Warblerneck

"This fog is thick as peanut butter."

"You mean pea soup."

"You eat what you like and I'll eat what I like!"

- Yukon Cornelius and Hermey the Elf

Sunday, February 03, 2008

Of Vests and Afterthoughts

So, what do you do when you've knitted a vest for your Mom for Christmas, a woman who loves pockets in her clothing, and you need to add pockets to said vest? You pull out your trusty Elizabeth Zimmerman books, and knit some "afterthought pockets"!

Want to see how?

Here is the finished (almost) vest.

First we decide where the pockets go and add little stitch markers. The next step will involve [gasp!] cutting the yarn and unraveling a row of stitches. Now, in situations such as these, the Yarn Harlot suggests a glass of wine to "take the edge off" and EZ firmly instructs: "don't have heart failure!" Both very good suggestions indeed, but as my tolerance for alcohol is fairly low (I'm a cheap date), I opted to drink heavily the night before.

Here we are ready to snip. Ow, my chest! Or maybe just a little heartburn from all that liquor yesterday.

Now to unravel in both directions, leaving a gaping wound.

We add a little i-cord edging to the bottom of the pocket hole. (Also EZ's technique. The woman was a genius.)


Then pick up stitches on the top row and knit downwards. I cast on a few extra stitches to each side to increase the width a bit.

Here the pocket is knit and being sewn down to the inside of the vest.



And now through the miracle of the internets, we have TWO completed pockets, filled with some of the things a certain beloved and wonderful mother will enjoy putting in them.

The End!