Saturday, November 10, 2007

Knitting Scouts: Fibonacci Handspun Sweater Vest

I have been eagerly awaiting the day that I could make this entry about my finished Fibonacci Handspun Sweater Vest. I have been working on this project since about March of this year. Originally I thought I would have it finished by mid-June, but life (and my dissertation research) happened, and June turned into November.

Fibonacci Handspun Sweater Vest


Fibonacci Handspun Sweater Vest


Fibonacci Handspun Sweater Vest


Not only does today mark the end of Fibonacci Handspun Sweater Vest knitting, but it also marks my earning a knitting scout badge. I am a devoted listener to Brenda Dayne's Cast On podcast. Her most recent series revolved around the theme of knitting scouts. As part of this series, Brenda made available numerous badges that listeners earn by tackling various knitting feats. A few weeks ago, my friend Emily was looking through the badges and came across one that she felt represented my vest project: The "I Will Crush You With My Math Prowess" badge. Recipients of this badge have "applied the principles of higher mathematics to knitting including, but not limited to hyperbolic planes, Fibonacci sequences, Klein bottles, Moebius strips, fractals and Flying Spaghetti Monster hats."

I Will Crush You With My Math Prowess


Here are some details about the vest project:

I adapted Amy Pryor's Dk Cardigan with Handspun pattern (available at La Petite Knitterie) to make this vest. I did knit sleeves, but because of a row gauge calculation error on my part, the sleeves did not fit the arm holes. Rather than rip out several hundred yards of handspun yarn and reknit the sleeves correctly, I decided that a vest was in my future.

The striping is based on the Fibonacci sequence with stripes ranging from 1 to 13 rows. I scrambled up the sequence a bit, so that the stripes appear to be random.

I spun all of the yarns in this vest from various fiber blends, including:

* Baby camel/merino
* Baby camel/tussah silk
* Baby Camel
* Cashmere
* Alpaca/red kid mohair
* Kid mohair/merino
* Shetland/alpaca/silk
* Bluefaced leicester
* Merino/bombyx silk/angora

The buttons on this vest were made for me by my sweetie from a walnut branch that I cut from my grandparent's garden this spring.

Fibonacci Handspun Sweater Vest

No comments:

Post a Comment