Rare FO Sighting on affiknitty

I'll bet you were beginning to think that I'd never blog about an actual finished object. But...yay! I don't hate it anymore! Here's the Instant Gratification Abbreviated Sweater Vest. At right are my notes and one of the photos from Lucky magazine that inspired my vest. As you can see, I originally thought of making a cardigan vest (and if you look closely, the featured vest is a hoodie), but I opted for a pullover in order to be gratified even more instantly. Also inspiring the color choice and shape of the vest was a feature about the "1970s collegiate" look for fall. I think my brown and cream V-neck has a bit of an Annie Hall look about it.

What made me initially hate this FO was the finishing. For lack of a better idea, I had put two rows of single crochet around the neck and armholes. May I say frankly -- yuck. But I picked up Nancie Wiseman's Knitter's Book of Finishing Techniques. (Wow. How did I live without it?) It provides very clear instructions for attached i-cord, and with that finishing, a heretofore yucky vest becomes pretty cute. Another very helpful source for the armhole and neck shaping was Ann Budd's Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns.

This is designed to be worn as you see above, with tails out or with something flowy underneath. The bottom hits right at the top of my natural waist. The ribbing is deep and stops right where an empire waist would. (As I have an hourglass figure, I like things that draw attention to the waist. The flowy layer underneath helps hide the tummy.) I made this with two strands of Lion Brand Wool Ease held together. These were partial balls lying around in my stash, so I'm not exactly sure of the yardage. But I think two balls each of two colors would be plenty, with enough for a generous sized swatch.

More details on the pattern to follow, if any one is interested!