After 5+ years of knitting garments, I have taken the plunge in attempting my own design. Albeit, it's simple but the idea was to teach myself how to take an idea to numbers to knitting to completion.
May I present, the Sideswipe Vest! A simple scoop neck with open sides that button close under the arms. I'm currently expanding rather rapidly around the waist and then I'll hopefully be breastfeeding, so I wanted to make a vest that would fit now and be easy to get open.
It's not perfect and wearing it does show me some parts that need to be changed, but I do like how it turned out. It's not bad for my first go, I think.
The vest is made out of bulky yarn so it works up pretty quickly, but it's not my usual weight pick. I typically like DK and fingering weight, but I didn't want to commit a lot of yarn and time to a vest I wasn't sure would work out.
Initially, I used some leftover bulky yarn to get an idea of width and shaping. I didn't care for how long this one turned out, but I wanted to make sure I was happy with the fit, neckline, and armholes. It was unfinished and rough, but it was a good starting point.
Once I was happy with that rough draft, I began the final product. The front and back are worked separately with the back having a longer rib than the front. I also decided to add in garter stitch rows for some interesting texture.
The vest is seamed at the shoulders then the ribbing around the neckline is worked up. Then I added the side ribbings and armhole ribbing making sure to add buttonholes for closures. Then I added the buttons, weaved in the ends, and blocked the vest.
Honestly, it fits a lot better than I thought. I was expecting it to be loose and baggy- which it is- but it's more flattering.
Further changes I would like to make is to lengthen the armholes more. Compared to the rest of the fit, the armhole length is just a bit too tight. I think this is because I didn't have any ribbing finished which changed the fit on the final design.
Because the armholes are higher up, I'm having issues getting the buttons undone, which kinda defeats the whole 'ease-of-access' reason I made it. But it still works.
Now that this is done, I have a good base block to work with for future designs. Now I can make tweaks with an already good idea of how it should fit.
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