Sadly, this project didn’t turn out the way that I hoped it would.  It’s not a total fail, but not a complete success.  All due to the perils of yarn substitution.  I didn’t get the substitution right.

Oh, this is such beautiful yarn! It is Wollmeise, in the colourway Rhabarber. Rhubarb, obviously! I really, really love it. The intensity of colour is superb. It is 100% merino, in a 4 ply, and this is where I went wrong. This vest really needed something much, much drapier. The pattern is the Crisscross Vest by Jenny King, and it is designed to be crocheted in Noro Silk Garden Sock. This is a heavier weight of yarn, with a composition that includes silk and nylon (as well as wool and mohair). Since the vest is designed as one size fits all, I thought that I’d be okay with the Wollmeise as long as I added some extra repeats. In the end, I added an extra four-repeat to both sides of the vest. It is okay, but nowhere near as long or draped as I anticipated.

I’ll probably give this pattern another try in a different yarn. I have some Caron Spa still in stash, and think that something with a bamboo component would definitely work well despite it being a heavier weight of yarn. Or I could even lash out and buy the recommended yarn! We’ll see. I definitely haven’t finished with this design, because it is a lovely one and is the sort of thing that I like to wear, but unfortunately in this rendition it is a bit meh.

But oh, what beautiful yarn!  Ravelled here.