Get Simple Style with this Easy Vest Knitting Pattern

I love Japanese knitting patterns. Of course not every designer from that country has the same style, but in general, many Japanese knitting patterns have a spare but stylish look, with just enough details to make them interesting to knit and wear.

Take this vest knitting pattern, UraUe by Natsuko Iida. It’s a pretty, relaxed vest worked in half fisherman rib and stockinette. The neckline is shaped with short rows. It has a bit of a high-low split hem and is reversible. It includes an optional cowl you can wear over the vest to make it look like a turtleneck, or wear it separately.

Best yet, this pattern, which is available on Ravelry, has been designed to work with DK weight or super fine yarns. Both patterns are sized from XS to 4XL, a chest measurement up to 63 and 64.5 inches, respectively. It’s intended to be worn with 5-9 inches of positive ease.

If you want to explore Japanese knitting patterns more, I have a couple of book reviews on Japanese knitting stitches: Japanese Knitting Stitch Bible by Hitomi Shida and Japanese Stitches Unravled by Wendy Barnard. These books offer stitch patterns that you can incorporate into any project you like.

There are translations of Japanese knitting pattern books available on the market, which are a good way to practice with Japanese knitting patterns. Typically Japanese patterns don’t include a lot of (or really any) written instructions, instead presenting the pattern as a chart. Techniques are explained in a section at the back of the book, and detailed schematics of the pattern show you how to build your project.

It’s quite different from the way patterns are usually presented in the west, but it’s fun to trust yourself to understand them (because you probably already know what you need to know to knit them). If you need more prompting to try Japanese knitting patterns, check out this post from Skein with 10 reasons to love Japanese knitting patterns.

If you’ve ever worked with them I’d love to hear about your experience!

Generally I like knitting patterns where I feel like you can use whatever yarn you have (because my stash is big enough and I want to use it, thanks) and make a successful project. This is one of those times when a special yarn makes the process that much easier.

The Floral Bouquet Shawl from Xandy Peters uses a specific extended color pooling yarn from Feisty Fibers, which allows you to place the bobble flowers with increasing frequency as you knit the project.

It starts with a solid color yarn, then the two color yarn is added in, and you make a bobble whenever you encounter the color pops. This would be hard to replicate with other yarn that doesn’t have the extended color pooling built in.

The background of the shawl is ribbed, making the project reversible.

The shawl uses fingering/sock yarn and comes out to be an asymmetrical triangle that’s 54 inches/137 cm long and 36 inches/ 90 cm deep and 60 inches/150 cm across the top edge.

Xandy says the pattern is for intermediate to advanced knitters. Knowing how to work traditional bobbles would probably help, but there’s a great video tutorial for how to work the floral bobbles so you can practice on other yarn or even incorporate the bobbles into other projects.

The bobbles are five-petaled flowers but they also kind of look like starfish to me, which could be fun on a child’s cardigan or other pattern. They’d also be fun on the leg of a sock or around the brim of a hat for extra whimsy.

The pattern includes photo and video tutorials, and written and charted instructions. It also includes tips on what to look for if you choose to use different yarn for the project, and instructions on how to dye your own yarn to use in the project.

If you want to give it a try, you can find the pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: Xandy Peters]

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