This post is a super exciting one for me to write! I’ve always been interested in designing knit/crochet patterns. Although I’ve designed a few simple things (like this hat and this cowl), I haven’t designed any real garments. However, for my local yarn store’s Finish it in February challenge, I really wanted to use up some Frog Tree Chunky Alpaca yarn I’d had for a while, but I couldn’t find any pattern that I loved that called for the amount of yarn I had (about 400 yards)… So I decided to go for it and design my own pattern! I’ve been really into high-low pieces recently, so I designed a vest that’s cropped in the back and hangs longer in the front.

At about the same time I was starting to think about this pattern, I attended Stitches West and took a class taught by the Shibaguyz about creating fabulous crochet fabrics. It was a really great class that taught me a lot about how to make interesting textures with simple crochet stitches.

The fabric of this vest has a couple of simple but noticeable details – the front panels have a vertical lined texture, and the back panel has just a little bit of open work up its middle.

I’m really in love with how the vest turned out! Although I kept track of everything I was doing as I made the vest, it took me a few weeks to actually get it into a format that would be easy to follow. I also made a charted pattern for the back panel, which took a bit of time because I’d never written a chart before.

The pattern is available in my Ravelry store. As I said, it’s the first real pattern I’ve ever written, so if you feel like giving it a go, please don’t hesitate to ask for clarifications or give me any suggestions on pattern writing.

I’d love to see any of the first patterns you all designed and to learn more about the pattern design process – leave me a comment if you’ve got any tips or examples of first patterns!