A little miscalculation ....

I am making lots of progress on my Beech Leaves vest. In fact, I've finished the back and one front piece. But I have a problem. Here is the finished front piece:


Here is my remaining yarn:


That's not even enough to finish the front, let alone work the edgings.

I had a lot of trouble getting gauge -- don't know why, since I ended up using the recommended needles (!), but because of it this yarn shortage doesn't surprise me too much. Look at this:


But I'm not sure whether I can use the yarn from these swatches. The yarn shrinks a fair amount when it's washed, so it seems to me that knitting with it in combination with unwashed yarn is just asking for wonky results. I might be able to use it for the edgings, if I washed the individual pieces first. Has anyone used Fiddlesticks' Ecoknit cotton? What do you think?

I also think there's about half a skein somewhere in my wool room / office, because when I weigh everything I come up about 20 grams short. But I've been keeping an eye out for it for the past six months and it hasn't shown up, so I'm trying to track down another skein. I'm looking for Fiddlestick's Ecoknit cotton in Coffee, lot number FSEK05. Chances are slim, I know, but it's worth asking.

Despite the yarn shortage, I'm very pleased with the way the vest is turning out. The same can't be said for my Ayany vest, though. I don't seem to have posted about it since that entry a year ago, but in the meantime I fixed the bust shaping placement (I thought) and came very close to finishing it. Then I tried it on one more time and discovered that the armholes were still gappy. I set it down in disgust for, oh, six months, then tried it on again and discovered the armholes hadn't fixed themselves. So I was planning on ripping the whole thing back and doing it over, but couldn't really work up much enthusiasm. Last week I tried it on and realized that the real problem was my total lack of interest in the finished product. I can't ever imagine myself choosing to wear it. That really doesn't seem right, does it? The garter stitch is too rustic and the blue is too bright -- they don't match, and neither is really quite to my taste. So I ripped the whole thing out. Now I wonder if I was a bit too precipitous -- I wish I'd taken some notes on exactly what I did, so that I don't do it again -- but I'm sure I made the right decision. Maybe I'll overdye it and start again, or maybe I'll just let the yarn age for a while.

(P.S. Sorry for the long silence. I'm back.)