Post 550 and My First Steeked Knit Project – Abstract Leaves Vest

This is a great way to end 2019.  Not only has my hobby blog reached Post 550 (!), but also this post features my most advanced knitting project to date – the Abstract Leaves vest.

I cast on this project back in 2015 (!), and have mostly been ignoring it as other time-sensitive projects have come up.  And honestly, this project has been a bit of a pain.  You really need to follow the pattern as it wasn't easy to memorize the 14-line repeat.  And this was too bulky to be a standard travel project as not only was the double-stranded vest relatively large, but also was carrying around two extra yarn skeins for when the current yarns ran out.  So years elapsed before I finally felt 2019 inspiration to finish this project by the holidays.

Initially I aimed for a Thanksgiving debut, but having blown past that deadline, I settled on Christmas instead.  And I actually made it, with a premiere on Christmas Day of the finished vest.

The hardest parts of completing the vest were definitely the steeking, which required a lot of research for my first time, and then completing the considerable edging at the armholes and v-neck opening. 

Steeking is the knitting technique of cutting colorwork knitting after knitting it in the round.  You do this because knitting in the round leads to a more even knit, and as I found, it's relatively easy to steek your finished knit to then complete the edging.

I used a sewing machine to firm up my knitting before the actual cutting, and it was pretty easy to sew the finished knits once I got the hang of pushing the squishy knit through the machine.

Once completed, the black sewed reinforcements were barely perceptible.

I then did the part that terrifies knitters around the world – took sharp scissors to the knitting.  And while I worked slowly, it also became much easier as I continued, such that I wondered to myself, what was I initially so worried about?

With my knitting cut, I then turned to adding the edging, which involves one of my least favorite knitting techniques – picking up and knitting new stitches.  While I don't have any pictures from that part of the process, it did end up going more quickly than I expected.  I even undid my initial armhole edges because I found the first set of ribbing to be too floppy and comically long on me.  I instead frogged the edging to then have a 2-row grey rib followed by the maroon contrast stitch finished edge.

I am very happy with the end result, though I feel like a project of this scope falls more in the once-in-five-years category than an every year effort!  Happy 2020 all!

Abstract Leaves Vest for Madhu

Pattern:  Abstract Leaves Vest by Veronique Avery, size 32 1/4

Yarn:  Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Sport Yarn, 4.25 skeins in Bramble Heather, 1.8 skeins in Mink Heather, and 0.2 skein in Currant

Needles:  2 US 3 circulars

Measurements: 

Pre-blocking measurements of:

15.5 inch waist diameter 
20 inches from top to bottom 
8 inch long armhole opening 
11.5 inches wide across top of vest 
6 inch wide back neck opening 
6 inch long V-neck