A little vest for newborn baby boys and girls, designed for my little ‘Baboo’ before I knew if she was a girl or a boy. I thought I was having a boy but I was wrong!

Knit in lace weight yarn this vest is lovely and light yet still cosy for your new little baby. The yoke is knit sideways, from right to left, in garter stitch. Stitches are then picked up along the edge of the back and front of the yoke, and the body is knit in the round. Broken stripes of colour are added by a simple slip-stitch technique and uses only one colour per row.

The vest is sized for approximately newborn to 3 months, but fit will depend on the size of your baby. The pattern can also be knit in fingering weight/4 ply yarn to make a larger vest for a bigger/older baby.

There are many possible ways to combine colours for the vest, including switching main colour and contrast colour on the different sections of the vest. Approximate amounts of yarn needed for each part of the vest, including how much per stripe, are given to help you come up with the perfect combination for your baby. Or maybe to help you use those leftover bits of lace weight yarn that are too lovely to throw away.

newborn - 3 months: Vintage purls lace
Main colour: yoke 80 m/88 yards, stst body 80 m/88 yards, garter st band 40 m/44 yards
Contrast colour: 1.3 m/1.4 yards per stripe on yoke, 2.6 m/2.8 yards per stripe on garter st band

3-6 months: Vintage purls sock
Main colour: yoke 80 m/88yards, stst body 100 m/110 yards, garter st band 40 m/44 yards
Contrast colour: 1.5 m/1.65 yards per stripe on yoke, 3 m/3.3 yards per stripe on garter st band