Completed Project: Megan’s Olive Vest

We recently got a few new colours of Snefnug in store with which I made myself an ‘Olive Vest’. I’m a sucker for green and especially a zesty zingy one, so I couldn’t resist buying 4 balls of Snefnug in the new Lime shade. I hadn’t used it before but had been eyeing it for a while.

My favourite thing to knit is a vest. What with living in the UK, the weather can be somewhat temperamental so having layers is always useful, but without the added warmth of sleeves. I wanted to make something a bit thinner than what I usually go for (chunky wool and 8mm needles) so the Snefnug seemed like a great option for this. Snefnug is an aran weight 55% alpaca, 35% cotton, 10% merino, which is incredibly soft, fluffy and lightweight.

I decided to self draft a pattern, half anticipating writing a pattern for it. I wanted something that was loose enough to be worn over a t shirt, but slim enough that I could also wear it as a stand alone piece. I ended up casting on the right amount of stitches first time and was really happy with the width of it. I worked it in the round from the bottom up. When I got to the bottom of the arm holes I split it in 2 and worked the front and back flat. I joined the front and back at the top with horizontal mattress stitch, and then added ribbing around the neck and armholes.

In the past I’ve found that ribbing around the armholes can jut out a bit, so I decided to add a mitred decrease / V-neck stitch at the bottom of the armhole ribbing, so it would sit flat against the body.

Overall this was a quick knit and I really enjoyed experimenting with a new design. I used just over 3 balls of wool for this. Snefnug is a joy to knit with, so soft I didn’t want to put my knitting down! I decided to name this pattern the Olive Vest.

My partner then decided he wanted one! He chose the colour Mork Rosa which I was really happy about, it’s a lovely earthy pink with subtle hints of brown running through it. He wears a men’s medium and thankfully I managed to get the amount of stitches right first time again. It didn’t need loads of alterations, just a bit longer than mine and a few extra decreases here and there. Ethan’s vest took 4.5 balls in total.

I’ll be releasing the pattern for my Olive Vest in mid August!