Knit a Pretty Textured Vest

This sweet little V-neck cropped vest — more formally known as the Breakfast in the Garden Top by Minimi Knit Design — is a great project to knit now and wear through the summer and to layer when the weather is cooler (or the opposite if you’re in the colder part of the world right now).

The pretty pastels used in the sample are perfect for spring and summer, and its worked in DK weight yarn so it’s cool fro wearing when its warm but a lightweight and effective layer for when it’s colder.

The design is sized from a chest measurement of 30 to 66 inches, and it’s worked from the top down with the neckline facings stitches as you go.

You can learn more and buy the pattern from Minimi Knit Design.

[Photo: Minimi Knit Design.]

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When I knit socks (which sadly I have not done in a while; need to get a new pair on the needles soon!) I generally stick to pretty simple designs and colorwork that isn’t all that detailed.

Don’t get me wrong, I love a fancy sock, I’m also just pretty lazy and I figure a project worked on size 0 or 1 US needles is going to take a long time even without the added work of intricate colorwork, so why make it more complicated?

But there are definitely socks out there I’d be willing to make an exception for, and I think Tangled Bliss by Annette Schleicher may just be one of them.

If you can’t tell from looking, this is decidedly an advanced knitting pattern. There’s brioche for the cuffs, complex looking colorwork done with the ladderback jacquard technique, multiple charts, and colors changing everywhere.

There are links to tutorials for all the special skills in the pattern, but still it would help to have a handle on these concepts before you get started.

The pattern uses three colors of light fingering weight yarn at a whopping 31 stitches per 4 inches/10 cm (that’s 7.75 stitches per inch/2.5 cm).

Would you believe me if I told you that this pattern was designed for a speed knitting contest? Speed would be the last thing on my mind.

But again, I think all the work for these fancy socks would be worth it. I love hoe the colorwork looks like an old tile floor, and think of the bragging rights when you tell people you made them yourself. (Though of course you did; have you ever seen store-bought socks that look anything like this?)

Best of all, this pattern is available for free on Ravelry, so there’s no reason not to give it a try if you’ve got the skills. If you do, I’d love to hear about it!

[Photo: Annette Schleicher]

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