A Lifetime Investment: The Deep V Cabled Vest

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Once upon a time, fall was when everything happened. Zack and I delighted in returning to school, the glorious autumn foliage, Halloween and Thanksgiving. But years passed, and after college I worked in a series of generic offices. Day in and out, everything was the same. From windows on the fortieth floor, the world looked unreal. I felt disconnected, without a calling.

I missed my twin brother, too. Zack had moved to Seattle to design software. “I love my job, and the outdoor activities here — kayaking, biking, fishing, hiking. Come visit,” he repeatedly urged.

A temp assignment ended, and I flew to Seattle for a long October weekend.

Naturally, I took my knitting — I can’t imagine going anywhere without it. It was a cabled vest of the most luminous yarn, Heartland Thick & Quick^®, in a shade called “Katmai,” the color of pearls. “It’s really great,” Zack said, inspecting the cushy fabric. “Why a vest, Zoë?”

“I want a transitional piece,” I said. “Something for between seasons, an extra layer to pop on when I’m chilly. Something to hug me when I’m feeling down.” And I burst into tears, just like that. Apparently I was sadder than I knew.

Next thing, Zack was hugging me. He said, “Zoë, what’s keeping you in Boston? You can temp anywhere. Seattle’s great, and I’m here.”

That was six years ago. I lived in Seattle for four years, temping and going to grad school. With my new degree in Forestry, I moved to Alaska for a career in natural resources management. I wear my Deep-V Cabled Vest year round — even in the summer you need extra layers. Warm and snuggly, it’s more than clothing to me — it’s like an omen that showed me my path. Because, as I later learned, its colorway honors Katmai National Park and Preserve, four million acres of pristine, awesomely beautiful Alaskan terrain.
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All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

A story by Selma Moss-Ward.

Selma Moss-Ward writes and knits in Rhode Island. You can find her work on our blog, as well as Lion Brand’s monthly newsletter, Pattern Journal, which you can subscribe to here.