Summertime Vest
sweater - sleeves = vest. I can do a vest.
First, it would be difficult to argue with the fact that knitting is primarily a cold weather activity. Or, more accurately, that knitwear is winter weather wear. Hats, gloves, scarves, socks, sweaters…all lend themselves to comfy cold weather apparel in soft woolens and acrylics. So am I just supposed to quit knitting now that it’s getting warmer? NO.
Second, the ultimate “I’ve made it” goal I set for myself at the start of this journey was to knit myself a sweater. And while I feel like that is still on the horizon, I think a good warm up round (one of many) is this vest I happened upon while scrolling through TikTok (knit-Tok?). The construction is less sweater vest or suit vest and more drapey, airy warm weather tie tank. Think this linen piece from Target. The Vacation Vest appears to be quite versatile, with finished pieces done in cotton, linen, and acrylic with an option to tie the front together or leave it open.
My thinking with this piece is that 1) it’ll be a good piece to learn sizing on and 2) my first non-accessory wearable that will be a challenge without having to get into sleeves, etc. Based on some perusing of several knitting blogs, popular summertime fibers to knit with are cotton, linen/silk blends, and Merino wool. Each fiber will impart a different vibe onto the piece (cotton holds its shape, wool drapes, linen is kind of in the middle but has a rougher texture). I think I want to give linen blend yarn a go (I’m very much on a linen clothing kick as of late) and I think it’ll be a nice, airy fiber to work with.
Here’s to diving into summer with my first big project. I’ll check back in when it’s underway.
Project Info:
Pattern: Vacation Vest by Park & Knit
Yarn: Line by Sandnes Garn, almond colorway, linen and cotton blend, worsted weight
Needles: US 7 and 8 circular
Misc: delight
Update 5/7/2025
gauge gauge gauge
The yarn was delivered yesterday and it’s immaculate. It’s manufactured in Norway and the cotton/viscose/linen mix makes it really light and airy, so it feels much different than the wools and acrylics I’ve worked with before.
Line, the linen yarn from Norway. Soft and light to the touch, not as stretchy as acrylic or wool.
As for the pattern, I was very intimidated by the length/detail of the instructions but I took the time to read through it beforehand and realized I can safely skip over nearly half since the pattern is extremely size inclusive (sizes XS - 5XL, corresponding to chest sizes of 34-66 inches). I’ll be knitting according to the Medium size, as I measured my chest circumference to 39 inches and Medium is at 42 inches around.
One of my major initial concerns is ensuring I stay faithful to the gauge of this work. I (for only the second time) knitted and blocked a gauge swatch to ensure I had the correct number of stitches per inch. Which I didn’t. The pattern calls for 18 stitches per 4 inches, I had 18 stitches in 3.5 inches. Which means I need to cast on more stitches to get the correct width. BUT I did not like how loose this gauge ends up being. 18 worsted weight stitches per 4 inches == 4.5 stitches per inch which is just too loose for my taste. My vision for this vest is to wear it as a shirt, so minimizing see-through-ness while still maintaining the drapey/airy quality is the goal. So I’ve decided to go down 2 needle sizes which ends up improving the stitch tension so I end up with 9 stitches per 2 inches.
Dissecting a pattern. The size inclusivity for this vest is so impressive.
I’m hoping to actually start on the piece today after yesterday’s gauge bonanza - I’ll check back in when there’s any progress. Or hang ups.
Update 5/29/2025
191 stitches.
If you recall, the original motivation for making this vest (besides the fact it looks good) was as a practice round leading up to making a sweater. Since a vest is just a sweater minus the sleaves I figured this would be easy knit-wise and challenging only in getting the hang of building up different shapes that go into a garment. And to this pattern’s credit, the construction of the vest is so easy to follow. The instructions are clear and based on some fittings at various stages, the sizing and shaping are correct. The biggest struggle I have right now is the fact that this vest is knitted flat - it’s more like a cardigan in construction than a sweater vest which would be knitted in the round. This means that, in knitting the body of the garment, I knit 1 row of 191 stitches and then PAINSTAIKINGLY, TEDIOUSLY, PURL 1 row of 191 stitches.
I will admit, I have majorly struggled with purling since the beginning. It feels akin to trying to write with your non dominant hand. Everything feels awkward, weak, uncoordinated, mirrored. Even my grip on the working strand of yarn feels off, when it should be the same as when I’m holding it for a knit stitch? For ribbing purposes, purling is a necessary evil, but a temporary one (unless you’re making that beanie I made, then you’re doomed to purl-gatory) and so I get through the tediousness by looking forward to the swiftness I’ll achieve when I can just knit. So regarding the construction of this flat knitted vest, I am extremely nervous that my tension is just all over the place from having to turn the piece every row and not just be consistently knitting the entire way through. Prayers to the blocking gods for sure.
All of that said, I am impressed with how smooth this whole knit has been. It starts with the back of the vest, knitted from top down. Then you pick up stitches for the left and right shoulder/vest front. Then you join the three pieces and cast on a few more stitches for each arm hole. I’m about 1/3 of the way done with the body knit portion and the thing actually looks like a shirt meant for a human being! I love the border detail around the arm holes and down the front where it will fasten, and have a couple of ideas for how to actually fasten it, since I want this to be more of a shirt than an actual open vest.
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Left: Progress on the vest, working now on the body. Knit 191, purl 191, repeat for all eternity. At least I have a short torso.
Right: Border detail, a 1x1 rib for 4 stitches with a slip knit stitch for a clean edge.
As you can see, the linen/cotton blend yarn tends to show a lot of texture in the stitches, probably amplified by the tension issues with switching from knit to purl rows (and from stitch increases, like along the armpit, since I still have trouble with the M1R M1L leaving gaps)… that’ll probably will block out. Besides, it adds sort of a rustic, natural touch and all of the linen woven pieces in my closet get wrinkly as hell so this one certainly doesn’t need to be perfect.
Once the body is complete, all that’s left is adding a ribbed hem to the bottom and figuring out how I would want to close the front. I’ll be back when there’s progress.