I had to wait until it got really cold this winter before I could think about finishing this project! It is so warm, it's going to make my leather jacket an all-winter coat! It also made it too warm to hold and work on earlier in this warm fall. (Isn't that the greatest excuse!!!)

But really, I did have to eat a lot of candy to get this done. It's the only time in my life where I ate Strawberry French BonBons for a couple hours to make myself put the zipper in...

I used #6 Needles and black Lane Borgesia Knitaly to knit the front bands, mock turtleneck and casing for the bottom. I also used a 22" Black seperating zipper and inserted it after basting using my sewing machine. Then I threaded a long heavy black shoe lace through the casing, put some toggles on them and knotted them to secure.

Since I like to be "hermetically" sealed when I'm in the slightest cold, I also added buttons to the mock turtle. The only thing I would've done differently to this vest is I would've woven in all the ends before I felted it. It was difficult to do after the fact.

This was a really fun project! I can't wait to wear this - it's in the 40's today here in Chicago, so I'll have to wait for some freezing temps before I can give it a whirl...

Bonne Marie Burns                     January 14, 2002