hippy chick

this is project #2 from my new favourite book . i love this book, and i think this project was a good excuse to use a yarn i really wanted to try. the details...

Flower Power Vest
from Doris Chan's Amazing Crochet Lace

stitched in 2 partial skeins of Colinette Yarns' Tagliatelli (90% merino wool, 10% nylon in colors Neptune and Florentina) on a "N" hook.

this yarn is a really awesome merino wool tape yarn. it is like that junky ribbon yarn the bigger commercial companies put out, only of a much high quality. it feels really great to work with, and the colors are amazing. the skeins are all hand painted, and no two are totally identical.

the pattern was designed to be made out of moda dea ticker tape, which is a very stretchy 100% nylon tape yarn. because the tagliatelli is less stretchy, i added two extra rows of mesh in the straps and one extra row of mesh in the side joining panels. i also decided to add more mesh in rounds at the bottom of the vest to make it a little bit longer--personal taste there.

now that it is blocked and dry, i see that i didn't need the extra mesh at the sides, but it was needed for the straps. the extra mesh made the vest bigger than i need it to be, but it isn't big enough to be legitimately oversized. so it more or less has the effect of making me look 10 pounds heavier. ho hum. since that is the look i'm always going for.

this reinforces my assertion that bulky or novelty yarns are not to be fully trusted. just like muffins and pizza. or it may suggest i have been trusting muffins and pizza more than i ought to lately.

anyway.
i made one other design change. in order to show off the flower motif more, i decided to work the vest in two colors. the flower is done in Neptune, and the mesh that holds the motifs together is stitched in Florentina.

we'll see how much i wear the vest. i know i will to work at the store... but otherwise, i may have to hang it on my wall and just admire how pretty it is.