Friday, June 17, 2011

My Little Free-Range Vest Knitalong Pt. 4

This is about the time I confess that I'm liking everybody's Little free-Range Vest better than mine. My fault: I'm being miserly on the yarn since I have my other hanks in protective custody for other projects. But that's okay. This is just to guide you to your own little wonder.

So, I'm so excited. This morning I actually was able to go into the garden without the risk of being washed away and photographed my emerging vest on bare deck. So exciting. Anyway, I digress….we are launching our fronts now, which I have done by picking up on one shoulder and working down the front towards the bottom. Yes, this is a bit like dangling from your toes while knitting upside down but therein lies the adventure.

By now, you may realize that there are multiple options for how to proceed. For instance, you could have left one set of stitches on the needle for the shoulder and you could have waited until both fronts and backs were worked before picking up and knitting the extra inches to extend the shoulders. Free-range knitting is all about exercising your options and, while some days I'll plan ahead, at other times I don't. 

The challenge in knitting top down is in reorientating yourself spacially. This little vest will have a modified vee-neck so I will be increasing gradually to that end. A round neckline would require casting on clusters of stitches to more quickly to build up the front.

So:

• pick up stitch for stitch along one shoulder edge. Work seed stitch for approximately 3 inches/7 centimeters. Cast on 1 stitch at neck edge on final row.

• change yarns and work two sets of yarn-over-knit-2-together (as done on the back) separated by 2 rows garter stitch while casting on one stitch at neck edge every alternate row

• on next row, begin 4 rows of garter while increasing 1 stitch at neck edge every 4th row (this shaping will continue until our little vests measure 10 inches from the shoulder and reach just above the chest.

• change yarns and work seed stitch