Neptune - Front Done

I finished up most of the wedges yesterday, and finished up the last one this morning and joined the short row section to the right shoulder using a thee needle bind off.  Now I just need to work I-Cord edgings on the neck and top part of the short row section and both arm holes.  I did some yarn usage calculations this morning, though, and realized that I am not going to make the yarn usage requirement for the August Camp Loopy project.  I've only used 590 yards, and the requirement is 800 yards.  I don't think that I-cord will make up that difference.  I had some concerns regarding the yarn usage after I finished up the back, and as I started working the wedges I did some quick calculations and realized I was in trouble, so I did another pattern search, limiting the results to patterns that I already own and found another project, Lilium, by Amy Herzog, from the Spring/Summer 2013 Twist Collective.  I've bought a lot of Twist Collective patterns, but haven't made any yet.  I picked Shalimar Yarns Breathless DK in the color Corfu.  The irony is that both of my other Camp Loopy projects used a lot more yarn than required.

If I make it with another project, I make it.  I'm not going to get stressed about it.  If it hadn't been for Camp Loopy I might not have found this cool vest, or used Shalimar Yarns Enzo Sport - a very nice yarn to work with.

Pattern:  Short-Row Vest by Carol Feller
Yarn:  Shalimar Yarns Enzo Sport in Neptune and Glacier
Needles:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Neptune - Back Done

I've been working pretty steadily on my final Camp Loopy project.  I didn't do as many garter stitch rows at the bottom as the pattern called for because my row gauge is different.  I knit the body to a length that works for me - about 10 inches and then split for the upper body shaping.  I noticed that the pattern didn't have much in the way of shaping for the armholes, so I added that as well.  I worked 8 1/4 inches for the armhole length before I did the short row shaping for the shoulders.

After finishing the body I did a 3-needle bind off to join the left shoulder and then picked up stitches to start working the short rows.  I ended up picking up 48 stitches along the right edge.  I worked 1 row and then on the next right side row I cast on the stitches for the armhole.  I ended up casting on 43 stitches, which should give me the right length for the armhole.  My total stitch count came out pretty close to the stitch count for the third size (91 compared to 93) so those are the directions I am using for the short rows.  I've finished one wedge and have started the second.

Pattern:  Short-Row Vest by Carol Feller
Yarn:  Shalimar Yarns Enzo Sport in Neptune and Glacier
Needles:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Neptune - Camp Loopy 2016 - Project 3

I finally cast on my third Camp Loopy project yesterday.  I almost dropped out of Camp Loopy last month after becoming very disenchanted with my second Camp Loopy project, but managed to revitalize myself with a project change to the Raspberry Blaze Cape.  Shortly after I found that project the third project was announced and I found one that I liked - the Short-Row Vest by Carol Feller.  The pattern was published in knit.wear Spring/Summer 2014, which I happened to have.  The theme this month is Faraway Lands - so your project has to  incorporate a different country by using a pattern by a designer who lives in a different country, or you picking a pattern named for (or celebrating) something in a different country, or can picking a color that reminds you of a place in a different country.  I decided to go for Ireland and started a pattern search and came up with this pattern.  The designer lives in Cork, Ireland, which, coincidentally, is where my Uncle John (my mother's brother) spent the last years of his life.  I chose Shalimar Yarns Enzo Sport, a yarn that I have not knit with before, and picked as my two colors - Neptune and Glacier.  The picture above is the Glacier.  I did my swatch in Neptune (below).

I picked the colors because their names also evoked faraway lands. Does Neptune have Glaciers?  I don't know, but it sounds romantic.  Of course I did a swatch.  When I looked at the pattern I saw that the gauge was 19 sts and 28 rows = 4 inches.  The pattern also called for a US 6 (4 mm) needle.  The yarn I chose called for a US 4 (3.5 mm) needle and has a recommended gauge of 6 sts per inch.  For my gauge swatch I cast on 28 stitches (24 for the 4 inches and 4 extra stitches for the garter stitch edge - 2 per side).  I worked 33 rows, just to make it easier to work my garter stitch edge before casting off.  My gauge ended up being 22 sts and 32 rows = 4 inches.  From a size perspective, I want to knit the second size (34 inch bust).  This size calls for casting on 108 stitches.  But for my gauge I would need to case on 108(22/19) = 125 stitches.  This falls between two sizes, the third size with 122 stitches cast on and the fourth size with 136 stitches cast on.  After looking at the schematic and noting that the model is shown with 2 inches of positive ease, I'm going to go with the fourth size.

Pattern:  Short-Row Vest by Carol Feller
Yarn:  Shalimar Yarns Enzo Sport in Neptune and Glacier
Needles:  US 4 (3.5 mm)