Pattern Description from A Fine Fleece: “This little vest is simple a vehicle for a wool blend designed to replicate the sparkle of rubies. The name just sounded good as one half of a twinset: Ruby & Harriet. For a few years not, I’ve been smitten with Barbara Parry’s spinning blends featuring Angelina® fiber, also used in Twilight. The metal fiber is like delicate Christmas tinsel, and Barb’s quiet use of it mingled with her extraordinary colors delights me endlessly. Watching the glint of it in the sun on a whirring bobbin gives hints of the beauty of the garment waiting to be knit from it. It occurred to me that the sparkle emitted from the shadows of the wool is very gemlike, with the Angelina revealing itself only upon the movement of the fiber or the resulting yarn. I chose Ruby as the theme for the fiber because I adore any shade of red and because Ruby doubles as an old-fashioned and ladylike name that added to the elements of the twinset’s design. I chose two shaded of red to dye the white wool from Barb’s Border Leicester sheep named Amethyst. (It’s pure and serendipitous happenstance that the sheep played a direct role in my conceptual design!) A rich turkey red and a dark and brooding cranberry are melded together to make this lustrous ruby red yarn. I chose a fuchsia Angelina fiber to blend instead of the obvious red to allow it to stand out a bit. I love their color properties, and although I wish I had added more Angeline to the final blend, the faint sparkle is very demure, which fits in with the ladylike theme. The bronze alpaca yarn gives a completely different mood to the vest although both models feature fibers with subtle halos, and both exhibit extraordinary softness. The simple eyelet pattern is like opening a jewelry box and seeing a sparkling gem inside.”

Skill Level: Intermediate

Finished Measurements:

• Chest 37.5 (40, 42, 45.5, 48, 50)“ (95 101.5, 106.5, 115.5, 122, 127cm)
• Length 18.5 (20, 20.5, 21.5, 22, 22.5)“ (47 51, 52, 54.5, 56, 57)cm)

Yarn: #2 fine

• 750 (850, 950, 1050, 1150, 1250) yds (686 777, 869, 960, 1052, 1143m) sport weight
• 6 (7, 8, 9, 9, 10) skeins Frog Tree Yarns Alpaca Sport, 1.75oz (50g) skeins, each approximately 130 yds (119m), 100% alpaca, 13 Bronze

Needles and Notions:

• US size 2 (2.75mm) knitting needles
• US size 3 (3.25mm) knitting needles, or size needed to obtain gauge
• US size 2 (2.75mm) circular needle, 24” (60cm) long
• US size 2 (2.75mm) circular needle, 29” (74cm) long
• Stitch holders
• Stitch markers
• Tapestry needle
• 5 buttons, 5/8” (1.6cm) in diameter

Note: The first and last stitch of every row is worked in stockinette stitch for a selvedge stitch at the front edges.