10 November 2010

An adventure with wool

So, here's the story...  My dad went to Ireland in September of 2009.  Before he left I asked him to bring me back Bono, or The Edge, or yarn.

Fast forward 2 weeks...  He's home and so excited to show me the yarn he picked out.  Then he says to me in an Irish accent, "I thought you would make me a waistcoat!"  He looks like a kid on Christmas morning, rubbing his hands together and everything.  Oh, so you actually bought yourself some lovely wool in Ireland in the hopes that your wonderful daughter would be gracious enough to take the time and make you a vest.  I see how it works.  (plus I still have 3 different kinds of yarn waiting for the perfect projects from the last time mom was in Ireland)...oops.

We finally found a pattern.  It's from Knit Simple Holiday 2009, P. 75.

 I punished him by making him hold all 4 hanks while I wound them in to balls.  He blissfully sat there smelling the sheepy wool and telling me how wonderful the lanolin felt on his fingers. Punishment backfired, he enjoyed every second of it.   Then I went to work getting his measurements.  Oh boy.  The back of the sweater is smaller then the smallest size listed and the front is a medium to accommodate his belly.  Completely custom.  He doesn't make things easy, that man, but I love him.

I promptly discovered that I didn't mind at all that the yarn wasn't going to reside permanently with me, because my eyes, nose and skin itched like mad within about 5 minutes of starting his "waistcoat", making it difficult to work on for an extended period of time.  Then summer came and his project took a backseat to other, smaller, more warm weather appropriate projects.  

I got it out again a few weeks ago when the cooler weather arrived (and he had asked me about 5 times when I would have it finished)  I finished the back and went in search for buttons.  Thank the powers that be for Etsy.  I emailed him a list of links and he picked the buttons that I would have picked myself, so predictible.  A special thanks to Lulu's Emporium for having exactly what I needed!

I blocked it last night.  The buttons were in the mail box today.  Nice right?  It should be dry by tomorrow.  Finished this weekend with a picture to share next week.  A happy man with his new, custom, daughter made waistcoat.  P.S.  I have 2 balls left.  What should I do with them?

2 comments:

  1. OMG - I was have asked for the exact same things from Ireland. LOL! Are you me?

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  2. @Threadless

    I found a project, The Pimlico Shrug, that is perfect for one of the yarns that mom brought me back when I was doing the marathon stash update a few weeks ago. I also found a couple other projects that will be great too, but here's the deal... I haven't finished the vest. Apparently custom is not YET my thing. The shoulders don't line up with the back, and a few other issues, so I think I am going to knit another one with the 2 left over skeins, frog this one and make cable pillows. I keep envisioning them and they look AWESOME in my head! So back to the drawing board with the vest...

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