Multi Textured Vest from Fiberwood Studio - Day 4

The back 52...uh...70

I’m going to admit that this pattern’s continual expansion is making me feel...well, large.  

I do realize I’m not a small gal.  Those tiny, artsy folk--the ones who can wear pixie haircuts and cropped sweaters--make me yearn for a smaller version of my tall-and-ample self.  After 50 years of large-person existence, I have learned the myth of “one size fits all.”  Still, there are days where it stings just a bit.

Here I was, reaching the 52nd row that marked completion on the back of this vest.  I was delighted to get ready for the second armhole, loving the colors and textures, all that stuff.

And then I tried it on.  There is no way those 52 rows will ever reach across my back.  Not without blocking those stitches within an inch of their lives, which sort of defeats the whole purpose of a “free form” vest, don’t you think?

Sigh.  Back to my relational equations I go, telling me I’d better expand my 52 rows to 70 if this vest is going to have any hopes of fitting someone like me.  Funny thing is, the front 88 rows look just fine.  Still, it’s quite clear I need a bit more room in back, so I’ll see you in another 18 rows.

Yippee, numbers (if “sarcastic meh” had a font, I’d have used it here). Bathroom scales have numbers, too, so you can guess how delighted I am with numbers lately.

I will be knitting those 18 additional rows in the company of electricity, however.  And AC.  And after nearly 5 days above 100 degrees (more sinister numbers, I tell you!), I’m choosing gratitude.

Feza Vest from Fiberwood Studio - Day 1

Well begun is half done...

I am so looking forward to this project.  I’ve always been a fan of vests--convinced they, like their scarf cousins, can upgrade a simple jeans and top to “outfit” status.  They fell out of fashion for a while, but are back.  A seasonless, artsy piece like this is going to become a wardrobe staple for me, I can tell.

The trouble with vests, however, is that they often come in “one size fits all.”  I’m six feet tall, and I’m here to tell you one size often doesn’t fit all of me.  Ah, but that’s the wonderful thing about knitting--it puts you in control.

This means, however, that you have to do....math.

Stop trembling, dear DestiKNITters, I’ll walk you through it.  Even the mathophobes among you can handle a simple quadratic equation.  If it can be tackled by a sixth grader, chances are you stand a shot a success.

For me, the problem is always, always length.  I am longer than the standard female (if such a thing even exists), so I have to adapt.  The pattern tells me the finished vest will measure approximately 18” from the back neck.  If I reach into my closet and measure the back length of a vest I know fits me well, I find it is 23” long.  As this vest is knitted sideways (left edge to right edge, if you will), I know this means I need to calculate how many more stitches I must cast on than the pattern’s stated 60.  Enter the glories of Algebra:

If I know 60 stitches gets me 18 inches, then I want to know how many stitches get me 23 inches.  That’s X.  Come on, reach back into those gray cells and remember how to solve for X (or find the nearest 6th grader--that works, too).

X is a bit over 76, so I round up for safety’s sake and cast on 80 stitches.  See, that’s not so hard.  It works in the other direction, too, if you need to shorten something.

My next step is to figure out if the standard two skeins of Feza Alp Natural I got from Fiberwood Studio has enough yarn for the larger vest.  This is an important consideration, and I’ll walk you through that calculation in our next installment.