My goal this year was to knit fingering weight garments. I’m finding it a slow go. So this is a short post to celebrate. I’m so happy to have it finished.
This is my first one. A vest version of the Build A Bigger V. There are fewer changes for the vest than I had thought at first. The biggest change is no sleeves, of course, so the final bit was knitting out to the sides to get the correct fit around the body.
It fits well, it’s light weight and did I mention, it’s Done.
I’m so excited. I just had to show you (over and over again, apparently).
Now it’s time to finish up some small things. They are soooo satisfying after finishing a bigger project.
Are you busy with small knitting or longer projects? I hope it’s going well.
As I have been knitting away on my vest version of the Build A Bigger V cardigan I have been thinking about the armhole. They are rather a big deal when knitting a sleeveless garment, right?
My other concern was getting some extra bust width on the front. Short rows to the rescue. The mods pages for the cardigan has instructions for short rows to make an A-line cardigan. I used the same idea except for where I began my short rows.
I want the extra width to begin high up so I get an outward slant to the line from the shoulder. High on the front (the top pine) and lower on the back (lower pin).
I worked the short rows with 2 ridges in between. I think it worked.
Progress is being made on my vest version of the Build A Bigger V cardigan, and yes I am knitting like a crazy person. The Front is knit as a pullover. Nice and easy since it’s just the Back again without the beginning triangle at the neck. Done.
Now I have to attach them together so I can knit out to the edge of my shoulder.
Both the Front and Back have a 2 stitch I-cord worked along each edge. I’m going to use those I-Cord stitches for the pick up. Hang on, it’s a tricky ride.
Ta, da. Phew, done. Not hard to do. It’s just lots and lots of stitches.
I’m working on the back panel of the Build a Vest with all those markers in place. What are they doing down the centre? I thought you’d never ask.
The first Build a V that I worked on was the baby version.
As you can see it also starts with a front and back panel, then is worked sideways for the sleeves.
The back panel looks like this.
See that nice little pointy V at the bottom? I didn’t want that pointing at my derriere on my vest. Would you?
So … all those markers. They indicate x number of ridges as I worked down the back.
This is my Build A Bigger V cardigan, and you can see that the point has been taken away, creating a rounded bottom to the back panel. At every marker I moved the increases further away from the centre marker.
This is my finished back panel of my vest.
The centre section gets wider and wider. As I approached the bottom I started widening the centre section a little more often.
I think this would work for a triangular shawl too, if you didn’t want that sharp triangle point. What do you think?
I am using several markers for this project. Only one is required by the Build a Bigger V pattern. That’s the white marker in the centre. The rest help me keep track of the shaping and remind me when and where to do things.
There are 7 more markers here which are all for me. Yes, there are quite a few. Yes, they are different colours and types of markers on purpose.
Marker for Right Side of fabric: That orange marker on the right is pinned through the fabric to tell me this is the beginning of the right side row. It is especially helpful at the start of the project when there aren’t as many other things to tell me I’m on the right side. It’s a removable marker so I can move it up as I knit.
Markers for length: The orange, green, orange sequence up the middle are for counting ridges so I don’t have to keep counting from the cast on. I am placing the first orange marker after the first 2 ridges, then every 8 ridges as I continue down this front panel because something happens every 8 ridges in this particular pattern.
Markers delineate: The two metal markers on either side of the centre marker (white) show me where the middle section is. You can place markers on either side of a stitch pattern or some section you need to keep track of.
Markers – do something here: The metal markers on either side of the centre marker also help me find where I need to work increases. The instructions say to work an increase x number of stitches before the centre marker (white). I don’t have to keep looking ahead for those x number of stitches if I put a marker in. I work one increase before the metal marker, knit across the middle section to the other metal marker and work an increase after it.
Markers – pay attention: I have a lot of trouble remembering to do things at the ends of the rows. So the blue marker on the left edge is telling me to pay attention and work a decrease, duh. I know it’s supposed to be there but I have merrily knit right past it so many times, I needed a marker to remind me. It’s a rescue marker.
I have collected several different types of markers for this very purpose. They help me reduce the stress of paying attention, cut down on the amount of ripping back I have to do, and therefore, make my knitting so much more enjoyable.
This vest, and the cardigan I’m modifying it from (Build a Bigger V), will be Gauge-Free. No swatch needed. No talk about gauge at all, none, throughout the entire pattern. How freeing is that?
How can it possibly work?
Start with a couple of stitches and build a triangle with increases worked on either side of the centre marker. Work until the solid edge of the triangle is the width of the Back of Neck. Mine is 8″ wide.
