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Harbor Ridge Knit Vest & Sweater

Harbor Ridge is two patterns in one: knit it as written for a classic zip-front vest, or add the optional sleeves and turn it into a full sweater. Either way, you get a textured Seersucker Stitch yoke over a smooth Stockinette body, a ribbed zip front, and a cozy shawl-style collar that’s picked up and folded for a clean, tailored finish.

This one was originally featured in Jolly Holiday Vol 3 (2025), and it’s a fantastic project if you’re ready to move from accessories into your first real garment. The Seersucker Stitch panel gives you just enough texture to keep things interesting, while the rest of the piece stays in friendly Stockinette.

Whether you knit it as a vest or go all in on the sweater version, this is a piece that gets worn constantly, layered over a button-down or on its own.

What You’ll Love About This Pattern
Two patterns in one: vest as written, or add sleeves for a full sweater
Textured Seersucker Stitch yoke over a Stockinette body
Zip front with optional pockets
Ribbed shawl collar, folded and joined with a Three-Needle Bind-off for a polished edge
Sized from XS through 5X
Adventurous Beginner friendly

Pattern Format and Support

This pattern includes full written instructions with stitch counts at every stage, a schematic, a linked stitch chart for the Seersucker pattern, and a set of video tutorials covering the long tail cast-on (plus how to fix it), the knit and purl stitch in continental style, tinking, mattress stitch, adding a lifeline, burying ends, and washing and blocking.

Pattern Details
Designer: Marly Bird
Craft: Knitting
Skill level: Adventurous Beginner
Sizes: XS (S, M, L, XL, 2X, 3X, 4X, 5X)
Fit: Intended to be worn with 2” of ease
Construction: Back, fronts, and optional sleeves worked flat and separately, then seamed. Vest is worked on a circular needle to hold the full width of stitches
Yarn weight: Worsted (CYCA #4)
Needles: US 8 5mm circular needle, 32” length, plus a spare circular needle in the same size for the Three-Needle Bind-off, or size needed to get gauge
Gauge: 18 sts = 4” in Stockinette st; 18 sts = 4” in Seersucker st

Skills You’ll Practice

Ribbing, Stockinette and Seersucker stitch patterns, M1 and M1p increases, ssk decreases, three-needle bind-off, picking up stitches for the collar and armhole edgings, and sewing in a separating zipper.

Why You’ll Enjoy Making It

This is a project that grows with you. You’ll start in friendly ribbing and Stockinette, then get to switch things up with the Seersucker texture across the chest, so your hands stay engaged without the whole piece feeling like a challenge. And because it’s really two patterns in one, you can decide partway through whether you want a vest or a sweater, or knit it once each way.

Make It Your Own

Add the optional sleeves to turn this from a vest into a full sweater, or leave them off and finish the armholes with the ribbed edging instead. The optional pockets are a nice functional touch if you want them, and the optional leather tag and rivets are a fun way to personalize the finished piece.

Marly’s Tip

When wet blocking, support the entire garment as you lift it so no section stretches out of shape, and be careful not to overstretch the damp fabric while pinning it out to your schematic measurements.

Get the Pattern

This pattern is available as a downloadable PDF.

This pattern was originally published in Jolly Holiday Vol 3 (2025).