I Love the Smell of Tiger Balm in the Morning (and Noon and Night)

It's the smell of healing. Well, I hope so, 'cause it sure smells.

Still sidelined with a knitting injury, I'll take the opportunity to discuss the two Berroco patterns I've made so far. I began this summer with the Latoya tank. I fell in love with the design immediately, and it worked up really quickly - I was finished except for the seaming is less than 2 weeks. There is one mistake in the pattern, however, which involves the shaping of the front. You need to follow the same instructions as for the back, which is sensible, intuitive, and printed incorrectly! Just follow the front, and check with the schematic diagram and you'll be fine.

One more note - If you are a grown up, and want to wear a bra without the straps showing, you'll either need to adjust where you place the shoulder straps, or make them wider, or wear this over another shirt. I got to use up a very old stashed cotton thread on this, and I'm really pleased with the result. I'd do this one for presents in the future.

Since I had so much fun with Latoya, I was really eager to start Pike, a wrap vest which looked asymmetrical in the picture, but is worked symmetrically. The mistake in this one is having 1 extra stitch, which I solved by adding an additional purl stitch before the cable pattern. I can't see any reason for eliminating the stitch altogether, which would be cast on 107 sts. I completed the back very quickly, and love the gore detail.

I followed the directions for the left front, and it matches the schematics, but for the life of me I can't imagine how this vest comes together!!! I guess that's why I'm in such a hurry to finish it that I injured myself. I'm about 3/4 finished with the right front, so assuming the Tiger Balm works, I'll have it finished by Halloween.

The Pike is worked in Araucania Nature Cotton Burgundy. The finished pieces look great, and drapes really nicely. Working with it is another story altogether. It doesn't flow smoothly through my fingers, and really stuck to my bamboo needles (though it's better on the Bernat Aeros, which I prefer anyway). I'm constantly stopping to re-wrap the tail which is annoying. And it's not soft in the hand, so there's some weird science at work since it is soft in the finishing! I don't think I'd use this yarn again.