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Giveaway: Vest Bets

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vest bets giveaway

Our winner is JoAnn.

Just so you know, the giveaway from last week is still going on, so check that one out, too, if you haven’t already (Facebook required).

I am a firm believer in knitting all year, and wearing and using knit things for as much of the year as possible. You might not want to either knit or wear a sweater at this time of year (though it has been unseasonably cool where I live lately), but you might be willing to knit, and possibly wear, a vest.

This week’s giveaway will give you lots of ideas to do just that. Vest Bets is a collection of 30 patterns for knit vests, all made with Cascade Yarns 220 Superwash Aran. This is a versatile yarn that comes in a ton of colors and is machine washable, so it’s great for projects that will see a lot of use.

You’ll find a wide variety of tops in this collection, from simple classics to those using cables, colorwork and lace. Sometimes more than one strand is used at a time to make a bulkier yarn. Some projects are cropped, others are tunics and some fall in between.

If you’d like a chance to win a copy of this book, leave a comment on this post before the end of the day Monday, June 1. I’d love to know if and what you knit during the summer.

Thanks for visiting, commenting and sharing and good luck!

Comments

  1. I’m working on a vest made with alpaca yarn while also knitting a summer shawl from a blend of 90% cotton, 10% cashmere.

  2. I’ve been knitting socks year round and would love to learn how to knit clothing. Thank you for the opportunity to try my hand knitting vests.

  3. I am looking for the perfect vest pattern perfect for this yarn I have. I am knitting and crocheting cup cozies. I noticed folks using two cups because the water was so hot and I had to also So I took the unused cup home and have been trying out patterns.

  5. Summer knitting and crochet usually entails a lot of finishing WIPs I’d put aside. I will say that I try to avoid working on big things like blankets because it makes me too sweaty. This year several friends have just had/are going to have babies. The best distractions of all.

  6. I’m knitting my second-ever sweater. And a handbag. Love summer with the longer days, so I can squeeze in everything, plus knitting!

  7. I try to get started on Christmas gifts in the summer and I also get a couple of baby items done for future gifts.

  8. I don’t have anything in particular that I like to knit during summer. I just keep working on my current project.

  9. During the Summer I like to knit with lighter weight yarns to make shawls, scarves, baby clothing and other small projects. It’s just too warm to have a wool sweater sitting in my lap!

  10. I make prayer shawls all year round. In addition, I am working on a full-size afghan (for me!). When I want a break, I make chemo caps. I would love to have the vest patterns so that I can make some for my great nephew to wear when he goes back to school in the fall.

  11. I love to knit no matter what time of the year it is. I change out the type of yarn when it is warmer. I knit more with cotton or linen.

  12. I knit all year round as here it is often cool enough all year round for a knitted garment!

  13. I usually knit small items. I also knit cotton dishcloths to have on hand and tuck into gift bags. I’m also knitting a lightweight lacy curtain.

  14. I’m knitting a cardi at the moment, but am looking for something a little bit different to try.

  15. I’ve been looking for a comfortable vest knit. I’ve just finished off a baby blanket for my new grandson and am looking for a new project.

  16. I knit year round for Christmas gifts, but have been looking for a good vest pattern just for me, for a change, so would love to win this book

  18. I’ve never seen this pattern book…I wear vests all the time. Looks interesting.

  19. I knit scarves, vests, socks mostly during the summer. This book looks neat, thanks for the giveaway!

  22. I was thinking of vests for my boys, actually! They’ve been pestering for sweaters, but if I knit something I want them to wear it right away, so vests would be better than sweaters.

  23. I like to knit small objects such as hats and socks in the Summer, but when it gets really hot I swap to cotton wash cloths!

  25. I knit anything during the summer that I might knit during other seasons: hats, mittens, sweaters, vests, socks, shawls. Gifts for family, items for charity and occasionally something for myself.

  26. Summer here is very hot but I will still knit and crochet. Probably the time I knit toys and doll clothes. Small and present ready.

  27. I knit smaller things in the summer to keep them off my lap in the humid heat. A vest sounds like a nice addition to my current repertoire. 🙂

  29. I knit a lot of shwls and dishcloths with a few cowls, hats, and scarves thrown it.

  31. I love knitting vests and have one on the needles right now! I would love the.book!

  32. I usually knit smaller projects during the summer – hats scarves shawls – lace weight or fingering – so it doesn’t seem heavy

  35. I would love to win this book. I would give it to my granddaughter who is the knitter and tell her which vest I want. then she can make herself and her husband one. thanks for the chance.

  36. Been on the hunt for the perfect vest pattern to knit! Finishing up some felted hats and a cardigan sweater for my husband, trying to be ready for the fall one stitch at a time!

  39. I like knitting things for babies, but I would love to knit myself a vest! Thanks for the chance to win this book.

Have you read?

Book Review: The Knitter’s Sweater Fitting Bible

It’s one thing to follow a knitting pattern and get the fit that the designer wanted for that particular project. But it’s quite another thing to decide how you want your sweater to fit and making a project work for you. 

Designer Kim McBrien Evans aims to help knitters understand why sweater patterns don’t always work for them the way they expect and what to do about it in her book The Knitter’s Sweater Fitting Bible.

She describes the book as containing “everything I’ve learned about sweaters, bodies, and the art of fit.” It covers how to plan for a good fit through things like taking measurements and choosing the correct size to knit, understanding ease, reading schematics and fixing fit issues. 

Sweater style templates give knitters a place to start knitting better sweaters with made to measure patterns that work with any body, any yarn and any gauge. The book is designed to give knitters confidence to go their own way whether they’re modifying existing patterns, using one of the templates or designing their own custom sweater.

McBrien Evans argues that the best way to make a sweater that will fit well and stand up to lots of wearing is to work from the top down flat in pieces that are seamed when the knitting is done (the exception being circular yoke sweaters, which are worked in the round from the top down). She offers advice for making seaming easier like using selvedges and short rows.

She goes into a lot of detail on how and where to measure yourself and how to understand schematics in knitting patterns to help you choose the correct size for you and know where to adjust. The fixing fit chapter covers how to fit a sweater to your body from the shoulders down, with tips for things like balancing uneven shoulder height, accommodating a larger bust, using different shaping on the front and back of a sweater for better fit, fixing neckline depth and fixing sleeve and body lengths. 

The book includes photos and drawings of people of different sizes and with physical differences such as a smaller limb or having a mastectomy on one side, which is nice and helps you see how these concepts work on different bodies. 

The sweater templates offer options like a straight body, A-line and waist shaping body; set in sleeve caps and armholes, straight raglans and modular compound raglans, drop shoulders and circular yoke shaping; crew, scoop and V-neck options; a variety of sleeve templates, neckline finishes, and button hole options for cardigans. 

It’s easy for all this to feel overwhelming if you’re trying to read the book cover to cover, but it’s good to know that all of those options are there if you need them. There are also nine design profile sweaters that show you how all the pieces go together that you can knit through to help you understand some of the concepts. 

A fit kit in the back walks you through the math so you’ll feel comfortable with things like determining your rate of shaping, adding darts, shaping diagonals and calculating the lengths of curved edges, among other things. 

The good news is you’re not going to need all of these tools for every project. The better news is that now you know these are things you can do to make your sweaters fit better, and you’ll have McBrien Evans as your able guide every step of the way. 

While this might not be a book you want to spring on a new sweater knitter, it’s a guide that everyone who enjoys knitting garments should have on hand to reference ways to make sweaters they want to knit — from written patterns or designing for themselves — that much better. 

About the book: 192 pages, hardcover, 9 patterns. Published 2026 by David & Charles. Suggested retail price $29.99.