Here’s a speedy little vest that will happily mix a concoction of yarns probably already patiently waiting in your stash. Have a hank of hand-dyed yarn waiting for a home? Send it it here. How about a few textured specialty yarns like ribbons you may have purchased without really knowing what you’d knit with it? Here’s your answer!

The pattern knits chunkier or worsted-weight yarns on smaller than generally used needles to create a good sturdy hand. The design is very flexible. Try knitting it without the point or perhaps make yours longer.

The muted purple/grey version shows how the tapered bottom can be removed completely for a different look. In this case, I also blended yarn shades to move from darker to lighter and worked an intarsia motif in the center back.

The bottom three photos were taken by Patricia Werner of her Sunset Bolero. She says: “I actually knit it all as one piece and sewed the shoulder seams together. This eliminated both sewing side seams and knitting in lots of ends with yarn changes. I also shortened and rounded the back, bottom point and also added a few stitch patterns…” Free-range knitting is all about making the design yours!