Dorothy Siemens
Toronto, ON, Canada

I wanted to knit something special for my husband and since he's one of those "hot" people, I thought a vest rather than a sweater would be a good idea. We have a lovely brindle whippet named Cooper and my husband insisted that his vest must have whippets on it.

I'm very fond of Medieval design and immediately thought of those wonderful tapestries that show small hunting dogs that look very much like whippets. I poured through some of my reference books (I'm an illustrator and graphic designer by trade) and decided on strong colours and patterns to reflect a Medieval feeling. I didn't copy any one idea, but just tried to absorb the influence.

I chose a soft alpaca yarn (my husband is also sensitive to most wools) in primary colours. The whippets are knit in intarsia, with the striped patterning in fair isle. After I finished the back I realized to my dismay that the vest was coming out too small. My swatch had lied! I couldn't bear to rip the whole thing out and start over, especially since intarsia is not my favourite technique and I really didn't want to do more of it than I had to.

So I thought I'd knit some decorative side and shoulder panels to increase the overall measurement. The detail shows how the decorative panels were incorporated. It was actually a lucky mistake, because I think the design is improved by the addition of the panels.

The finishing touch was to crochet an edging for the armholes and neckband and add loops and buttons.

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