"Misti Alpaca Tunic Sweater Vest"

I finished my tunic sweater knit on circular needles and I am very pleased with the results! I have to admit I was "winging it"...sort of a "design as you go" project. I used 2 different patterns as a jumping off point, one for the top and one for the bottom. I have knit handbags in the round before but this is the first time that I have knit a sweater. Circular knitting is great for the "knitting while you do something else" projects, also there are no seams to finish so when you are done, you are pretty much done and that is always exciting!

I have a set of Denise Circular knitting needles that have inter-changeable tips and ends so when I finished the bottom I just snapped the needles off and put the plugs on the ends to hold my stitches. I worked the top pretty much "free style". I found a pattern for a top down knit vest and used that as a guide for how many stitches to cast on. I had to work out my pattern so that I would end up with the same amount of stitches left on my top needles as I had left on the bottom stitch holders. I transferred the stitches to straight needles

I joined the top and bottom with a "three needle bind off". I had used this stitch before when I was making handbags and thought it was so cleaver I wondered why you don't see it used more often.

To do a three needle bind off you hold the needles with the 2 pieces that you are joining side by side in your left hand then using a third needle you place the tip through the first stitch on each needle as if you were knitting one stitch only you knit the 2 together as one. You knit a second stitch, the same way as you would for a regular bind off and then put the first stitch over the second and proceed with the remaining stitches.

Using this method leaves a beautiful smooth seam front and back!