Is there a type of garment that you haven’t made yet? Perhaps you've never knitted (or worn!) a vest before. Or maybe you’ve already made a few and you’re looking for a pattern that feels fresh—something quick, transitional, and size-inclusive for the season ahead.

I was in the first camp when I tuned into an Instagram Live one afternoon, where two besties talked all about a vest-along they were about to participate in. As they excitedly chatted about silhouettes, textures, and how they’d style a vest, I couldn't think about anything else. Before the live even ended, I’d grabbed the nearest notepad and scribbled a few rough sketches based on another pattern I had in test knitting at the time.

The first sketch was heavily cabled, front and back. “Keep it simple!”, I thought to myself. But it was the third sketch—the last one on that notepad—that stood out as “the one.”

I started a spreadsheet and ordered yarn faster than it took you to read this sentence. One package was coming from another state, the other from a couple hours north of me. Tracking said nearly a week. Torture!

To my relief, the yarn arrived four days sooner than estimated, and just in time for me to work on it while podcasting and watching You’ve Got Mail with my own bestie during her visit from Canada. There’s something special about knitting with someone you love in the room, even if you’re both just doing your own thing.

As I made progress on the pattern and then worked on a second sample, my husband—completely unaware of what (or who!) had inspired me to drop everything else—started calling it the Bestie Vestie. I loved how that name rolled off the tongue. It was cute, memorable, and different from anything I’ve named before.

The icing on the cake: 90 test knitters helped bring this pattern to life, and so many of them said the same thing—this is the best-fitting thing they’ve ever made. If you decide to make one too, whether as your first vest or a new one to add to a growing collection, I hope that it’s your Bestie Vestie yet.

Kids change quickly, but the joy of knitting for them never does.

I first designed the Bittie Bestie Vestie for the same tiny human who once toddled around in the Little Nydia Cardigan. She’s not tiny anymore, of course. She’s taller now, a little braver in her choices, and full of Opinions with a capital O.

When she spotted me working on this vest, she reached for the fuzzy ball of mohair like she already knew it belonged to her. I dared to ask if she liked the color, and she gave me this tiny, shy nod that said, Obviously. That was all the approval I needed.

Naturally, once hers was finished, I couldn’t leave her little brother out. But I didn’t want a twin set; I wanted each vest to have its own personality. So the second version came to be: one soft and airy with mohair and lace, the other clean and classic with a smooth wool and a crisp texture, both sharing the same signature cables and “instant favorite” energy as the adult Bestie Vestie.

The vest itself is worked bottom up with seamless construction, smart shaping, and just enough variety to keep the knit engaging. It’s friendly for newer knitters, still fun for the veterans, and supported with step-by-step video tutorials so you always know exactly where you’re headed.