A Grand and Noble Experiment

I have been casting about for what to do with some yarn I've had languishing in a box for a very long time. I didn't have enough of any one color for a project, so I kept trying to find something that would use up the yarn, but wouldn't require more, since I can't get any more of these colors.

I couldn't find anything. A sweater required too much, hats and scarves too little and so I decided to try a vest. Of course, after a lot of hunting, I couldn't find any patterns that met my requirements. So I grasped my courage in both hands and knit a swatch, got out some graph paper and made something up. 

So far, I really like it - way more than I thought I would. So, what could possibly be the problem? How could it all go wrong? Well, I've never done anything even remotely like this before, so my yarn calculations could be off - the amount of the gray yarn I'm using is beginning to alarm me and I fear I will run out before I get to the end of the stranded pattern section - and I still only have a sort of vague and evolving plan for how this garment will look as it reaches arms and neck. Then, I still need to figure out how to make the evolving arms and neck part actually fit my concept when I get there - that is, if I don't run out of the gray yarn first and have to rip the whole thing out and start over again. 

I keep laughing and telling myself it's a great learning experience. I just hope it's a success experience in the bargain! I expect you'll be subjected to another post about this little foray into fashion design, one way or another. The next picture could be three piles of yarn on the floor - or it could be a vest. Or, if I can't figure out how to do the arms and neck, it could turn into a wind sock! 

As a friend of mine frequently says, "Updates at 11".