More of the 8 stitch pattern

Continuing from the last blog post using the 8 row pattern and wanting to design a project that uses up my small bit stash, I gathered the bag of worsted weight yarns.

It seems there are a lot of variations of darker value blue/ green. I chose a mid value muted violet to tie them together. The closer value of the colors will create a restful blend. If I chose a light background color, there would be a high contrast which is less restful. When incorporating so many different yarns, I chose the restful combination.

Since these balls are so small, I chose to make a children's vest. Getting my handy Ann Budd Patterns book out, I picked a small children's size and used those numbers to calculate my stitches to cast on after I did a gauge swatch. There are formula's for tons of general designs in that book!

I cast on for the ribbing in the round so I didn't have to wonder if I had enough yarn to do the front half the same color as the back. I could just tie on a different yarn when one color ran out! That did happen a couple times.

After changing to the bigger needles, I started the 8 row pattern converting the back side stitch directions for knitting in the round. I find that these projects fuel my excitement as they progress...

Because it is a children's vest, It gets finished faster! So rewarding and I knit it from those pesky little balls that seem to accumulate like rabbits. One ball of worsted Brown Sheep Wool and bits! Really fun! I must be yarn recycling responsible????

Next Blog, Lucy's space dyed yarn version.