Finished Vest

I finished my ribbed vest just in time for the heatwave except, of course, it's too hot to wear it! I'm probably the only person in England who doesn't like the hot weather....when people say, "oooh, summer has started at last," I smile weakly, as if in agreement, but actually I'm thinking, "aaaaargh, bring on the rain."  Yes, I know the rain has been awful for some:  there have been floods and endless weeks of grey drizzle.  But I live in London and we didn't get THAT much rain.  No floods, just nice bouts of rain that made everything lush and meant I had to wear a cardi most days.  I just LOVE cardi weather.  Also, when it rains in London, it washes the air and sidewalks clean, and God knows, they could do with a scrub!  Rain means a clean city, it means the air is soft and clear, it means the drunken zombies who litter the sidewalks don't come out of their holes and it means the tiny squares and parks aren't lined with near-naked and faintly revolting flesh.

Like I said, bring on the rain!

And when it comes back, I'll have a chance to wear my new top:

It looks a bit crumpled up here but believe me, when I'm wearing it, it looks fantastic!  Just needs to be a bit longer....

It has the simplest edging:  pick up stitches along the edge, knit a row, cast off.  Gives it nice definition.

Above is the original Debbie Bliss pattern, knitted in Amalfi.  I followed it exactly, except ribbed it.  I also didn't do an edging around the arms as they came out well-defined, but I think I would if I knitted it in stocking stitch.  I used Debbie Bliss Prima which seems to have an identical tension, so there was no weird tension maths to do (which I can't do anyway.)  I got this pattern free from the Debbie Bliss website but it seems they change them quite often.  I think the Amalfi book is still available, though.

The ONLY thing that went wrong is that I would have liked it longer.  But I like this sort of top so when I knit it again, will add a good four inches/10cm to the length.  I have no waist so anything that sits too close to it makes me look, well, waistless!  A longer length makes me looks slimmer.  Naturally!

I must say I'm really glad I've got this yarn out my hair!