The 100 year (well almost) vest
November 2017

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2004 - Allan and Sheila were recruited to demonstrate spinning at the Peachland Fall Fair. Allan had recently acquired a big bag of gray alpaca and started spinning it to make a bulky three-ply yarn. He wanted Sheila to knit him a vest from it.

(25:09:2004)

2006 - Back at the Peachland Fair. Allan also had some dark brown alpaca so the vest could have two colours.

(10:09:2006)
2007 - Still spinning the brown. It's likely not much had been spun in the year between fairs.

(08:09:2007)

2008 - Still at Peachland. This little girl was fascinated and stayed and watched for a long time.

(06:09:2008)
2010 - We must have forgotten the camera in 2009. This time we're at a Strawberry Tea. He's still spinning something brown.

(27:06:2010)

What - now it's 2016! In the intervening 7 years (well about two of them) Sheila designed and knitted almost the complete vest - and not a single picture was taken of her knitting! But disaster struck - she ran out of yarn before being able to knit bands on the fronts and armholes of the vest. In 2012 or maybe early 2013, before moving from Kelowna to Courtenay, a friend was able to provide some similar llama fibre and Allan promised to go back to spinning.

So here he is at Cumberland days in 2016. The vest he's wearing was also his handspun alpaca and llama - it was finished in 2002.

(20:02:2016)
2017 - Cumberland Days again. This time he used up almost all of the gray llama. Just a tiny bit was left, which he finished in July so he could start spinning something else when helping demo at the Filberg Festival in August. Time for Sheila to get back to the knitting.

(18:02:2017)

Still no knitting pictures. But now knitting is all finished, and the vest has been washed. Sheila is pinning it out to be blocked to size. Even after squeezing it in two towels it is still soggy wet.

(06:11:2017)
All stretched and pinned. This is inside out. It was left with a fan blowing over it to aid in drying.

(06:11:2017)

Two days later the top layer is almost dry so it was turned over - with "help" from Shadow!

(08:11:2017)
Another day and it was all dry except where the pockets make it thicker, so here it is now right side out.

(09:11:2017)
Allan doesn't like posing for pictures - even when it's his own cuddly vest. It will be VERY warm!

(10:11:2017)
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