How to Design a Vest Knitting Pattern

I talked the other day about how much I am enjoying vests lately. Another reason I’m liking them is that they give me an excuse to knit something sweater adjacent without actually knitting sweaters, since I have about 24 knit sweaters and don’t really need more right now.

I recently designed a completely basic, bulky V-neck sweater worked in two pieces from the bottom up as a way to teach people how to design a basic garment for themselves.

This vest fulfilled a dream of mine because I’ve always wanted to make something with Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick & Quick‘s Hudson Bay colorway, and I happened to be at my local Joann (before all the bankruptcy sales started) and there were exactly three skeins of this colorway, all of the same dye lot, so I figured that was a sign that I needed to take them and make something.

Three skeins isn’t a huge amount of yardage (about 318 yards) so I thought a vest would be a great choice. And it worked out perfectly that I could make the vest I wanted in the right size for me and used almost exactly all the yarn (I think I have about 2 yards left). And that was with only doing a round of single crochet around the neckline and slip stitches around the armholes because I didn’t have enough yarn to do ribbing.

I love it just as it is, though, and the process the post walks you through could be used to make a vest of any size and in any gauge that you want. But to be honest I kind of want to knit another one exactly the same in a different colorway, and maybe with some ribbing next time.

If you’d like to knit your own vest or just see how I made mine, check out the post over at Our Daily Craft. I think this is a great way to learn the basics of designing on a small scale and an easy way to build knitting confidence.

[Photo: Our Daily Craft]

Twist Your Stitches for a Fun Vest Knitting Pattern

Knit a Vest with Cabled Details

A Beyond-Basic Vest to Knit for Fall or Spring

As we get into the part of the year with a lot of food-forward holidays, it might be time to start thinking about knitting some new things for your table. While a few of these are more fall/Thanksgiving focused, just changing up the colors would make others work for Christmas, or keep it neutral and use them all year long.

What got me started thinking about this was the lovely and simple Fresh Bread Dishtowel, a free pattern from Purl Soho. Worked in a lovely cotton and linen blend, the towel is mostly stockinette stitch with a bit of texture on the borders.

You could use this same kind of pattern to make anything from placemats to a table runner, but let’s look at some specific patterns for those kinds of projects as well.

The easy moss stitch table runner from Glass Bird Knits is beginner friendly can can easily be modified to fit your table (or, again, to make placemats instead of or in addition to a runner). This version is worked in macrame cord, but you could also use bulky yarn.

Emielle Design has a garter stitch runner pattern that’s made with braided cotton cord for a lot of texture without a lot of work. But be sure to take a lot of breaks when knitting with cord because it can be rough on your hands!

I also love the diamond pattern on the Hamilton Table Runner from Wyndlestraw Designs. It calls for a DK weight cotton and linen blend yarn and comes in three sizes with different widths and lengths. The pattern has both written and charted instructions.

Amy Marie’s Table Pumpkins (on Ravelry) is a fun mosaic knitting pattern that would be great to use as a table runner through the fall and for Thanksgiving. It uses a worsted weight cotton yarn in two colors, and you can make it as long as you like for your table.

The no cable knit placemats from Yarn Culture Studio have a fun faux cable look that would be great for the table through the fall and winter.

Or here’s another pattern from Wyndlestraw Designs, this time for an easy knit and purl stitch placemat pattern that looks different but still good on both sides. It calls for worsted weight cotton and comes in two sizes for placemats, but also has instructions for coasters, a hot pad and a table pad all using the same stitch.

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