12.24.2012

7th day of Knitmas

I'm sitting at my parent's house right now typing up today's blog post. It's my family's Christmas celebration today. In Czech Republic tradition, we celebrate Christmas Eve dinner and then open all of our presents this evening together. Growing up, it was a lot of fun to be the one that opened presents a whole 12 or so hours earlier than my friends and others! Now, I see this excitement in my daughter and it makes me smile. I hope you and your family or close ones are enjoying a nice evening together.

Today's pattern feature is called Rippling Lace. This elegant, flowing vest is such a flattering design. I know a lot of ladies that would love to have one of these versatile garments in their wardrobes. With it's flattering shaping and beautiful stitch pattern, I think almost every figure could pull this one off. Grace sized the pattern from XS to 5X, which makes this really an accessible pattern.

Rippling_Lace_Primary_medium2


The only thing I might change about this pattern for myself is the length. I think this vest would look good shorter as well. The lace stitch is really appealing and makes the whole vest hang so nicely on the body.


Rippling_Lace_3_medium2


In Grace's words...

Rippling Lace

Sizes:
XS (S, M, L, 1X, 2X, 3X, 4X, 5X)

Finished Measurements:
Width: 45.75 (50.5, 53.5, 57.5, 61, 65.5, 68.75, 71.75, 75.5)”
Length: 33.25 (33.75, 33.75, 35, 35, 36.5, 36.5, 37, 37)”

Materials:
Size 11 U.S. (8mm) needles, single point or circular whichever you prefer
Approximately 2 yards of aran weight waste yarn in a contrasting color for a lifeline (optional)

Yarn:
9 (9, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 14, 15) hanks of Blue Sky Alpacas Worsted Hand Dyes (50% royal alpaca, 50% merino wool, 100 yards per 100g skein), shown in color #2024 Mulberry.

Gauge:
12 sts and 20 rows = 4” in open linen lace stitch, blocked.

This pattern had a plan from the beginning... I knew exactly which yarn, which stitch, which gauge and which shape I wanted in the end. The stitch I came up with when I was playing around with the stitch I used for the Olga's Vest (another stitch I came up with), but I LOVED the way it looked in the Worsted Hand-Dyes (one of my top ten favorite yarns!).

I knew I wanted the shape of an A-line to make this garment more wearable for all body types (especially me.... since I am a little more ample in the booty area). I wanted to use short rows since they are my favorite technique. I have already made two of these and I just love it! Maybe I'll make a third in a lighter weight yarn for the warmer seasons :)

Remember that to be in the running for a winning PDF copy of today's pattern feature, you need to enter the 100th giveaway here (the comments for this post have been disabled). Follow the instructions at the bottom of that post to enter. I'll be back tomorrow with yarn to share!


Merry Knitmas!

-Ve