A Fool For Stripes

I love knitting striped garments.  They give the knitter the mindlessness of stockinette (necessary on evenings when the brain has checked out for the day) along with the interest of playing with color (one of my favorite things in this whole wide world to do).

Don't let The Lad's face deceive you in this photo.  He loves his new vest.  It was a rough day when we took the photos.  At 3:00 in the afternoon he was still coffee-less.  Such is the life of a teen who gets up too late to have his morning cuppa and make it to school on time.  Since he shares his mother's caffeine addiction this meant he had a nasty headache.

I've visited the new Lion Brand Yarn Studio a few times recently and have become a devotee of the huge skeins of Fisherman's Wool.  This vest used about half of one of those skeins along with 1.5 skeins of Lion Wool in the Lemongrass colorway.  This translates to a vest for under $20.  (The Lion Wool was purchased on sale.)  With the leftovers I'll be making a vest for DD#1.  When she saw her brother's she insisted on one of her own; hip length with a little waist shaping.

I consider myself very lucky that my kids are so happy to wear handknits.  They've even had friends make requests that I knit items for them.  My standard response is that I will teach the individual to knit so that he or she may make their own hat, vest, cardigan, etc.   So far I've only had one taker, but I have dreams of starting a knitting revolution among the local teens.  Considering my own childern refuse to learn, I've got a long way to go.

Specs

Yarn:  Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool in Nature's Brown 1/2 skein & Lion Wool in Lemongrass 1 1/2 skeins
Pattern:  None, but there are a ton of wonderful vest patterns out there that are very much like this one.
Needles:  US 8/5.0mm
Notes:  I added a few stitches after knitting the ribbing which makes the bottom of the vest nip in a bit.  I wouldn't do this again.  I don't like the way the vest fits at the bottom.  Also, I didn't plan very well at the neckline.  I knew all along that the neck band would be worked in the brown yarn.  Next time I would divide for the neck in the middle of a brown stripe to give the neck a cleaner finish. 

Here's the vest on Ravelry.

Comments

[darlene]

i can see why they wear them...they look great! what a compliment that other teens want to wear them too! way to go!

[Gudrun]

These really are such satisfying colours....and what a bargain on the yarn!...perhaps the knitting revolution needs to be aimed at the pre-teens? Get them when they're young!

[Heather]

Great color choices! And maybe now he'll know that part of caffeine addiction is proper management of intake:)

[mai]

beautiful! i'd ask for my own vest, too, if i were your daughter :)

[Chelsea]

I'm a fan of yellow as a manly color. At least there's a bit of perk in the colors, even tho he didn't get the caffeine perk in his system.

[terhi]

Stripes are so satisfying. And this one looks really great!

[brianna marchaj]

At some point, things will change. In college is when I got back into it. In high school I would have shaken my head vigorously and told YOU to make it for me instead. But once I was older, in my early 20s, I needed something to be proud of, and I needed something to make, so then I walked back into it - or it walked back into my life. Someday, some of those young ladies will come to you or someone else and say, Hey, so.... how do you knit?

[KT]

Yeah... I can see it being a subconscious way to stay connected to you and have you nurture them while they are gaining independence. Then once they are a bit older and on their own they'll come back and learn to knit as a way to re-connect with you. :) Maybe?

[little_lj]

Hi, I've just discovered your blog and it's really inspiring for a new beginner knitter such as myself, I love it!

That vest is awesome, I'll have to try something like that for my teenage brother's birthday! I knit him a hat for Christmas and he won't take it off!

[stacey]

What a good lookin' vest - and the kid aint bad either;) I think your kids must be pretty awesome - posing and creative - nice! The srtipes are great and under $20 - who knew!?

[TricotChico]

I, too, love stripes and have a very similar response to people who ask me to knit stuff for them. Can I be you when I grow up? ;o)

[Jen]

Hey, I think it's awesome that you divided for the neck in the middle of that yellow stripe! I love the way it looks!!

[Renna]

I only recently discovered the brown shade of Fishermen's Wool at Hobby Lobby (I don't live near a yarn shop, but we did just get a Hobby Lobby in our small town). I thought it was such a pretty color, and would make a nice felted handbag. I also picked up several skeins of Lion Wool on clearance there for a couple of bucks per skein.

I love the vest, and you've given me a wonderful idea for the Lion Wool I have in that same shade of yellow, and for my brown Fishermen's Wool!

[Oiyi]

I love it! Vests are great. I am making a toddler sized one for Melody right now.

[Carole]

Great vest! Hope you got him some coffee after you took those photos.

[kelly]

Love it! Yellow and brown are soooo yummy together!! We don't have the fisherman's wool here :(

[Ingrid]

I love the vest - and you should be proud of raisding kids who wear hand-knits with pride!

[grumperina]

I like your mantra for teaching folks to knit! I think your own kids aren't learning because you keep outfitting them in gorgeous things, like this vest!!!

[kristy]

I'm also a huge fan of stripes. The vest looks great!

[turtlegirl76]

Love the color combination! Striped projects are so much fun. And rather addictive. So when are you going to make your Noro Striped Sweater, eh?

[GinkgoKnits]

Would you mind sharing what your favorite technique is for getting jogless stripes?

I always find that to be the tricky part about stripes -- when the method of the day doesn't look right, my perfectionist side comes on strong.

[tiennie]

I love your vest and those stripes! I love that your family is so photogenic too - I always enjoy the posts with your cute kids in them and how they aren't "posed."

[lisette]

Love the phrase where you say the stockinette stitch is great for the evening when 'the brain has cheched out for the day'. That's soooo true!
And I know for sure, you can organise a true knitting revolution on teenagers (see me.. although I'm nog a teenage but then again)!!
The vest is beautiful. And your son is too although he hasn't had his caffeine shot! The colour is great!

[TD wool design]

quite handsome and i too, love your shots. sorry about the caffeine. seems he was a good sport though!

[Roobeedoo]

Your teens are having a good effect on mine - they see them looking cool in handknits and raise a quizzical eyebrow, shrug and grudgingly admit "S'alright... yup. Ok. Make me one!" And stripes? What else!