Classic Elite Yarns Cleito Vest Knitting Pattern

Classic Elite Yarns Cleito Striped Knit Vest

What Is Being Made

The Cleito is a sleeveless cardigan vest featuring a distinctive two-part construction with a striped skirt section and fitted bodice. This design offers a modern silhouette combining a horizontally-worked lower section with a vertically-worked upper section, creating visual interest through color blocking and strategic construction methods.

Construction Techniques

This vest employs several advanced knitting techniques to achieve its unique structure:

• Seamed construction: The garment is assembled using traditional seaming methods to join sections together
• Worked flat: The majority of the vest is knitted back and forth in rows rather than in the round, allowing for precise shaping and stripe placement
• Side-to-side skirt construction: The skirt portion is worked horizontally from side to side, which creates the striped effect and allows for easy color changes
• Stripe carry-over technique: Unused yarn colors are carried along the top edge of the skirt for each stripe, with twisting every 2 rows to maintain tension and neatness
• Pick-up and knit method: After completing the skirt, stitches are picked up along one side of the skirt for the bodice, approximately 2 stitches for every 3 rows, creating a seamless transition between sections
• Wrap and turn shaping: The pattern utilizes wrap and turn (w&t) techniques for short-row shaping, with wraps hidden by knitting them together with their corresponding stitches

Stitches Used

• Stockinette stitch (St st): The primary stitch throughout the vest, creating a smooth, classic fabric
• Garter stitch: Used for the collar detail, providing texture and structure at the neckline
• Wrap and turn (w&t): A short-row shaping technique where stitches are wrapped and turned to create contoured shaping without visible gaps

Materials and Tools

This pattern is designed for Classic Silk yarn by Classic Elite Yarns, a premium fiber choice that provides drape and elegance to the finished garment. The pattern requires a circular needle to accommodate the large number of stitches, particularly when picking up stitches for the bodice section. The use of a circular needle allows knitters to work flat while managing the increased stitch count comfortably.

Yarn and Color Work

The Cleito features striped colorwork created through alternating sections of main color (MC) and contrasting color (CC). The skirt section displays prominent horizontal stripes created by working 14 rows in one color, then switching to the alternate color for the next 14 rows. This color-blocking technique is repeated multiple times, with the number of repeats varying by size (6 to 10 additional repeats depending on the finished dimensions). The stripe pattern is carried throughout the design, creating a cohesive visual effect from skirt to bodice.

Sizing and Finished Dimensions

The pattern is available in multiple sizes, with the skirt section measuring between 32 to 48 inches from cast-on edge to bind-off, depending on the selected size. The bodice is worked to a depth of 2 to 3 inches before the dividing row, which separates the front and back sections for armhole shaping.

Design Details

The Cleito vest features a cardigan-style front opening created by binding off 8 stitches at the dividing row to form the center front gap. The bodice is shaped to accommodate right front, back, and left front sections, with stitches distributed across sizes ranging from 33 to 52 stitches per front panel and 76 to 112 stitches for the back section. A garter stitch collar completes the neckline, adding a refined finishing touch to this elegant sleeveless design.