So maybe worth 500 words.

Justice's first vest half, ready for the I-cord ties and bind-off. That tiny spot dead center is intentional. A tie from the second vest half will pass through it to adjust the fit at her waist.

You ask, was it a royal pain to pick up a loop from each garter stitch bump all along the top edge? Yes. Yes, it was. The designer (as we've previously established, not me) is brilliant. But right now I kinda want to pelt her with marshmallows. Big fluffy ones. Not little fossilized ones. (Because my kids asked.)

I picked up the stitches for the armscye bind-off before church and during Sunday School. I finished it and wove in the ends during Relief Society. I will probably start the ties in a few minutes, although I doubt I'll finish before bedtime. At some point I will need to pick up stitches around the other three sides and finish them off, but I am severely tempted to cast on the second vest half instead. And I may end up redoing the armscye bind-off. It's a little more snug than I would like. Maybe that will be my reward for slogging around the borders of this vest.