My dear husband, who has an internal thermostat roughly equivalent to the Sahara Desert, was puttering out in the garage one late night last winter when he came in slapping his arms and saying, "Honey, I need a sweater!" This took me so much by surprise that it was some time before I could actually pick up some needles, but here it is at last. It was meant to be a Christmas gift, although the bronchitis that we all came down with after Thanksgiving delayed the finishing by a couple of weeks -- it wasn't so much that I didn't feel like knitting (although there was that at times), it was that David was sick too, and therefore home and underfoot, and it was meant to be something of a surprise.
He wanted something warm, but not as warm as a full sweater; his only requests last winter were that it be "plain" and "blue". Regretfully, I had to set aside my dreams of cables or even relatively sober Fair Isles, but these I hope to carefully insinuate into his wardrobe in time, and I was still happy to spend some hours poring over vintage British patterns, delighted by their equally vintage captions.
"Trim and smart because of its extreme simplicity."
"For golfing, gardening or just 'pottering around.'"
As Yorkshire Tweed is, alas, discontinued, Rowan recommends Rowanspun 4-Ply or Scottish/Harris Tweed 4-Ply as substitutions. Rowanspun 4-Ply, Yorkshire Tweed's previous incarnation, can still be found in some quantities.
"Every man needs a slipover!"
The shaping of this slipover is based on the vest chart given in Ann Budd's extraordinarily useful Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns and on a number of vintage patterns. Dad's Favorite Slipover, which will shortly be available in the Original Patterns album in the sidebar, is a men's V-neck sleeveless slipover with traditional shaping, sized to fit a 37 (42, 46, 51) in. / 94 (106.5, 117, 129.5) cm chest.
I love the vest. You did a great job and produced a very manly product :)
Posted by: bernie | January 21, 2007 at 04:16 PM
Wonderful vest! It's been at the back of my mind to make my dad a vest ever since his favorite one fell to the moths. I think I've found the perfect pattern. :)
Posted by: Marie | January 21, 2007 at 05:11 PM
It's a handsome vest that's sure to become a favourite. It's good to know that Ann Budd's recipe for vests works just as well as her other recipes. I like her socks, gloves, mittens recipes but was somehow sceptical about the sweater one. Now I'm a believr :)
Posted by: erin | January 21, 2007 at 08:24 PM
Just the kind of vest my husband/father/fil would wear. The simple pattern is perfect for showing off the tweediness. Great action shots, BTW. I wish my husband was more willing to pose. ;-)
Posted by: joy | January 21, 2007 at 11:38 PM
Men and their plain knits. My husband wants only plain and black. And I agree this is a must-have item in a Dad's wadrobe. Lovely job!
Posted by: Siow Chin | January 22, 2007 at 11:49 PM
Just right!
All men seem to follow this criteria, don't they?
Posted by: Elizabeth | January 23, 2007 at 08:22 AM
Perfect. My own dear husband might perhaps consider a handknit vest like this one. He does wear my handknit scarves on cold days, at least.
Why did Rowan discontinue Yorkshire Tweed? Why do they constantly reinvent the wooly wheel?
Posted by: Laura | January 23, 2007 at 07:25 PM
There's real beauty in the simpler knits, isn't there? What a lovely job! It's like something out of "The Cider House Rules", and I can just see Michael Caine as Dr. Larch wearing this. :)
Posted by: Annmarie | January 26, 2007 at 04:19 PM
It looks great! Bring on the cables!
Posted by: --Deb | January 27, 2007 at 07:31 PM
Nice vest! Why is it so hard to find just a simple well fitting sweater pattern- thats what men want.
Posted by: davit | February 12, 2007 at 05:14 AM
What a great vest! I've been looking everywhere for a classic plain pattern. I can't wait to make one for my dad :)
Posted by: Sarah | March 25, 2008 at 01:48 AM