Hobbit Vest (with pocketses) by Lisa Chemery

This design is part of The Cottage Garden Vol. 2 collection, which is inspired by the Hobbits imagined by J.R.R. Tolkien in The Lord of the Rings --  their dwellings, their values and way of life.
It is available both as an individual pattern and as part of this eBook.

~~

“What has it got in its pocketses?!” famously asks the creature Gollum to Bilbo the Hobbit while looking for the One Ring in the Goblin tunnels.
Hobbits are fond of vests, particularly richly textured and earthy-colored ones, and this one simply needed to feature lovely little “pocketses” as well.

CONSTRUCTION:

This vest is worked seamlessly from the bottom up. The body is worked flat in one piece to the underarms. Then the back and the two fronts are worked separately, then joined using a three-needle bind off. Stitches along the fronts and back neck are picked up to work the ribbed buttonband in one piece. Stitches are picked up around the armholes to work the ribbed armhole edging in the round. Optional knitted-in pockets can be worked. Their linings require some seaming.

SKILLS REQUIRED:

Casting on, knitting, purling, decreasing, knitting in the round, picking up stitches, three needle bind off. If working pocket option only: seaming (pocket linings), binding off.

SIZES:

3mo (6mo, 12mo, 18mo // 2yo, 4yo, 6yo, 8yo, 10yo)
To fit chest: 16 (17, 18, 19 // 21, 23, 25, 26.5, 28) inches or 40.5 (43, 45.5, 48.5 // 53.5, 58.5, 63.5, 67.5, 71) cm

Garment chest circumference: 19.5 (20.5, 21.25, 22 // 22.5, 24, 26.5, 28, 29.75) inches or 49.5 (52, 54, 56 // 57, 61, 67.5, 71, 75.5) cm

In general it’s best to go by the recipient’s actual chest measurement when selecting the appropriate size instead of the age label. You can also choose a size according to how much ease you’d like the garment to have.

YARN REQUIREMENTS:

Approximately 200 (250, 300, 350 // 400, 450, 500, 550, 600) yds or 183 (229, 274, 320 // 366, 411, 457, 503, 549) meters of worsted weight yarn

NEEDLES:

• US 6 or 4 mm diameter circular needle (or size needed to match textured stitch gauge) 24-inch or 60-cm in length

• US 5 or 3.75 mm diameter circular needle (or one size smaller than above) for ribbed hem and buttonband, in 24-inch or 60-cm length (or longer for sizes 2yo and up).

• matching dpns for armhole edging

NOTIONS:

• 2 lockable markers (6 if making pockets)
• tapestry needle
• 2 stitch holders or pieces of scrap yarn
• 3 (3, 4, 4 // 4, 5, 5, 6, 6) buttons 3/4 inch or 2 cm in diameter

GAUGE:

20 sts x 32 rows = 4 inches or 10 cm in textured stitch, after blocking