On this page you’ll find tips & tutorials to help you make your own Nordic Trail Vest! I cover the following topics:

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Sizing Tips

I suggest picking a size that is approx 3-8”/8-20 cm larger than your actual chest measurement, depending on desired fit. For example, if your bust measures 40″, then 3-8″ larger than this would be a range of 43-48″. So based on that, Size 4 (45.5″) would be within that range. However, if you wanted a more tailored fit, then size 3 (41″) would give just 1″ of positive ease (so perhaps better if you wanted a more open-style vest) or if you wanted a more oversized fit, then size 5 (50″) would give you 10″ of positive ease.

So it all depends on how you want to wear it. I’m wearing size 3 (41″) with 7-8″ of positive ease because I wanted a more roomy fit. But you may want a more tailored look that lays closer to your body – if so, I’d suggest picking a size on the lower end of the range, or even less (1-2″ of ease).

When in doubt, measure the width of a vest or other layering piece from your closet that wears similarly to how you want to wear Nordic Trail. Compare that measurement to the “B – Back Width” measurement in the pattern’s schematic on page 11 and pick a size that most closely matches it.

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Yarn Info & Ideas

I suggest using an aran/bulky-weight yarn for Nordic Trail. I used Juniper Moon Farm’s Santa Cruz Organic Merino which is classified as an aran-weight but I find it knits up like a light bulky, so it did well at the pattern gauge of 14.5 stitches & 22 rows = 4″ (a very common gauge for bulky yarns). The other thing I like about using more of an aran/light-bulky is that the fabric is a little looser and it gives the vest some nice drape.

I purchased the Santa Cruz yarn last year, at the Yarn Sellar in York, Maine. Another shop that has a lot of colors available as well is Wool & Company (in Illinois). Below are some other yarn options that I think would pair nicely with this pattern!

• Other wool or wool-blend options:
  • Queensland Falkland Chunky
  • Berroco Ultra Alpaca Chunky
  • Berroco Vintage Chunky
  • Berroco Ultra Wool Chunky
  • Malabrigo Vientos
  • Sandnes Garn Fritidsgarn
  • Cascade Eco or Eco+
• Chainette blends (that will feel light even if they’re bulky!)
  • Woolfolk Luft
  • Berroco Emberstone
  • Berroco Hearthside
  • Sandnes Garn Kos
• Non-wool options:
  • Sandnes Garn Tykk Line
  • Berroco Remix Chunky

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Gauge Tips

Nordic Trail has a gauge of 14.5 sts & 22 rows = 4″. Here are some FAQ’s regarding this gauge for this pattern:

Row Gauge FAQ’s

Stitch gauge is more important than row gauge, so don’t worry if you can’t attain the exact same row gauge. If your row gauge is different, the only area that you will need to possibly adjust is in the armhole depth (so the part of the pattern after the Underarm Divide). Here is what I suggest:

• The goal is for your armhole depth to measure approx. 8 (8.25, 8.75, 9, 9.5) (9.75, 10.5, 11.25, 12)” from the Underarm (this is of course after-blocking, so just keep that in mind if you learn through your swatching that your fabric grows in length post-blocked).
• If your gauge is tighter (i.e, you’re getting more rows per inch): You’ll want to add more rows to your armhole depth. Here is what I suggest:
  • In Right Front – Section 5, after completing that section, just repeat rows 2-3 more times until the proper armhole length is achieved (making sure to end after working a WS row).
  • Make note of how many additional rows you worked, and replicate that in Left Front – Section 5 as well as Upper Back – Section 3.
• If your gauge is looser (i.e, you’re getting less rows per inch): You’ll want to subtract rows from your armhole depth. Here is what I suggest:
  • In Right Front – Section 5, remove rows 5 & 6 so that the section only has 4 rows. And then follow the instructions for that section as written (but without rows 5 & 6). If after completing the section your armhole depth is less than the measurements noted above, then repeat rows 2 & 3 until it does.
  • Make note of all of these adjustments made so you can replicate in Left Front – Section 5 as well as Upper Back – Section 3.

Knitting Nordic Trail at a tighter different stitch gauge

If you have trouble attaining the stitch gauge of 14.5 sts = 4″, or just prefer your yarn’s fabric at a slightly looser/tighter gauge, it’s actually a pretty simple alteration to make! So long as the gauge is not too too far off, (say, between 14-16 sts = 4″), then you can just knit a different size in order to get your desired finished measurements. Below I have provided what the approximate finished circumference will be of each of the sizes at either 14 sts = 4″, 15 sts = 4″, or 16 sts = 4″:

• If your gauge is 14 sts = 4″: 33 (37.5, 42.5, 47, 51.5) (56, 60.5, 65, 65.5)”
  • Since this is only a .5 stitch looser, it will just make the vest a little larger – approx .5″-1.5″ larger – than what’s listed in the pattern. So you may want to still knit the same size as you were planning, or perhaps 1 size smaller depending on how much ease you wanted.
• If your gauge is 15 sts = 4″: 31 (35, 39.5, 43.5, 48) (52.5, 56.5, 61, 65)”
  • So in general, you may want to consider knitting a size larger in order to get close to the circumference of your desired size.
• If your gauge is 16 sts = 4″: 29 (33, 37, 41, 45) (49, 53, 57, 61)”
  • So in general, you may want to consider knitting 2 sizes larger in order to get close to the circumference of your desired size.

