Rhinebeck Vest

If you are a woman who's ever been pregnant before, you'll probably disagree with what I have to say next and possibly hate me for it, but:  the worst thing about being pregnant is that none of my clothes fit me.

To clarify, I've been unbelievably lucky so far in terms of side effects:  no morning sickness for me.  In fact, I've been hungry all the time since day one.  Oh, and uncomfortably warm too.  Thank god it's fall.

So, rather than making a Rhinebeck sweater this year, I went with a Rhinebeck vest.  I wanted something that I could wear with a 30-week-pregnant belly, but that I could also wear when I revert to a non-pregnant state.  I just hate the idea of buying or making clothes that I can only wear for a few months.  (So, mostly, I don't.  I have one pair of maternity jeans (pictured below, natch) that I wear everyday, one bra that fits, and six t-shirts from target.)

Oh, right, the vest.  I wanted the sporty look of a down-stuffed nylon vest, without the bulkiness (or the zippers that no longer close over my belly.  grumble grumble.)  So I went with simple cables on the front and the back, and ribbing on the sides; the cable twists are positioned to create some simple diagonal vees.  Another advantage of this approach to cabling is that I never had to count rows to figure out when to twist; every RS row, I twisted in the column next to my previous twist.  

To make the vest a little more modern, I added a tall, double-thick collar which is a different color on the inside.  (DH thinks "handknit sweatervest" is practically the definition of old-person clothing.  Then again, he wears socks with sandals.)  The yarn is Quince&co Osprey in Peacoat and Bird's Egg.  Aren't the colors fabulous?  I think of navy blue as an incredibly boring color, but I just love how saturated Peacoat is.  Osprey is a delicious aran-weight yarn which comes in fabulous colors and is both made locally (in Maine) and surprisingly affordable.  I loved working with it and it knit up super quickly on size ten needles.  I'm a little worried about pilling at this gauge, but at this point, there's nothing to do but wait and see!