Width of Back of Neck is 8″.
That sets the number of stitches for the Back Panel. You need to count the number of stitches you set up with at this point but we don’t care how many stitches per inch you are getting here. Any number of stitches will work.
Now, I will keep the same stitch count as I knit the back panel.
The shaded part here is the Back Panel. The triangle begins at the Back of Neck and the Back Panel is knit down to the desired length.
The decision will be how long I want this vest to be. Lots of knitting for the next week.
This is a photo of the Build A Bigger V cardigan before I knit the sleeves. This could be a vest as it is in this photo. It has 9″ of ease so if it was a little more fitted … it could work.
But I sort of like the idea of cutting in the armhole, for a sleeveless look (white line).
Better?
At any rate, I’ve started. This is the beginning of the Back Panel. I’m knitting in fingering weight yarn (80/20 fingering by Shelridge Yarns – colour Iris). Yes, this will be a lot of knitting but here I go.
The idea of Building a Vest using the Build a Bigger V cardigan intrigued several knitters. Thanks for voting. Cheers, Deb
There are distinct stages in sweater knitting – places where you can take a look and feel satisfied with your progress. A good thing too because a sweater is a long project. Taking the time to sit back and congratulate yourself makes it all worthwhile.
Getting started with all the adventure ahead of you – that’s the easy part.
There’s a point where it seems to become a sweater and not some random bit of knitting. For this pullover, it was joining it up at the bottom of the V.
Trying something new is also fun. The idea to work the steeks was not what I had planned for this construction. But why not?
Getting the sleeves done is always a relief. Once the sleeves are there it really is a garment. These are 3/4 length so not long at all. Yay.
Now I’m coasting down to the bottom and wondering how long I really need this sweater to be. I’d like to be done. This is where I need to buckle down and keep going.
I’m so close to being finished. Now I’m looking to cast on something new. Hmmm.
I’m glad I celebrated finishing the lace section of my Corbis sweater because, you guessed it, the one step back part is coming up.
I finished the sides, working the German Short Rows. I was very pleased with it. Then I measured the width and maybe you guessed it, too small. At least it would have fit pre-covid but not now. I’ve bumped up a size and well …
I spent an afternoon outside on my rocking chair ripping both sides out. Sigh.
Now I am redoing both side panels with a larger needle. One side is done and the second side will be finished shortly. Yay. This is a big win!
That’s the quick story of this sweater. I’m still looking forward to finishing. It’s going to be terrific.
Since I don’t work on only one project I’ll give you a quick update on my top down slope-shoulder sweater. I finished the sleeve steek knitting.
If you haven’t done a steek before, this is my method, working from the top down or the bottom up. At the beginning of the sleeve opening cast on 5 steek sts. Knit round and round to the finished length of the sleeve opening. Then cast off the 5 steek stitches.
I find this makes the machine stitching of the steek much easier. That’s coming up soon but for now I’m going to continue working the body round and round.
I hope you’re having as much fun as I am, ha, ha. Cheers, Deb
It has occurred to me lately that working on two pullovers at the same time is not the best idea I have ever had. It seems like very little progress is made on either one. I am missing that satisfying feeling of getting something done. So today I am celebrating getting the lace section of the Corbis Sweater by Natasja Hornby DONE.
The left side is on waste yarn. The right side is ready to work. Short rows here I come. I’m excited.
My other project, the slope-shoulder pullover, is also coming along slowly. I decided to take MP’s advice to keep knitting and see how I felt about continuing or if it was time rip it out. It felt good so I’m carrying on.
I solved the problem of the centre front join by working a 6 stitch cable. That divides what was the beginning and the end of the rows when I was working the top of the yoke flat. The beginning of the round is still in the centre front, which is a little weird, but this is working.
Next is the long section for the sleeve openings. Usually you would work the front and back flat for the length of the sleeve opening. I had a car trip coming up (navigator and passenger only, of course) so I decided to continue to work in the round. It’s easier to be looking at the right side all the time. Not so much attention needed. This requires a steek. Eeek, a steek!
Yes, I’m going to cut the fabric to make the sleeve openings. To get started I cast on 5 sts at the end of each of the shoulders. These 5 sts are my steek stitches and the hole makes the machine sewing easier to work. Then I will cut. I can’t wait. I love this technique.
Lots of excitement to come. I’m looking forward to feeling like I’m getting somewhere on these two projects.
Deb Gemmell: Top Down, Gauge Free and more 