Well, I've finally got myself a finished Estes Vest! It took some last minute tweaking after several days of finishing work, but it finally fits just about the way I want it to. The bottom was a bit too wide, and after weighing my options, which included steeking the sides in order to make the bottom smaller and more fitted, I decided to crochet a chain and run it through the bottom, slightly cinching it. This was a much faster fix and seems to have worked without making it look odd.
I have a long torso and I do regret not making it slightly longer than the pattern called for. but I can live with the length.
And now for the pattern variations. First of all, when I was just about 4 inches into the back, I realized that I wasn't following the horseshoe cable pattern and that I was cabling every 4 rows. I suppose I could have fixed it by dropping the cable stitches and redoing them, but I decided it wasn't worth it. The photo below makes it look like the middle cable gets wider at the top, but I think this must be the angle.
Also, there is a discrepancy between the pattern photos and the pattern instructions. The instructions do not include the line of knit stitch separating the hexagons from the cables on the front of the vest. I decided to include this element (see picture below) which makes the front pieces match up with the back piece. Here's what I did (instructions are for left front piece, size 36 1/2 inch).
k 2 salvage stitches, then hexagon for 24 stitches, p1 k1 p1, horseshoe for 12 stitches, p1, k1. When it came time to break for the pocket, I bound off after 20 instead of 22. This allows for half of a hexagon pattern to continue (along with the p1 k1 p1 repeat) between the pocket and the horseshoe cable. As far as I can tell, this will make the pattern more closely resemble the vest pictured in IK than as it is written, which is just with a single purl, rather than the k1 p1 k1 repeat that appears in the pictures and also on the back of the vest.
My mom took some pictures of me spinning recently. 
Well, I've finally got myself a finished Estes Vest! It took some last minute tweaking after several days of finishing work, but it finally fits just about the way I want it to. The bottom was a bit too wide, and after weighing my options, which included steeking the sides in order to make the bottom smaller and more fitted, I decided to crochet a chain and run it through the bottom, slightly cinching it. This was a much faster fix and seems to have worked without making it look odd.
I have a long torso and I do regret not making it slightly longer than the pattern called for. but I can live with the length.
Also, there is a discrepancy between the pattern photos and the pattern instructions. The instructions do not include the line of knit stitch separating the hexagons from the cables on the front of the vest. I decided to include this element (see picture below) which makes the front pieces match up with the back piece. Here's what I did (instructions are for left front piece, size 36 1/2 inch). 
This is the first weekend since I returned to spinning that I have not spun. I'm on a mission to finish the Estes Vest, which probably won't be completed till Monday or Tuesday, realistically. But that's where all my crafting energy has been directed. 
Well, this has nothing to do with knitting, but look what arrived in the mail, finally. Love it! DH got one too --a tan t-shirt with Obama's picture on the front and Obama 08 on the back. Silas looks at the picture, points, and says "bah-uma."
