Ria

Ria Eyelet Vest for Baby

What Is Being Made

Ria is a beginner-friendly eyelet vest designed for babies, created by designer Maria Montzka and published by Stitched in Sweden. This downloadable knitting pattern produces a sleeveless waistcoat-style garment sized to fit newborns through 18-month-old babies, with chest measurements ranging from 14 to 19 inches (35.5 to 48 centimeters). The vest is intended to be worn with zero ease or negative ease, meaning it fits snugly to the body without extra room. The finished garment is fastened with three buttons, each approximately 1 centimeter in diameter, making it practical for dressing babies while maintaining a polished, handmade aesthetic.

Knitting Techniques and Stitches

This pattern employs fundamental knitting techniques suitable for beginners, incorporating several essential stitch manipulations. The construction uses knit and purl stitches as the foundation, combined with eyelet details that create decorative openwork throughout the garment. Shaping is achieved through standard increase and decrease methods, including knit front and back (kfb) for creating new stitches, make 1 (m1) increases worked by lifting the strand between stitches and knitting through the back loop, and knit 2 together (k2tog) decreases. The pattern also incorporates slip, slip, knit (ssk) decreases for left-leaning shaping, and yarn over (yo) stitches that form the characteristic eyelet holes. The vest is worked flat and assembled, with cast-on and bind-off edges creating finished edges suitable for button bands.

Materials and Yarn Specifications

The Ria Eyelet Vest requires sport weight yarn in quantities ranging from approximately 160 to 280 yards (146 to 256 meters) depending on the size selected. The pattern calls for Quince & Co. Chickadee yarn, requiring between 1 and 2 skeins depending on the baby's age and size. In addition to yarn, the project requires knitting needles appropriate for sport weight yarn and three buttons, each measuring approximately 1 centimeter in diameter, for the front closure. The modest yardage requirement makes this an ideal project for using yarn from a crafter's stash or for creating multiple vests in different colors.

Pattern Details and Sizing

• Newborn size: 14 inches (35.5 centimeters) chest
• 3-month size: 15 inches (38 centimeters) chest
• 6-month size: 16 inches (40.5 centimeters) chest
• 9-month size: 17 inches (43 centimeters) chest
• 12-month size: 18 inches (45.5 centimeters) chest
• 18-month size: 19 inches (48 centimeters) chest

The pattern includes a schematic for reference, allowing knitters to verify finished measurements before beginning. The 3-month size shown in the pattern photography was knitted in Quince & Co. Chickadee yarn, providing a visual reference for color and finished appearance.