Oak Knoll Vest

Description

The Oak Knoll Vest is available as a custom-gauge, custom-size pattern via my CustomFit custom pattern generator. Upon purchase, you’ll receive a credit for a custom version of Oak Knoll and instructions on how to create it.

Oak Knoll was a featured retreat design at my 2016 make. wear. love. west coast retreat, worked up in two yarns from our wonderful vendor A Verb for Keeping Warm. It’s a nice design for the breezy California coast, or anywhere with a warmer season: Vests provide a great layer when you only need a touch of extra warmth, and the vest’s trim has an easy wear-it-open, wear-it-closed style. Armholes and the vest front are trimmed with rolled reverse stockinette stitch, and the button band is finished with a small amount of 1×1 ribbing to keep the edge flat.

To keep with the casual nature of this cardigan, waist shaping is worked on the back of the vest only even when an hourglass silhouette is selected. The fronts will measure the maximum of your bust, waist, and hip and continue straight from hem to armhole.

Sizing

Oak Knoll is available as a custom-gauge, custom-size pattern for the yarn and measurements of your choice via CustomFit. It’s shown here on Amy in an “hourglass average fit” with an hourglass silhouette, but is available with a-line and straight silhouettes and other fits as well.

Please note that even in an hourglass silhouette, waist shaping will be added on the back of your vest only.

Gauge

Your own customized version of the Oak Knoll Vest pattern will be written to your gauge, whatever it may be. I recommend something lightweight and airy, in keeping with the original.

Materials

I used two ultra-luscious yarns held together for this project: A Verb for Keeping Warm’s Reliquary II and their Floating, both in the “Zinc” colorway. The mix of yarns produces an ethereal, wispy fabric that moves beautifully and is decadently soft – I liked them worked at 5.5 stitches and 8 rows to the inch in Stockinette stitch.

If you are substituting yarns, I strongly suggest something very light, with a mix of silk and wool, to achieve a similar look to the garment shown.

Using the recommended yarns held together, to make a standard-size 30 (32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 48, 52, 56, 60)’’ / 76 (81.5, 86.5, 91.5, 96.5, 101.5, 106.5, 112, 122, 132, 142, 152.5) cm sweater, you’ll need approximately 2 (2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 4) hanks of Floating and 1 (1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3) hanks of Reliquary II.

Construction

Oak Knoll is worked in pieces from the bottom up and then seamed, with armhole trim added after seaming.