When I completed my latest shawl (you can see it in this post), Doug commented that he liked the colours and that they would make a good waistcoat. I immediately thought of Kate Davies pattern, Ursula (Ravelry link):
While the pattern is for a woman’s cardigan, the stitch pattern seemed to lend itself to this colour palette, and I bought some sample shades of Jamieson Shetland Spindrift 4-ply yarn and started fooling around.
Above is my swatch. I initially choose a mossy green for the first stripe (on the bottom) and then realised that it wasn’t the right green to go with the pink and purple shades – it had too much yellow in it. So I tried a green without the yellow tones (Conifer – top stripe). I liked this, which is good because it meant that I could stop swatching and start knitting.
Unfortunately, I then asked Doug his opinion on the ribbing. The Ursula pattern calls for 3×2 ribbing, but did Doug perhaps want 1×1 ribbing since I was turning this into a men’s waistcoat? Doug looked at photos of various projects on Ravelry and concluded that he didn’t like either 1×1 or 3×2 ribbing, but that he would like 2×2 ribbing. I then, very sensibly, decided to knit swatches of each type of ribbing, so that he could see for himself. (I’m nice that way.)
The Ursula cardigan has 4 inches/10 cm of ribbing, but I wanted to use 3 inches/7.5 cm for the waistcoat, so I knitted each ribbing swatch to that length so that Doug could get an accurate idea of what it would look like. Conclusion? He decided that he didn’t like either the 1×1 or the 2×2, but preferred the 3×2 (which, if you recall, is the ribbing that is called for in the pattern). Do I get brownie points for this?
Having decided, I then ordered the yarn for the project which arrived amazingly fast.
Yay! New yarn! New project! And brownie points, too!
I usually try to post on the weekends. I was working last weekend, and I will be working this coming weekend, so I will just have to post when I can for a few weeks. Bear with me. I have a finished project to report on, too, but haven’t been able to get photos yet. It is what it is.
Brownie points, definitely! Worth it, with these (big!) male knits, to do everything one can to make sure they’ll really like the final product. I do like the look of the 3×2 ribbing. Currently trying to finish a vest for my husband before golf season is completely over. All the best with your busy work schedule.
Wow – points galore! You did a really thorough job of swatching and consulting, and it will surely result in a great vest 🙂 It’s so nice that Doug is involved with it and giving you input!
Loads of brownie points! And new, pretty yarn,to boot! A good week!
Lovely👌
love this posttttt!
Looks great. Can’t wait to see your WIP!