Little Girls Swing Vest

I wanted to knit something with this new yarn I picked up a Micheal's.  The color is called Fiesta!  I absolutely love the colors in real life.  I took this picture with my iphone and the colors are somewhat close to actual, but not spot on.  I wanted to make something quick, so that I could really good ahead and enjoy those colors.  I was inspired by a pattern for a doll sweater that I found on ravelry.  Although I basically followed her pattern as a recipe I had to come up with new numbers of stitches and measurements in order to get a garment for a 2-4 year old.  It fits both my 2 year old and my 4 year old, so it should get a lot of use.

What to get:
Less than 244 yards of worsted weight yarn in your color choice.
size 10 needles.  I used 16" circular, but this can be worked on straight needles as well or longer circulars.
button


Start by casting on 64 stitches.
Knit 2 rows.  On the 3rd row knit to the final 4 stitches.  Yarn over.  K2tog.  K2.
Knit for 3 more rows.
From this point out make sure that you keep 5 stitches at the beginning and end of each row in garter stitch.  The rest will be in stochinette stitch.  (I can't spell.)
So on this row you will knit 5 stitches, then knit in the front and back of each stitch all the way across to the last 5 stitches which you will knit.
Next row purl.
Next row K5, then (K1, Kfb) repeat across to last 5 stiches, K5.  At this point I believe that you will have 172 stitches.  If my memory serves me correct.
Now continue knitting in st stitch with your garter stitch border for 4".  That is 4" from where you started st stitch. Finish on a purl row.
At this point you will knit 28. This will be the first front part of your vest. You could place a marker here but you don't have to.  Next knit 33 stitches.  This is a sleeve.  Turn your work and knit those 33 stitches again.  Turn and bind off those 33 stitches.  Now knit the next 50 stitches.  This is the back of the vest.  Knit the next 33 stitches.  Turn and knit those 33 stitches again.  Then turn and bind off those 33 stitches.  Then knit the remaining 28 stitches.
On the following row you will purl and join all of your remaining stitches to make the sleeves.
Continue in st stitch for about 6 to 6.5 inches.  Remember your garter stitch border of 5 stitches on each side.
Then knit 7 row for a garter stitch border at the bottom.  You could do it for 5 rows if you like, because the garter border on mine has a tendency to want to flip up and I feel like if I had made it a little thinner it might not flip up as bad.  Then you can bind off all you stitches.
Last thing is to sew on your button.

This will be great in the fall with a long sleeve shirt underneath.  I finished this in about a day and half due to the fact that the pattern calls for larger sized needles.  I really love any project that is a quick knit a I am one of those people who revels in instant gratification.