Knit a Simple Striped Vest

This pretty vest pattern has stripes that are different in both color and texture, which makes the knitting and the wearing of it a bit more fun. The Linden vest pattern by Noriko Ho was originally designed for the Puget Sound LYS Tour and was the featured knit pattern for The Fiber Gallery. Now it’s available for wider purchase and I think this will be a great project for transitioning into fall (or spring, as the case may be where you live).

The original design uses two different DK weight yarns. One is a pretty smooth superwash merino, while the other is a fuzzy blend of alpaca, cotton and merino. This gives the pattern stripes of texture as well as color without having to do any more work on your part.

Of course you could also make it all smooth, or all fuzzy, or even forgo the stripes and make a solid colored version in whatever kind of yarn you like or have on hand. Maybe you’ll want multiple versions of this simple V-neck vest. I know I probably would.

The pattern is worked flat in pieces from the bottom up. The design is meant to be cropped, but of course you can add more length if you prefer. It’s also intended to be worked with zero to 4 inches of negative ease for a snug fit.

It comes in nine sizes, ranging from a chest measurement of 30.5 inches to 62.5 inches (that’s 77 to 159 centimeters for our metric system friends).

You can get a copy of the pattern on Ravelry.

Looking for more vest patterns? Check out this collection of easy vest knitting patterns, or here’s another roundup I did a few years ago of fun vest knitting patterns. Or just search for vests in the search bar at the top right of the page and you will find a bunch of individual patterns I’ve written about through the years as well!

One of my favorite things to make on a circular knitting machine is scarves, because they’re a great way to use leftover yarn and certainly faster than knitting by hand.

But if you pay attention to the colors you’re using and how you are using them, you can make fun knitting machine scarves that look like something different when you roll them up.

One of the first versions of this I saw was the sushi scarf, are there are a lot of variations on this one. For example this one from Flower and Anchor that uses five colors of yarn, or this one from Three Threads NE that uses four. These generally are made to look like California rolls, but you could change up the colors to make them different things if you like. Just make sure the outside of the “roll” is black or green to indicate the nori. I found another version on Pinterest if you’re looking for a free pattern, but there’s no image of it rolled up.

Another popular variation is making a scarf that rolls up to look like a mug with coffee, tea or another fun beverage inside. This collection of three mug scarf circular knitting machine patterns from Idaho Cottage Creation includes green tea, a pumpkin spice latte with whipped cream and a candy cane colored confection (which honestly reminds me of the Grinch since it has a green mug!). Again you can change the colors of the mug part and the drink part. The little handle looks like it’s crocheted on these, and it doubles as a loop you can thread the scarf end through when you wear it.

Again there’s a version of the green tea scarf on Pinterest with crocheted elements. I also found a latte done with a striped yarn and a red mug that’s pretty cute and gives you an idea what a different beverage would look like.

I also love this pumpkin pie scarf designed by Jodi Favish Saunier. It has a bit of crocheted edging to give it a fancy crust but you can omit that if you don’t crochet. These are all on Facebook but she also has a watermelon and lemonade pattern that are super cute.

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