Erika Vest in Adriafil Cheope - Downloadable PDF

Erika Vest in Adriafil Cheope – Free Knitting Pattern (Downloadable PDF)

The Erika Vest is a classic, elegantly shaped sleeveless knitted vest — also known as a slipover — designed for women and worked in Adriafil Cheope yarn. This free downloadable PDF pattern produces a sophisticated two-tone garment featuring a striking colour-block design: a warm antique pink lower body transitioning into a cream upper body and yoke. With its tailored side shaping, V-neckline, and neat ribbed border, the Erika Vest is a versatile wardrobe piece suited to intermediate knitters comfortable with shaping techniques.

What Is Being Made

The finished project is a fitted, sleeveless vest (slipover) knitted flat in two separate pieces — a back and a front — which are then seamed together. The design features shaped side seams that taper inward toward the waist before flaring gently back out toward the underarm, creating a flattering silhouette. The upper portion includes carefully worked armhole (sleeve hole) shaping and, on the front piece, a deep V-neckline with gradual decreases for a clean, polished finish. The pattern is written for size 46 as the primary size, with sizes 42 and 44 given in parentheses throughout.

Materials Required

• Yarn: Adriafil Cheope — a total of 400 g, comprising 250 g in antique pink no. 99 and 150 g in cream no. 11
• Knitting needles: Standard knitting needles no. 4 (used for the main body fabric)
• Circular or long needles: no. 3 (used for the elastic rib borders)
• Tapestry needle for seaming and finishing

Yarn & Weight

Adriafil Cheope is a DK weight yarn, making it an ideal choice for a structured yet lightweight vest. The two-colour approach — antique pink for the lower body and cream for the upper yoke — creates a clean horizontal colour transition that adds visual interest without complex colourwork techniques such as stranding or intarsia.

Tension / Gauge

The pattern specifies a gauge of 22 stitches and 31 rows over 10 × 10 cm, worked in knit stitch on no. 4 needles. Achieving this gauge is important for ensuring the finished vest matches the intended measurements across all three sizes.

Stitches Used

• Elastic rib — worked at the cast-on border for approximately 2.5 cm using the finer no. 3 needles, providing stretch and a neat lower edge
• Knit stitch (stocking stitch / garter stitch variant) — the primary fabric stitch used throughout the main body of both the back and front pieces
• Knit stitch to end the elastic rib — a transitional row used to move cleanly from the ribbed border into the main body fabric

Techniques Used

• Side shaping with decreases and increases: The sides are decreased by 1 stitch at each end every 8 rows, 11 times, to shape the waist. Increases are then worked — 1 stitch every 6 rows 6 times, followed by 1 stitch every 4 rows twice — to build back out toward the underarm. This creates the characteristic hourglass silhouette of the Erika Vest.
• Colour change: At 35 cm (31–33 cm for smaller sizes) from the border, the yarn changes from antique pink no. 99 to cream no. 11. This is worked simultaneously with the side increases, requiring the knitter to manage two shaping sequences at once.
• Armhole (sleeve hole) shaping: Worked by decreasing 2 stitches every 2 rows and every 4 rows inside a 3-stitch border, creating smooth,