Easy Vest Knitting Patterns

February 14, 2023 by Sarah White Leave a Comment

This time of year I tend to get a little obsessed with the idea of knitting vests. While I’m still deep into wearing sweaters, I’m starting to think about layers for warmer weather (or wearing a vest under my sweater for a little extra warmth on the super cold days, not going to lie).

Vests are a great gateway to knitting sweaters because they use some of the same skills but you don’t have to knit sleeves. Which, let’s be honest, are pretty boring. If you’ve never knit a sweater before, try one of these easy vest knitting patterns to get you started.

The Abrazo Slipover from Caidree on Etsy is a great basic super bulky vest that you can probably stitch up in a weekend. It comes in nine sizes and has 5-10 cm of positive ease built in.

Kara Eng’s Funfetti Vest is another super bulky option that has rounds of purl ridges that can be worked in a contrasting color or you can do it all in the same color if you don’t have scraps to use. It’s available in nine sizes. You can get the pattern on Ravelry.

Vest No. 3, Spring Edition from My Favourite Things Knitwear uses a combination of lace and DK weight yarns to make a super bulky gauge. It’s worked from the top down with a little shaping for the neckline and arm openings. It’s available in five sizes and the pattern is in English, Danish and Norwegian. You can get it on Ravelry.

If you’re looking for a lighter weight vest, the Vest 01 from Daisy And Peace is worsted weight vest worked flat in pieces from the bottom up. It comes in six sizes and you can download the pattern from Ravelry.

How about an open vest? These are so cute over a button-down shirt and can be belted or worn open. The long Autumn Vest by Merri Fromm is worked mostly in ribbing, and it is available in four sizes. You can download the pattern from Blue Sky Fibers.

Here’s another one that uses ribbing as a design feature and has deep armholes for ease of wearing. The part below the armholes is worked in the round. It uses worsted weight yarn and comes in five sizes. You can get it from Warm House on Etsy in English and Dutch.

Casual Knits Studio on Etsy has a great classic vest pattern worked in chunky yarn with deep armholes so it’s easy to layer it over just about anything. It’s worked from the bottom up in two pieces and then the ribbing is worked after it is sewn together. The pattern comes in three sizes and is available in English, French and German.

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Book Review: Brooklyn Tweed’s Knit & Crochet Blankets

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.

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