zigzagstitch

I should have taken more pictures of this vest in progress, but I was too busy knitting it! I have finished weaving in all the ends but there’s still one small detail left to do before I call this finished. It’s something I’ve been meaning to put on a Maggie sweater for some time. Any guesses?

It will get a pocket! As an afterthought (though I planned it ahead of time).

The yarn is Chickadee from the new yarn company Quince & Co. It is so soft, the colors are to die for, and I loved working with it. The yarn is, as far as I can tell, a worsted spun yarn, meaning the fibers are all aligned nicely and it has a very boing-y quality to it. It is very stretchy and delicious and plump.

The trouble with a worsted spun yarn is that it doesn’t have a tendency to stick to itself like a woolen spun (Shetland style) yarn does.  I used steeks, all the while knowing that the yarn isn’t as felty as I like it to be when using steeks.  I reinforced my steek using the crochet method and I’m not too worried about it, but the yarn is not ideal for steeking.

Still, I love this little vest to pieces. I think I’ll make one for Jerry* and write up the pattern.

*Jerry assured me that, while he doesn’t necessarily want a vest, he will “wear it for pictures”. Good boy.

I knit mostly for myself and my immediate family. The kids get sweaters, my mother-in-law gets socks, other family get hats…sometimes. Maybe it’s selfish, but considering that much of what I knit is for my own patterns, I call it business.

But when my Aunt asked me to knit a sweater for a bear, I just could not say no. People rarely ask me to knit things for them* so I was pretty excited about it. My Aunt made the bear herself (a long time ago it seems, since I had to make some repairs to it) and she wanted to give it to her first great grandbaby, with a personalized sweater.

*Except for the random acquaintance who wants a hat but has absolutely no idea what goes into knitting a hat. You don’t know how many people from my hometown have asked me to knit them a Buffalo Bills hat!  I usually either quote them the fair price of $300 or show them this picture.

Anyway. I knit a vest for a bear!

The name on his belly is “paxtyn”. How cute is that name? I briefly considered doing a proper sweater, but the shape of the bear’s arms seemed better suited to a vest.

I spent a lot of time trying to come up with the design. At first I thought I’d do something stripety in worsted weight yarn, but I thought the vest would be better out of a thinner yarn. I ended up using Ultra Alpaca Light.

There were, ahem, gauge issues. After knitting the “paxtyn” section I took the knitting off the needle and realized it was about 5 inches too wide. Although I thought I’d avoid the use of a steek for such a small sweater, I reinforced the knitting and cut out the extra fabric. That made for some extra finishing work, but I’m really, really pleased with how it came out.

Knitting a vest for a bear for my first cousin twice removed was pretty fun, I’ll have to say. The knitting was quick and the design of it stretched my brain just a little. That’s always good, right? Figuring out all the little parts to make it look just so. I also thought about the new baby and his mom a lot, and that, I realize, is the fun of knitting for others.

I sure hope they love having the old bear and its new vest. I sure loved making it.

I know from experience that knitters take fewer classes at their lys’s during the hot summer months. But my friend Cindy, being the talented and inspiring knitting instructor that she is, continues with her classes all summer long!

Cindy asked me to be a guest instructor at one of her classes to teach her students about…steeking! Of course I said yes, and I knit up my own pulse warmer pattern – Amazonium – which was conceived especially for teaching knitters the art of the crocheted steek.

Both pulse warmers are knit at the same time, in the round, with two steeks that are cut open after the knitting and reinforcing. Then you finish the edges and put on buttons.

After using my sample to demonstrate the crochet reinforcement during class, I knew I had to finish the pair, so I sat down today to snap some pictures and knit the remaining edgings.

I think the most interesting thing about steeking is that it takes careful prep work and careful finishing. There are lots of ends created during the process, and you need to spend some quality time with your knitting to make it look its best. The easiest part, in my opinion, is the cutting part.

Of course, the students could not believe they were taking a pair of scissors to their projects. It was funny. I love that. Showing them something new. Holding their hands a bit. Making them suck it up. Love that.

Maybe they’re all going to be crazypants steekers now. You never know.

After the class was over, I was browsing the buttons and found these cute little orange ones for $1.35 and bought them. Of course, I only bought the three, totally brain-farting because I actually need SIX. Can I blame the wool fumes?

My Ravelry project page for these little guys currently shows I am 95% done. Three little buttons to sew on (Cindy is a doll and will hand deliver them to me!) and a quick bath and they’ll be ready for…winter. Heh.

These pulse warmers are a really quick little project. If you’ve never steeked before, what are you waiting for? The pattern is available for $6 as an instant download. You could be steeking in a few hours!

Amazonium: steeked pulse warmers
more info here, on Ravelry, or click the button below