In 1903, Sherlock Holmes retired to the Sussex Downs near the sea, where he occupied himself with agriculture and beekeeping. This may seem like a tame ending to such an adventurous life, but true Sherlockians will know that Holmes was deeply fascinated with the workings of the natural world, and had many interests beyond solving crimes.

This design is a tribute to two things: the talented and creative knitter who inspired it (more about her below), and Neil Gaiman’s wonderful short story about Holmes, “A Case of Death and Honey” (found in his Trigger Warning anthology). This tale sheds new light on Holmes’ interest in bees as he endeavors to solve the ultimate “crime.”

This vest was inspired by one that Mary Ann Switzer (maryann65 on Ravelry) made with the chart from my “Bees In Love” wristlets. I was delighted when she wrote me that she planned to make a vest for her Sherlock Holmes doll, and to learn that she was a fellow Holmes fan. During our conversation she warned me that her Holmes doll was a sock monkey, “but very dignified.” I certainly wasn’t prepared for how wonderful the result was, and the moment I saw her Sherlock modeling his vest (second photo), I knew I had to make an adult-sized version.

The first time I browsed Mary Ann’s projects on Ravelry I was simply enchanted. Not only does she knit beautiful shawls and garments, but also all manner of soft-sculpture animals and creatures. She is a true artist, and not just with knitting – her talented styling and photography bring her creations even more alive! (You may even have seen her work on the front page of Ravelry – a knitted pink Flamingo photographed on a Florida beach.) Of course her sock monkeys are especially wonderful – each has his or her own distinctive personality. There is even a happy couple named Lucky and Penny who have their own Facebook page (search Lucky Switzer), and travel the world going on fabulous vacations, always stylishly and impeccably dressed in the outfits Mary Ann makes for them.

Mary Ann very generously allowed me to use her idea to make this pattern without compensation, so instead I will donate a portion of the pattern sales to the Honeybee Conservancy (thehoneybeeconservancy.org). They are a non-profit organization dedicated to aiding the survival and recovery of honeybees and helping to reduce hunger by increasing access to organic, sustainable food. I like to think Holmes would have approved!

About the design: Sherlock’s Bees is a simple-to-knit, easy fitting garment that looks equally good on men and women. It is a seamless garment, knitted in the round to the armholes. The fronts and back are then knitted back and forth, and the shoulders are joined with a 3-needle bind off. Stitches are picked up for the ribbed armhole and neck bands, which are knit in the round. The only finishing needed is to tidy the yarn ends. The colorwork is simple stranding with only two colors per row. Note that there are several long carries in this pattern, so be sure to catch the yarn not in use every few stitches to avoid long floats and help maintain even tension.

Sizes: Finished garment sizes of approx. 34” (37”, 40”, 43”, 46”, 49”, 52”) Note that these are actual garment measurements. Size should be chosen according to personal fit preference; this is an easy-fitting garment with no body shaping that can be worn with a small amount of negative ease, no ease, or up to several inches of positive ease as you prefer. It is meant to be worn over a shirt or top, so please keep this in mind when choosing a size.

Materials:

DK weight yarn appropriate for stranded colorwork. There is no steeking in this garment, so it’s possible to use any yarn that will give you an even tension while stranding. For the sample I used a springy, soft blend of wool and alpaca: DROPS Lima – 65% Wool, 35% Alpaca, 50g, 109 yd/100m per ball.

• Main color (MC): 7810 Moss Green – 512 (530, 615, 662, 707, 803, 852) yards / 461 (477, 554, 596, 636, 723, 767) meters
• Contrast Color 1 (CC1): 4305 Dark Blue – 96 (108, 113, 122, 130, 139, 147) yards / 87 (97, 102, 110, 117, 125, 132) meters
• Contrast Color 2 (CC2): 2923 Goldenrod – 71 (77, 83, 89, 96, 102, 108) yards / 64 (70, 75, 80, 87, 92, 97) meters