Stained Glass Pumpkins on Etsy

When you’re new to knitting, you might think that you are relatively constrained in the kinds of projects you can make or a little intimidated by learning new skills. I know some knitters go months if not years before attempting a garment, and that’s a shame because there are a lot of easy and accessible knit tops and sweaters that even new knitters can make.

This mitered vest knitting pattern from Yarnspirations is a good example. It looks kind of complicated because of the shifting colors and the mitered look, but it’s actually rated easy. You basically just need to know how to do basic decreases and how to change colors, because you’re basically just making squares that you sew together to make the top.

The project as shown uses six colors, or there’s a variation in the pattern that only uses four. Once you get the hang of the pattern, though, you could change colors as often or as rarely as you like. And because the front and back are worked separately, you could even do different colors, or a different color order, on the back and then you’d have two different looks in the same garment so you can wear it different ways.

The pattern includes six sizes, ranging from a chest measurement of 40.5 to 64 inches, or 103 to 162.5 cm. It says the smallest size is to fit an actual chest measurement of 28 t0 34 inches, or 71 to 86.5 cm, while the largest is for 56 to 62 inches or 142 to 157.5 cm, so there’s a lot of positive ease built in. You can make a different size if you want to adjust the amount of ease and make it more of a top you can wear alone than a vest like the pattern suggests.

This pattern looks like a lot of fun and would be great for knitters with more experience too (you can even use leftover yarn to make a super stripey version).

You can grab the free pattern from Yarnspirations.

[Photo: Yarnspirations]