K’s Back to School Vest

This is the perfect autumn layering piece for your returning-to-school- kiddo. It’s named after my oldest child, who is 7 years old. This is an easy school vest knitting pattern for layering in all seasons.

A playful vest cardi is truly the most grandpa/grandma-chic of garments and will fit flawlessly under winter coats without underarm bulk. We all know how those kid winter coats often have narrow arms! 

Take this garment from autumn through winter through spring again. Pair it over t-shirts, dresses, or long sleeve base layers. For the ultimate grandpa vibe, pair with a button-down shirt with structured pants such as jeans! 

The patterns are graded generously with 4” / 10 cm of positive ease, and with plenty of underarm depth so that even fast-growing little ones will be able to wear them for a while and grow into them.

See a tester round up here.

Size Selection

2 (3, 4, 5) [6, 7, 8] (10, 12, 14) years, to fit chest circumferences of 20.5 (21, 22, 23) [24.5, 26, 27] (28.5, 30, 31.5)” / 52 (53.5, 56, 58.5) [62, 66, 68.5] (72.5, 76, 80) cm.

Finished circumferences of 24.25 (26.25, 27, 28) [29.5, 31, 32.25] (33.75, 35, 36.5)” / 59.5 (64.5, 67, 69) [72.5, 76, 79.5] (83.5, 87, 90.5) cm, buttoned.

Materials

Yarn Selection & Yardage

1 (2, 2, 2) [2, 2, 2] (2, 2, 2) plates of Nutiden, or about 100 (120, 130, 140) [150, 170, 180] (190, 210, 230) grams, held double throughout.

275 (300, 325, 375) [400, 425, 475] (500, 550, 600) yards / 250 (275, 300, 350) [375, 400, 425] (450, 500, 550) meters of De Rerum Gilliatt.

Needles

Needle A (Main Fabric)

US 8 / 5 mm or size to obtain Stockinette stitch gauge, in the following lengths:

• Circular needle 24” / 60 cm or longer

Needle B (Ribbing)

US 7 / 4.5 mm or 1 size* down from Needle A, in the following lengths:

• Circular needle 32” / 80 cm
• DPN’s or preferred method for knitting small circumferences in the round, for arm hole edgings

* Make sure that Needle B achieves the ribbing gauge given so it does not overly draw in on the fabric. On the Gilliatt sample, designer used US 7 / 4.5mm. On the Nutiden sample, US 6 / 4 mm.

Notions

Stitch markers, tapestry needle, slippery waste yarn, removable markers. 3 (3, 3, 3) [3, 4, 4] (4, 5, 5) buttons in 5/8” / 18 mm size, thread or embroi-dery floss for sewing, and sewing needle to fit the floss/thread

Gauge

17 stitches and 24 rows = 4” / 10 cm, Stockinette stitch knit flat with Needle A

17 sts and 24 rows = 4” / 10 cm, 1×1 ribbing knit flat with Needle B

Construction Notes

• This pattern is worked bottom up flat in one piece, then split for fronts and back. Once the fronts and back pieces are completed, the shoulders are joined with Three Needle Bind-Off. The neckband and the arm holes are then picked up and worked after a blocking.
• The button hole instructions are given for the wrong side, as this is the row of button band that falls closest to the middle to center the button holes.

Credits

Accessibility

• The large format pattern file has tagged header structure for screenreader users.
• The large format file has 22 pt font, black text on white background, no italics, and bolded font for emphasis only throughout.
• All images in the pattern have alt text.