Tonight I decided to frog the alpaca vest. The sport weight alpaca was just too thin for this and just didn’t seem to hang right. I frogged it.
I started a hat with it and will make a matching hat and scarf set out of it. Maybe a pair of socks if there’s enough left over (which I doubt).
I cast on 160 stitches for the hat which seems about right to me for sport weight. Hopefully it’s not too far off the mark.
Ohhh, too bad it didn’t work out. I’ve read alpaca doesn’t work well for socks, so you may have to make some mitts or fingerless gloves out of the leftovers.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Yeah…ok…I hear ya…gotta be happy with you project…I get that…I frogged a 7 year old sweater just because I didn’t like my knitting technique from back then…smiles
Good luck with the hat
Ya know… the yarn’s gotta be what its gotta be…
and apparently it is NOT a vest! :roflhard:
I hope I have better luck. I am crocheting a vest using a pattern from the Crochet Guild magazine out of alpaca. I am double stranding it. So far other than not using post stitches in the body and using a spike stitch the vest is doing well. The alpaca is so soft. The pattern called for worsted weight. Even though the place where I got the yarn said it was worsted weight, it did seem thin so I double stranded it.
Thin yarn… wants a hat.
I’ve made a touque with thin yarn - it worked very well. Just take circular needles (smallish size) and cast on a gracious plenty of sts - so it’ll fit your head loosely.
Work K1, P1 for 3’. Yep, that’s 36". Then thread yarn through the sts [nope, no decrease] and tie tightly. You can cover this end with a pompom or a tassel - I used a tassel.
To wear, roll up the edge until it clears your eyes and covers your ears. Built-in ear muffs, can pull it down far on cold days, roll it up to just cover your hair on warmer days.
Let the tassel/pompom end dangle for a foot or so.
Dot
Awww, Mason, I’m sorry the vest didn’t work out. But I’m sure you’ll be much happier with your hat/scarf set. As iwouldratherbeknitting put it, the yarn’s gotta be what the yarn’s gotta be.
I am so sorry! I enjoy your posts so much and have been wondering where you have been lately! Apparently, you’ve been sitting shiva for your vest!
I have been wanting to work with alpaca for so long after touching some at a LYS but your vest story is scaring me off!!! I hope the hat turns out well. What else are you going to make? You must have tons of yarn leftover!
So sorry you had to do that after all your hard work. Sounds like you made the right decision though, better to be happy with your FO.
Here’s an old thread with some hat patterns, so you can check your # of sts:
http://forum.knittinghelp.com/t/mans-hat-pattern?t=63388
Oh, the poor, poor vest. Well, we’ve had much enjoyment from all your stories. Looking forward to the hat and scarf stories now!!
Sorry to hear about your vest Mason! I’ve used alpaca for scarfs before and loved how they came out, but I could see how it wouldn’t hang right as a vest or sweater. I bet the scarf and hat set will come out great. 
I can feel your pain. I had to frog a winter hat I knit from alpaca because I didn’t knit it at a tight enough gauge and it stretched out too much after wearing it. I learned the hard way that alpaca isn’t as elastic as wool. I still haven’t figured out what I’m going to do with that yarn, though.
I’m sure it’ll make a great hat and scarf and very warm! I also second the idea of fingerless gloves. I would think those would be perfect for a truck driver! 
It should be fine doubled. Good luck with it.
Well, it’s not knitting unless you’re happy knitting it and are happy with the finished product.
You still get to knit… that’s always worth something… Knitting should be fun not frustrating (well, OK, sometimes it’s frustrating…)
Last night while I was working on the ribbed bottom of the hat I was still trying to decide what sort of hat I wanted to make with the alpaca.
I decided to try something different. I am going to make a really long hat the top of which will essentially be a tubular scarf to wrap around the neck so that it will basically be a hat and scarf all in one piece.