Knit a Vest That’s Covered in Cats

This might be another one of those posts where all you need to know is in the headline.

Knit vest. Cats? Sign me up.

The Darjeeling Vest by Sangmi Lee offers exactly that.

It’s a stranded knitting pattern worked from the bottom up, with a chart for the sweet little cat faces that are all over the project. It has a round neckline and what the designer calls a “regular fit,” so you can wear it on its own like a tank top or as a vest over a shirt or dress.

The pattern uses DK weight yarn and comes in six sizes. Actual finished measurements of the garment range from 32 to 46 2/5 inches, or 81 to 118 cm. Positive ease of 2 to 3 1/5 inches, or 5 to 8 cm, is suggested, so your body should be that much smaller than the measurement of the size that you choose.

Because I have a black cat (and a tuxedo cat) I of course love that all of the cat faces are black, but you could also change it up so that the cats look more like your favorite cat. Or make most of them black and knit just one of them in, say, bright blue or something, just for whimsy.

No matter the colors you choose, this knit looks like a lot of fun. I peeked at the finished projects on Ravelry and saw that someone also modified it to be a sweater and continued the cat motifs on the sleeves, which is also super cute if you don’t want a vest.

The pattern is available in English and Korean and you can download a copy from Ravelry. And if you’re a dog person feeling left out by all this pro-feline propaganda, be sure to check out her Hundreds of Dogs sweater, also on Ravelry. It’s cute, too, if you like that sort of thing.

[Photo: Sangmi Lee]

This free knitting pattern falls in the category of cute but maybe not essential, as well as a nice way to use some yarn left over from another project.

The Briggs St. Fruit Hammock from Mycah Knits is beginner friendly because it’s a big rectangle worked in stockinette stitch on larger needles than the yarn would usually call for (size 11 US/8 mm for DK weight/weight 3 yarn) to provide more air flow around the fruit.

The idea behind a fruit hammock like this is both that it saves you counter space since it’s meant to be mounted under a cabinet and that air flow around the fruit helps prevent moisture from getting trapped below the fruit, which should keep it fresh longer. They’re also just cute and keep your fruits or veg accessible so hopefully you will eat more of them.

This pattern also includes I-cord handles, which is how you hang the hammock, and you’ll need to be able to pick up stitches for them, but that’s the only beyond beginner skill required in this project.

It only uses about 25 grams of yarn, so this is a perfect project for using a little something left over from another project. It would also be cute with stripes, so you can use odd balls from several projects. Or make the I-cord with a contrasting color to add a bit more fun if you like.

The designer does recommend using acrylic yarn for this project because it shouldn’t stretch out of shape with use and is easy to wash should your aspirations for eating fruit outstrip your reality. But they also provide tips for testing the stretch in a yarn you want to use and adjusting the pattern to account for that.

I don’t have a space in my place for this but it is super cute and a fun way to add knitting to the home, which I’m always a fan of.

You can grab the free pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: Mycah Knits]

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