Freeform Knit Vest

Well, I’ve finally finished this vest. . . it was meant to be a jacket but I didn’t like how the sleeves looked on it. But it is really comfortable and fun as a vest.

The base yarn for this vest is knit in garter stitch swatches in yarn I bought in Ireland 6 years ago. I love how it feels, durable and warm. I think I have enough left to knit a “regular” sweater.

Champagne Vest
Hand knit freeform vest

I started this vest during the 2008 summer Olympics. . . yup. . . I started it that long ago but it is done! (Unless I add sleeves to it)

Freeform knit vest
Champagne vest button band

The buttons are from a box of buttons that my mom gave me. . .I think they are some kind of animal horn or wood. . . all I know is that they are not plastic.

Free form knit champagne vest
Collar view of vest

The button band and collar are knt in Lamb’s Pride yarn from Brown Sheep. I knit the sleeves out of that too but they didn’t turn out how I wanted. I tried to make champagne glass shaped color pattern for the sleeves. But they are too bulky.

Champagne Vest left front view
Free form knit Vest
Free form knit vest
Champagne Vest front right closeup
Free form knit vest
Finally - a view of the back!

I had so much fun crocheting the little circles. . .white in the center and pastel colors on the outside! Except one day I did too many and got a cramp  in my thumb!

Knit Free form vest
Bottom of back
free form knit vest in Donegal tweed wool
upper left shoulder of back

3 thoughts on “Freeform Knit Vest

  1. Lovely vest! Did you use a pattern for this free-form vest ?

    Thank you for sharing.
    Cheryl Jaeger

    1. Hey Cheryl,
      To create this vest, I knit lots of different shapes in the white wool (I call it the base) and then I crocheted lots of little circles and sewed them onto the base. I crocheted trim on the base pieces.
      Out of a paper bag I cut and pasted a pattern the shape of the vest I wanted. (So you could say I used a pattern). As I finished decorating the different base pieces I would lay them out on the paper pattern. This is the hardest part for me. I keep rearranging the pieces to find a look I like. When I’ve got the pieces in a general area of where I want them I start hand sewing the pieces together. Where they don’t fit together perfectly I crochet on the edges of the pieces. Hope this gives you an idea of my process. I wish I had more time for freeform. This vest took about 80 hours.

I look forward to our comments

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.