Leprechaun-Shooting Princesses and a Vest

We had a great weekend visiting friends. They have a 3-year-old daughter who loves pink, princesses, and jewelry. She also knows what to do if she ever encounters a Leprechaun. She would "Shoot it, take it home, and make Leprechaun stew." Who said princesses were helpless damsels in distress? So here's a sock for the Leprechaun-shooting princess. The second one is still in the works, but I hope she enjoys them.
I guess she may have gotten a little confused between Pilgrims shooting turkeys in the woods around Thanksgiving Day and St. Patrick's Day...


I also finished my Back-to-School U-Neck Vest. Doesn't look like much just lying there, does it?


It transforms miraculously when you put it on, though... fits like a glove. Please excuse the bad hair, dark undereye circles, and rictus grin... it's been a long day at work, and then we'd just finished watching an old Dr. Who episode involving people getting massacred by aliens.


And here's a shot from the back. I love it. Still needs blocking, but I couldn't wait to show it off.


Details:
Pattern: Back-to-School U-Neck Vest from Fitted Knits
Size: 34" size; I intentionally didn't get gauge for a snugger fit as I wanted 0 or less positive ease
Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca, left over from the Dad Sweater, about 2.5 skeins
Needles: US #6 and #4
Mods/Comments: This was a quick, fun knit. I made the ribbing longer (cast on for 34" size but made length for next size up), and I love the result. The trousers in the picture are low-rise, and the vest reaches all the way down.
The instructions are unclear in one place -- after the ribbing, the pattern says to start the broken rib pattern... except the first couple of rows are stockinette. I started with the broken rib right away, but if I had to do it again, I'd do the stockinette rows first. This looks fine, though -- it's just personal preference.

There is, however, a mistake in the neck shaping. For the front in the 34" size, it says to
knit 46 stitches
put remaining 22 on holder
bind off 28 stitches

This is INCORRECT. It leaves you with 18 stitches on one shoulder and with 22 on the other. And when you’re done with the decreases, you’d end up with too few stitches. But the neck/shoulders work out beautifully if you
knit 48 stitches
put remaining 20 stitches on holder
bind off 28 stitches.
both shoulders will have 20 stitches, and reversing the shaping will be easy.
Do the math for back neck shaping also - I think there's another error.

If you have stuck around this far... here's a cat. Merlin, on top of the fireplace, hamming it up for the camera.


It has yet to get him tuna, but he's not giving up hope.