Work-appropriate vest

I am in a fairly conservative profession as far as fashion is concerned. This year in particular, I wear suits almost daily to work. Although I will be able to dress more casually at my new job--which I start in September--it will most likely still be somewhat conservative. For some time now, I've been wanting to make some work-approrpiate attire. My first thought was a vest: it can be worn over a button-down shirt, with dress pants or a skirt, and still be professional. So, then I went on a search for the right pattern. I found Crisp by Wendy Bernard almost a year ago, and thought it would be perfect. Although the neck is a deep v, it would still be appropriate worn over a button-down shirt that covers everything up! And, I loved the cute play with color on the shoulders and the waist. Plus, I'd heard great things about Wendy's designs. Although I own Custom Knits, I've yet to make anything out of it. So, I was looking forward to finding the perfect yarn and working on the pattern.

I eventually chose to use Berocco Alpaca Ultra Light in salt & pepper, with a coordinating white color for the accents. The yarn was okay. I guess if I had thought about it more, I may not have opted to go with alpaca. It sheds like crazy and looks kind of hairy, which is to be expected for alpaca, really. On one hand, it hides any imperfections, particularly along the armholes and necklines where I had to pick up stitches, but it also hides the stitch detailing. The sizing is pretty spot on, other than being a little large in the back. In the end though, I am really happy with the vest!


I started the vest back during Ravelypmics, and although I made a lot of progress on it during the competition, I wasn't able to finish it. Once I finished the body, it sat around waiting for me to get up the energy to pick up the stitches for the armholes and neckline. I HATE picking up stitches!! And the alpaca made it even more difficult to see where I needed to do the picking up. But, the effort was worth it!

Here are my post-blocking thoughts: I read someone's comment on Ravelry, suggesting to leave a long tail on the waist coordinating color yarn. She's right! I left a very long tail, but after blocking and stretching, it either wasn't long enough or it broke. I need to weave the second strand through about 5 of the stitches, which won't be a problem. But, I highly recommend leaving it extra long. It's such a cute accent, though, that it's worth trying to get it right!