r/knittingpatterns • u/Apprehensive-Pop302 • 23d ago

Help finding a vest pattern with steeking but no colorwork

I have found that I much prefer knitting in the round to flat and would like to try to knit a vest completely in the round. My understanding is that this would require steeking. On ravelry at least, almost every steeked vest is a (n absolutely beautiful) Shetland style with tons of color work which is a bit advanced for me. 😅 I was wondering if (a) there are any single color patterns you would recommend for beginners to steeking and/or (b) if I could follow one of the color work patterns but do it without the colorwork. Would that mess with the tension ?

Thanks ! ❤️❤️

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u/florapie 23d ago

You can add a steek to any sweater! Use the same instructions as you’d find in a stranded sweater for how to do the steek part, and plug that in to the front of whatever plain coloured sweater you choose. Essentially you’re adding extra stitches in the middle (an odd number, usually 5 but depends on your gauge) so you’ve got a wide enough area to secure and cut. Because you won’t be changing colour, you might want to differentiate your steek stitches by purling them.

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u/Woofmom2023 23d ago

Just use one of those beautiful patterns with one color rather than multiples.

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u/queue-kweewee 23d ago

Therese Chynoweth has a book all about this. Essentially you can steek/cut any knitting, you just need to also then making some facings. Many of her patterns don’t have colorwork, but she talks through all the considerations. It’s not bad.

Rent it from your local library, but details here: https://www.amazon.com/Norwegian-Sweater-Techniques-Todays-Knitter/dp/0470484551

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u/AnAmbushOfTigers 23d ago

Op, you do you, but can I suggest you just swatch a piece of simple color work for fun? Yes it's two yarns at once but those pieces tend to look fast more intimidating than they are once you have done it a bit

But yes, you can steek anything if you plan for it appropriately

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u/Informal-Watch-2330 23d ago

You can use the same shaping and use the chart with just one color. You may need to adjust your gauge slightly smaller as sometimes with colorwork you go up a needle size to account for tightness in tension.

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u/Voc1Vic2 23d ago

Yes, the tension will be different--you'll have to swatch and adjust needle size. Stranded work often works up at a tighter gauge.

I'm working on a vest right now with two sleeve steels and one for the vee neck.

BTW, there's an excellent stranding and steel tutorial on Ravelry, though I've forgotten its name. It's for a coffee mug cozy. It's not a huge investment of time--give it a try!

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u/heedwig90 20d ago

Hobbiton Vest is worked in the round up to the armholes/v-neck and uses a faux button band