Like any yarn addict, I saw the Farmhouse Yarn Woodland Spun on sale and bought it without having a good idea of what I wanted to do with it. Only afterwards did I decide to knit a vest. But, I really couldn’t find a vest that I really liked where I could use the chunky yarn. So, I decided to make one up.

I really hate to seam, so I decided to knit this in the round (until the arm holes anyways). Also, because the Woodland yarn is hand dyed, I alternated skeins to help blend the colors. I knit this vest with 2 skeins each of Charcoal and Indigo, one of each for the bottom then top.

I decided to have a cable on each side of the vest, each turning out, and a braided cable in the center. I tried to create the braided cable with a turn at every 6th row to match the cables on the sides, but because the knit is so loose, the braided cable did not curve in enough. So, I switched to making the turn at every 4th row instead. Even then, the cable did not curve in as much as I would like, but it at least gives the impression of a braid. Of course, the differences in the frequency of turns makes the directions look very complicated, but it really isn’t at all. In fact, I consider myself quite a beginner knitter, and this pattern was not difficult to create or to knit.

It also seems I have a hard time binding my cuffs loosely enough, so the sleeves turned out too tight around my arm. I’ve made a mention of that in my instructions.

Finally, I created this vest for myself first and foremost, so I haven’t tried to size it for anyone else. I imagine it wouldn’t be too difficult to do. Just add 2.5 sts for each extra inch, divided evenly between the front and back as well as between the front cables, and everything should be golden. If anyone has the desire to size it up and test it, be my guest. It might help others on the forum.

This is the first vest I’ve ever made up (and only the second pattern I’ve created ever), so I hope the instructions make sense and there are no errata. Because it’s bulky and knits on size 11 needles, it shouldn’t take long to knit at all. The 50% alpaca in the Woodland Spun makes it quite warm, but because it’s a vest rather than a sweater the lack of sleeves makes the overall garment much easier to wear and handle.

ERRATA
I have discovered the neck line decreases are slanting in the wrong direction. It should read:

RS First half: Knit in pattern as set for 17 (18,20) sts, k2tog, k1.
Second half: Attach new ball of yarn and use a second set of needles. K1, ssk, work to end in pattern as set.