Color Block Vest

The last issue of Spin Off Magazine had the pattern for Susan Douglas' "Color Block Vest".  The idea behind the vest was that Susan often spun only bits and pieces  and never had enough handspun yarn for a sweater.  Rather than change her spinning habits, she designed a sweater vest to use bits and pieces.  Pretty cool!

I was feeling extremely selfish over the holidays and cast on a project for me.  The sides and edges are a purple; the back and fronts are a variegated purple & green yarn.

The back (which isn't visible in this photo) is beautiful!  The color repeats in the yarn change nicely with the variations in the stitch pattern.  The front, well, I don't like it.  The color changes are ok, but the overall effect doesn't have the slim, trim image of the original.  Right.  My body is not the same as the mini dressform used for the original photo at the top.  My color choices are not as well chosen as the original either.  I think the dark stripes on the front provide accents in in-opportune places.

On the other hand, the vest blocked nicely on my duct-tape dummy.  It's the first time I've used the dummy.  It was nice to have it!

And, a last, interesting note...This vest weighs a ton!  The yarn must have been spun in my typical, dense, worsted style.  It has given me a good reason to practice spinning lofty woolen yarns!