn, a blue and a green (rather masculine colors), with the idea of knitting mittens while at the bookstore.

During our last visit at the bookstore, a couple days ago, I had looked at the book, All New Homespun Handknit by Amy Clarke Moore and really liked some of the projects in it.



As soon as we got to the bookstore, I bought the book, and started working on the Moth Mittens.

I decided the mittens would be for Mr. SockPixie.

To make the mittens a little more masculine, I opted for a less adorned cuff. Just a two color K2 P2 rib would do for my rugged guy!



I kept the rest of the pattern as directed, except for the inside of the hand where I only knit the plain pattern without the central swirl.



I am almost done with the first mitten, just a few more rounds before the decreases!



If you bought the book, or have made these mittens leave me a comment and if you have a blog, I will go see yours.