Machrihanish Progress

Just a short and long overdue post about my progress on the Machrihanish vest...

I've not been working on it steadily. Beginning-of-the-semester busy-ness, catching up with relatives and trying to get ahead on yard work has kept me away from the needles, but I'm getting to it when I can. I've been through three 42-row repeats of the pattern so far and am about a dozen rows into the armhole steeks. The decreases at this point are rapidly drawing in the circumference, so I was able to speed up a bit this weekend. It will only get smaller and smaller as I head toward the shoulders -- quite the opposite of center-out lace or top-down sweater construction.

I love making and looking at steeks. I've made both the checkerboard and striped variations. I think I like the stripes better. Easier to see when cutting. These are narrower than others I've done -- only seven columns instead of a safer nine or eleven. I think I might actually crochet these to secure them before cutting. I didn't on my last vest and it's sticky Shetland wool has held up just fine, but I'm worried that seven is too narrow a margin -- literally.

My 32" circular needle is getting a little too hard to work with, so I picked up a 16" 2.75mm needle this afternoon. I'll need it later for the neck and armhole edging, and in a few rows I'll need to start transferring stitches too it as the circumference narrows even further. It will be pretty crowded at first, but that won't last long.

I should have this finished by the time the cooler weather gets here. If it ever does.