Finished Friday night.

It fits. It’s warm and comfy as well as flattering and sexy. I love it.

Pattern: “Swizzle” from Domiknitrix
Yarn: Bendigo Woollen Mills Alpaca, three strands knit as one
Errata: There are plenty, so make sure you find and note them
Comments on the pattern: I’d forgotten how satisfyingly fast chunky knits are. I knit most of the back in one evening, and the fronts took an evening each. The shaping is clever, with neat touches added over the basic waist curves.
Changes to the pattern: I used a different method of casting on for the front that gave the same ‘tubular’ effect, which I found in an old knitting book. I also decided not to have pockets, and so knit the fronts without the opening.
Comments on the yarn: It sheds a little bit, and there are some scratchy guard hairs in it, but overall a nice yarn to knit with and wear.

There’s an extra bit of finishing achieved along with this vest. It is the last of my Knit From Your Books projects. Overall KFYB has not only lessened the guilt of having so many books that I’ve never knit anything from, but made me try things I hadn’t quite gathered the courage to knit. While the Swirled Pentagon Pullover was a bit of a disaster, the rest of the garments have become favourites.

The Simply Garter Vest is one of the few pieces of knitwear that the beau has expressed spontaneous admiration of. The Diagonal Stitch Cardigan has turned into one of those tops I put on when I can’t make up my mind what to wear. The Ribbed Wrap Jacket is comfy and flattering and I have to stop myself wearing it too much. I haven’t worn Tomato very often because the thick yarn and short sleeves mean there’s only a short window of suitability between it being too hot and too cold here, but I do love it. I can tell Swizzle is going to get heaps of wear, too.

The other benefit of KFYB was that when I couldn’t decide what to make next – because I want to make everything NOW – I could let it decide for me. That makes it tempting to start another challenge. Perhaps a crochet challenge. I don’t crochet anywhere near as much as I knit, and I’d like to change that. Or perhaps a weaving challenge to motivate me into working on the loom (since I can’t exactly do it in front of the tv, as I do knitting).

Or maybe I should leave off on the challenges for a while. After all, I have a book to write, a three plus year house move to finish and a house to get ready for sale. My hands are pretty full at the moment.