Knit an Easy Hooded Vest

I have probably said this before, but I went through a phase when I really didn’t like knit vests. But I’ve come to appreciate them as a perfect transition garment, a layer that gives a little warmth where and when you need it but that’s easy to take off (and maybe even toss in your bag) when you don’t need it.

Vests are a fun way to play with color and pattern and somehow feel less serious than knitting a whole sweater. And they’re a great practice for people who aren’t ready to knit garments with sleeves (though I promise sleeves aren’t hard!).

I love vests with fun details like the Mila Hooded Vest from Irene Lin. It has the hood, as mentioned, but it’s also a cardigan style vest with big buttons that add a design element and fun patch pockets because everything is better with pockets.

This vest could double as a jacket over a sweater or sweatshirt, or wear it all day over a lighter layer.

It’s worked from the top down, with the fronts and back worked separately until they are joined at the underarms. The pockets are added after the rest of the knitting is done.

Mila uses worsted or aran weight yarn and comes in six sizes. The actual body circumference of the garment ranges from 40.25 to 63.25 inches, or 102 to 161 cm. It’s shown worn with about 7.5 inches/19 cm of positive ease, but you can determine how much ease you want depending on what you might wear it over.

I love how the darker brown buttons provide a little contrast on the lighter brown version shown here, but on the pattern page there’s also a black version with black buttons if you don’t want them to stand out as much. Or pick a totally contrasting color for extra whimsy.

You can find this pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: Irene Lin]

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Hoodie Knitting Patterns

Generally I like knitting patterns where I feel like you can use whatever yarn you have (because my stash is big enough and I want to use it, thanks) and make a successful project. This is one of those times when a special yarn makes the process that much easier.

The Floral Bouquet Shawl from Xandy Peters uses a specific extended color pooling yarn from Feisty Fibers, which allows you to place the bobble flowers with increasing frequency as you knit the project.

It starts with a solid color yarn, then the two color yarn is added in, and you make a bobble whenever you encounter the color pops. This would be hard to replicate with other yarn that doesn’t have the extended color pooling built in.

The background of the shawl is ribbed, making the project reversible.

The shawl uses fingering/sock yarn and comes out to be an asymmetrical triangle that’s 54 inches/137 cm long and 36 inches/ 90 cm deep and 60 inches/150 cm across the top edge.

Xandy says the pattern is for intermediate to advanced knitters. Knowing how to work traditional bobbles would probably help, but there’s a great video tutorial for how to work the floral bobbles so you can practice on other yarn or even incorporate the bobbles into other projects.

The bobbles are five-petaled flowers but they also kind of look like starfish to me, which could be fun on a child’s cardigan or other pattern. They’d also be fun on the leg of a sock or around the brim of a hat for extra whimsy.

The pattern includes photo and video tutorials, and written and charted instructions. It also includes tips on what to look for if you choose to use different yarn for the project, and instructions on how to dye your own yarn to use in the project.

If you want to give it a try, you can find the pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: Xandy Peters]

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