Under Avest
Ever felt like a project your working on is more punishment than pleasure?
Yeah… That was the FILs birthday vest for me.
Sew, before I unravel this thread, lets start at the beginning.
In July 2021, I knitted a vest for my FIL out of wool that was frogged from a sweater (no waist wool even then) I had knit him a few years prior. Yes, this story has gone round more times than the washing machine already. Anyway. I ended up knitting three vests – one for him and matching ones for Felix and Inkling. Jump forward to the beginning of 2024…
For sweater or worse, all the 2020s have been challenging for everyone, and my FIL has had a few health issues (thankfully nothing serious-serious, the tests have ruled the worst out) but subsequently he’s lost a bit of weight. A lot of weight. And he approached me, whilst wearing his vest, to say that it was the only thing in his wardrobe that he liked to wear as it fitted him. Could I make another?
He has never asked me to knit for him before, and given the situation, of course I said yes.
I asked what colour? What style? And he told me he wanted exactly the same as he already had, but in blue…
…
Here is an in-progress knit from 2021 of his vest. Please note the lovely delicate cables and the blue colouration.
There was a pause, just a moment, before he continued with ‘the purple is nice, but I think a blue would suit more of the clothing I have’. I am meanwhile having flashbacks to the “purple hotel” from Blackpool where everyone in the family all agreed it was purple despite being blue.
As an aside, my FIL is colour blind, I know this, his family do, we all do, and yet it never fails to amaze me how everyone just agrees with him even when the colour isn’t what he thinks it is.
Hesitantly, I agreed to blue, then made him wait as I brought out all my blue wool. After a few moments of him poking a few ‘purples’ out of the way, he settled on ‘blue’.
Told you this was quite the yarn to unravel.
Skip forward eight months and…yeah…finally finishing the neck and arm holes…
I just didn’t enjoy this. I have knit three blue sweaters of this exact pattern already. I have knit two dark green vests of a very similar pattern. I have even knitted a neon orange and navy blue vest.
But yet I carried on, ironing a path through the wrinkles of other more tempting projects…
And there it is, the long and short of a project I just didn’t want to work on. A ‘blue-blue’ cabled vest. Pattern is a free Ravelry download by Dad’s Cabled Vest by Ira Dearing.
He’ll be receiving this at the weekend as a birthday gift. I’m hoping he doesn’t ask me for another, I would much prefer to knit him some ‘blue’ socks…
And with that epic tale, I shall bid you farewell until the next post.
Wool Count
Starting total – 841
Wool used – 70 (2 used)
Wool unaccounted for in my stash – 15
Wool bought – 22
Wool given to me – 31
Wool gifted to others – 2
Wool handspun – 11
Total – 848 (Net difference: +7)
I get this frustration, as I struggled to finish some viking shoe laces for Owl Lady for the last few months and had to power through them before her most recent event.
On the brightside, this is a beautiful shade of blue!
Firstly, it’s beautiful. No one can see your apathy and frustration with this – there is nothing worse than a well meaning request, that you really desire to fulfil, becoming a labour of love.
As someone who lives with someone who is (significantly) colourblind, I totally understand your frustration about the blue blue, but you kinda give up correcting them after a while, it’s not like learning to pronounce a word correctly, it’ll always look that way.
Having them choose is really the best tactic! And whilst you are more than happy to see the back side of it, I’m sure your FIL is going to be delighted to receive it. Which is what really counts!
He was indeed smitten with it, and I’m really pleased you can’t see the apathy and frustration – that means a lot.
And yeah, I took have resorted to calling things different colours just because it is what it is.
But this one is blue-blue and that’s what matters!