Valour- seaming and staging

As I said in the newsletter, I started this July 23rd, and finished it today.  I’m very happy with it—the yarn, the style, and the color.  I am also very grateful to our fellow Ravelers who posted pictures and wonderful advice about joining Valour back and fronts.  In particular, one wise knitter said she’d used a flat, reversible seam to join the parts.  How brilliant!  I had been really ambivalent about the right and wrong sides of this fabric.  The three by one rib gives a very strong textural element about which I have not made up my mind.  With this reversible seam, I can wear it either way depending on my mood.  Here's how it works

and how it looks on both sides

It's not a seam that gives the fabric a smooth and flawless join, but it is flat and you really have to look closely to see the seaming yarn.  I am very happy with the effect, and especially the flexibility it gives me to wear the vest with either side out. 


Other Ravelers mentioned using a sock yarn to keep the seams from becoming too bulky, which I often do anyway, but I was particularly pleased to find this bit of leftover Berroco Sox Metallic with all the same colors of the Colourscapes.  I pulled out the metallic bit so as not to draw attention to the seam. 

This vest is a beautiful way to try out Colourscapes.  I made the second size--a medium to fit bust 36-38, and I got gauge using size 10 needles.  You will want to swatch it yourself and be sure you’re using the needles that are right for you.  Per other posts on Ravelry, I took only three skeins off the shelf, and sure enough, I finished the vest with a small ball leftover.  I think I may, however, get another skein because the color that's leftover is the very pale blue, which may not be the best option for trimming around the armholes.

Here's the back.

I really like this vest and the yarn.  Can't wait for fall!