A Beyond-Basic Vest to Knit for Fall or Spring

I’m sure I’ve written about this before, but it bears repeating that in the past couple of years I have really come to appreciate the value of a good vest. Sometimes you want a little extra warmth on your body but you don’t necessarily need full sleeves. And sometimes your sweater isn’t quite cutting it so you can add a vest to bring a little more warmth to your outfit.

You can wear them over a T-shirt, a long-sleeved shirt, or a dress, and depending on the style sometimes you can even wear them tank top style without any shirt underneath. Totally up to you.

This vest is the Hlumelo Vest from Noma Ndlovu and it’s a deep V-neck worked in DK weight yarn. The horizontal stripes of the gridded colorwork pattern are knit as you go, while the vertical columns are purled to show placement for surface crochet chains that are worked after the knitting is done.

I know that sounds kind of weird but it’s a much easier way to add vertical colorwork that’s only one stitch wide. Otherwise, you’d have some very funky intarsia going on and lots more ends to weave in.

It’s worked from the top down and available in nine sizes, ranging from a chest measurement of 36.5 inches to 62.5 inches. It is recommended that the vest be worn with 2 to 8 inches of positive ease.

You can download the pattern from Ravelry.

Speaking of my obsession with vests, you can read more about that and get a super simple free vest knitting pattern here. This striped vest I shared recently is also super cute and has stripes that vary in both color and texture. How cool is that?

Looking for more Vest patterns to knit? Check out these Vest Knitting patterns on Etsy and these designs on the Sirdar website.

Next Pattern:

Blankets are a great blank slate project that you can change up in a million different ways. From color to stitch pattern to size, the possibilities are almost endless.

Jared Flood, the designer behind Brooklyn Tweed, was inspired by a log cabin quilt his mother made in 1995 to re-create that design in knitting, which led to more blankets and ultimate Brooklyn Tweed’s Knit and Crochet Blankets, which includes 25 patterns from an array of designers using different skills and techniques to make cozy, pretty blankets.

The patterns are divided into three aesthetic themes: traditions, minimalism and colorplay. The patterns are rated on a scale of one to five, with one being the easiest, and there aren’t any pieces rated five. Two blankets are rated one, 14 are two, eight are three and one is four.

In addition, three of the 25 patterns are crocheted, but they either use single crochet or granny stitch, so they are pretty easy even if you don’t do a lot of crochet. You can see all the patterns on Ravelry.

Some of my favorites include Rattan by Rastus Hsu, a chunky blanket worked in knits and purls with simple crossing stitches to make a raised woven look; Homewood by Seth Richardson, covers in dramatic, loopy cables; Ainur Berkimbayeva’s Tessellate, one of the beginner projects that doesn’t really look beginner but is totally worked in knit and purl stitches; Warp + Weft by Aist? Butkevi?ien?, which is mostly knits and purls but makes a fun woven look fabric that blew my mind a little bit; and the same designer’s Canyonland, a multicolored blanket with wavy stripes.

The patterns tell you how to resize them for different dimensions and include information on pattern repeats where it is possible to make a totally custom size.

Many different techniques are included here such as cables, lace, shadow knitting, intarsia and other colorwork techniques, as well as modular knitting and lots of sewing pieces together. The patterns are all presented with charts, but there are line by line written instructions available on the Brooklyn Tweed website if you need them.

The book ends with a deep dive into log cabin knitting, telling the story of the quilt Jared’s mom made and how he made it in knitting, as well as the multitude of variations you can make if you want your own log cabin style design.

The back of the book includes a little written information about some of the special techniques needed, but there are no photos.

This is a lovely book full of inspiration for knitting and crochet blankets for any skill level. If you like to make blankets as gifts or aspire to have a handmade blanket in every room of the house, these designs would be a great place to start.

About the book: 192 pages, paperback, 25 patterns. Published 2024 by Abrams Books, suggested retail price $24.99.

Next Pattern:

Have you read?

Leave a Reply