I know I have said this before, but in the last few years I’ve really become a fan of vests. They take less time to knit than a sweater, and you can wear them for more of the year, as a layer over long sleeves, short sleeves, or even over a sweater. 

Trollabackarna by Sanne Bjerregaard is one vest knitting pattern that caught my eye recently. 

This colorful, boxy vest calls for four colors of yarn, but it would be easy to use scraps for the colorwork and just change colors whenever you need to. 

According to the pattern, Trollabackarna (which is in Sweden) is a place of peace:

Deep in the northeast of Skåne, the hills lie where legends and shadows exist side by side. The name is no coincidence — here, boulders stand like petrified giants, and the winding paths weave between roots and silent trees, as though they are guiding you — if you dare to follow.

The pattern is worked from the bottom up, starting with a twisted rib hem. The body is all two color stranded knitting, with the contrasting color worked in stripes (again, you can use one color or many here) in the round up to the armholes. The tops of the vest are worked flat and joined with a three-needle bind off. 

The armholes and neckline are worked in twisted rib and folded over and sewn down to the inside after knitting. 

The colorwork is charted, but this is so big and graphic it should be pretty easy for you even if you’re new to colorwork knitting or reading charts. 

The pattern is available in seven sizes, meant to fit a chest circumference ranging from 32 to 53.5 inches/82-136 cm. It looks like each size has 3-4 inches/7.5-10 cm of positive ease. It calls for worsted weight yarn and the pattern is available for free in English, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Norwegian and Swedish from Filcolana.

[Photo: Filcolana]

A Knit Vest to Get You Ready for Summer [Knitting]

Easy Knit Vests are Officially My Favorite [Knitting]

Now here’s a Halloween project that’s equal parts whimsical and practical—the Free Knitting Pattern for a Flying Witches Bookmark. If you’re like me and can never have too many bookmarks tucked into your knitting books, novels, or even cookbooks, this one is a seasonal treat.

The design features a row of little witches flying across the night sky—perfectly captured in stitches. It’s a flat, quick-knit project, which makes it fantastic for using up leftover yarn scraps. Black, purple, orange, or even a pop of metallic silver or gold would really bring those broom-riders to life.

This is a great in-between project: when you don’t have time for a big knit but still want that satisfying finish, a bookmark like this ticks all the boxes. It would also make a sweet handmade gift for your book-loving friends around Halloween—pair it with a thriller or ghost story and you’ve got a thoughtful present.

Skill-wise, it leans toward the adventurous beginner or intermediate knitter, since it involves following a motif chart. But the project is small enough that you won’t feel overwhelmed. Plus, you’ll have a finished piece to show off before you know it.

All in all, the Flying Witches Bookmark is a quirky, fun Halloween knit that adds a dash of handmade magic to your reading routine. Small, stash-busting, and full of charm—what’s not to love?

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]

Elevation Yoga Socks Knitting Pattern [Knitting]

How to Adjust Sock Knitting Patterns [Knitting]

 

I know knitting a dress sounds like a major time commitment. And that’s before I even tell you that this particular dress, the Sixth Ave Skater Dress by Briana Luppino, is worked in light fingering weight yarn. 

But would you just take a moment to look at it and tell me if it doesn’t look like it would be worth all the time you would spend knitting it? And it’s miles of stockinette stitch so it’s actually beginner friendly and a great semi-mindless knit you can take with you on your travels this summer and wear when it is done. 

The dress is worked from the top down with tank straps, a scoop neck, waist shaping and a flowy skirt for a fun and comfortable fit. 

The pattern has 10 sizes, with finished bust measurements ranging from 28 to 64 inches, or 71.5 to 163 cm. The sample shown was worked with 4 inches/10 cm of negative ease at the bust, and the designer says most people like between 2 and 6 inches/5 to 15 cm of negative ease in the bust and around 10 inches/25.4 cm positive ease in the hips. 

(To refresh your memory, negative ease means the measurement of the garment is smaller than your actual body measurement, while positive ease is bigger than your body.)

To pick a size you’d work from the bust measurement because you can always add more or fewer decreases as you need to get your desired fit at the waist and hips. And because it’s worked from the top down you can try it on as often as you like to make sure it’s the perfect fit. 

The I-cord edgings give the dress a super casual feel, and I think this would be a great one to add to your summer rotation. (Yes, even with a wool blend yarn.)

You can see lots of cute finished versions and grab a copy of the pattern for yourself on Ravelry. 

[Photo: Briana Luppino]

Book Review – Knitted Tanks and Tunics

How to Knit a Simple Sweater Dress

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Join Brenda K.B. Anderson on Tuesday, July 22nd at 10:00 a.m. CT / 11:00 a.m. ET for a free Christmas in July event! Knit a festive Christmas stocking in classic holiday colors for a vintage feel—or customize it with your own palette to match your style. Personalizing the cuff is easy and fun using a simple needle felting technique—it’s just like writing with yarn!

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