Knit a Colorful Vest for Layering

I know I have said this before, but in the last few years I’ve really become a fan of vests. They take less time to knit than a sweater, and you can wear them for more of the year, as a layer over long sleeves, short sleeves, or even over a sweater.

Trollabackarna by Sanne Bjerregaard is one vest knitting pattern that caught my eye recently.

This colorful, boxy vest calls for four colors of yarn, but it would be easy to use scraps for the colorwork and just change colors whenever you need to.

According to the pattern, Trollabackarna (which is in Sweden) is a place of peace:

Deep in the northeast of Skåne, the hills lie where legends and shadows exist side by side. The name is no coincidence — here, boulders stand like petrified giants, and the winding paths weave between roots and silent trees, as though they are guiding you — if you dare to follow.

The pattern is worked from the bottom up, starting with a twisted rib hem. The body is all two color stranded knitting, with the contrasting color worked in stripes (again, you can use one color or many here) in the round up to the armholes. The tops of the vest are worked flat and joined with a three-needle bind off.

The armholes and neckline are worked in twisted rib and folded over and sewn down to the inside after knitting.

The colorwork is charted, but this is so big and graphic it should be pretty easy for you even if you’re new to colorwork knitting or reading charts.

The pattern is available in seven sizes, meant to fit a chest circumference ranging from 32 to 53.5 inches/82-136 cm. It looks like each size has 3-4 inches/7.5-10 cm of positive ease. It calls for worsted weight yarn and the pattern is available for free in English, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Norwegian and Swedish from Filcolana.

[Photo: Filcolana]

A Knit Vest to Get You Ready for Summer [Knitting]

Easy Knit Vests are Officially My Favorite [Knitting]

Getting ready for back to school makes me think about pencil crafts, so let’s take a look at some pencil themed knitting patterns!

I recently made a pencil on a circular knitting machine, and it was a fun, quick, easy project that uses little bits of leftover yarn (and if you don’t have yellow you can make it a colored pencil using whatever color’s your favorite). And if you want to make a bigger version check out this pattern from Orange Olive Road on Etsy.

If you want to knit a pencil pillow by hand, check out Sketchy, available on Ravelry from Shana S. Cohen. This one uses worsted weight yarn and has two size options and the choice to make a pencil with an eraser or a colored pencil.

Pencil scarves seem to be the most popular kind of pencil knitting pattern, and there are lot of cute ones. This one from Cosy Craft UK mostly uses garter stitch, with some welts to add texture and what looks like an I-cord edging. It calls for DK weight yarn.

If you want to go all garter stitch try this version from Emsley Co Creations, which uses five colors of DK weight yarn and just a little shaping to make the point of the pencil.

There’s also this fun, mostly stockinette so it looks like it curls a bit, pencil pattern that looks like it’s worked in chunky yarn from Little Knits Studio. This one uses just a little garter stitch and easy shaping for the point.

If you don’t want a pencil scarf, how about some pencil socks? The No. 2 Pencil Socks from The Yarn Enabler are available from Ravelry and use five colors of sock yarn. They feature wide ribs to mimic the texture of a pencil and have options to be worked from the top down or the toe up.

Needs Sharpening by Alexander Walker is a free pattern on Ravelry that uses five colors of sock yarn to make a sort of shortie sock. The little bit of black at the tips of the toes inspired the name. These, too, can be worked in either direction and are available in three sizes.

Have you read?