Because your row gauge will also be tighter, also refer to the above FAQ that addresses what to do if your row gauge is tighter (this pertains to the armhole depth area).

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The Faux Side Seam

One little detail you’ll find in Nordic Trail is that it features a faux “side seam” on each side. This helps to provide a bit of structure to the piece but without having to hand-seam. It’s created simply by working 2 stitches in reverse stockinette stitch when working the body between the hem and the underarm (the pattern provides exact instructions about this).

However, if you aren’t a fan of this look, you can choose to omit the faux side seams and simply work the sides in regular stockinette stitch. If you want to do this, just don’t place the side seam markers and work the entire body in stockinette stitch (other than the eyelets and lace panel of course).

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Working the Back Lace Stitch Pattern

The Back Lace Panel that is featured on Nordic Trail’s Back is called the “vandyke lace” stitch pattern and it’s worked over the 17 stitches in-between the 2 back lace panel stitch markers. In the pattern I have provided written-out instructions for this 6-row pattern as well as provided a chart on the last page. For a video lesson on how to work this stitch pattern, click here for my YouTube tutorial.

Tips for keeping track of which row you’re on:

When working the back lace panel in the Body section, the pattern specifies which row of the stitch pattern you’re on. However, when working the Upper Back, you will have to keep track on your own. Here are some tips that may help:

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Omitting the lace for a simpler look

Are you a more beginner knitter or just prefer a much simpler look to your vest? You can simply omit the back lace panel! To do so, just omit the placement of the back lace panel markers and instead work the back in plain stockinette stitch (knit on RS rows, purl on WS rows).

You can also choose to omit the front eyelets as well. However, if you decide to do this, I would still suggest placing the markers for the “front eyelet” but just working those first and last 8 stitches in plain stockinette stitch. The reason for this is because later on in the pattern when working the neck shaping, you’ll need the markers placed in order to know where the neck shaping occurs.

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Technique Tutorials

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Picking Up Stitches

You’ll be instructed to pick-up and knit stitches for each armhole as well as for the front bands. Click here to view my page that has lots of different tutorials related to picking-up stitches.

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Picking Up Armhole Stitches

In the Armhole Trim section, under the “Picking Up Stitches” sub-section, there are 7 steps listed. The first couple of steps involve picking-up and knitting not only the leftside underarm bound-off stitches but also the lower edge bound-off stitches – these were the stitches initially bound-off in the first couple of rows after the Underarm Divide and they look like stair steps in the lower curve of the armhole.

So before starting, what might be helpful is to use some locking stitch markers to frame the area where these lower edge bound-off stitches are. In the photo below, you can see I’ve attached a locking marker at the furthest left edge of the underarm bound-off stitches as well as another one at the top of where the lower edge bound-off stitches end (so after the stair-step looking stitches).

So then in step 1, you pick-up and knit the leftside underarm stitches, and then in step 2, you pick-up those stair-step stitches between the locking markers (and the pattern specifies the exact number). Below are some visuals of this:

Then in step 4, you’re just picking-up and knitting along the vertical edge – you can refer to the above section on this tips page about picking-up and knitting for tutorials about this.

Then in steps 5-7 you’re just repeating what you’ve already done but on the other side of the armhole.

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Tips for Working Front Bands

Picking-up stitches

You will be starting at the bottom of the Right Front and picking-up and knitting stitches all the way up the Right Front, then along the Back Neck, and then down the Left Front. So, that’s a lot of stitches! And it might not be the most comfortable on a 32″ circular. So it’s most ideal if you have a 40″ (or longer) circular to work with – if you have an interchangeable circular needle set, this should be totally feasible (either using the 40″ cable, or even using a connector and making the cable even longer than this).

But if you don’t use interchangeable needles, there’s another option you can consider and that is using two 32″ circulars to hold the stitches and then a third to actually knit with. Here is how that works:

Step 1: First, pick-up and knit all of your stitches as instructed on one circular. I personally found it ok to just use one 32″ circular for this process.

Step 2: On my first row (which is a WS row), I worked as instructed but made sure to stop when I was about half-way through the back neck stitches (making sure to end after working a p2).

Step 3: I then slide the stitches that I had just worked down the circular so they were no longer near the needle tip. I then took a second 32″ circular and continued working the row but this time working the stitches onto the new circular. I continued until all stitches were worked.

At the end of this, here is how my work looked – my stitches are divided between a light wood circular and a dark wood circular:

Step 4: Now that all of my stitches are on two 32″ circular, I’ll need to incorporate a third 32″ circular. In the photos below, my third needle is the green circular and it will be my “working needle”. I start the next row working the stitches from the dark wood circular onto this green circular.

Step 5: Once I get to the end of the dark wood circular, I’ve then successfully worked all of the stitches from the dark wood circ to the green circ. So now the dark wood circular becomes my “working needle”, so I’ll slide the stitches that are on the dark wood circ away from the needle tip and begin working the stitches from the light wood circ onto the dark wood circ.

And so you would just continue in this manner throughout working the Front Bands section.

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Adding Buttonholes

As written, Nordic Trail doesn’t have buttonholes but it’s something you can definitely add if you think you’d prefer the option to button your vest up. Here is what you would do to add buttonholes:

• Step 1: Work the Front Band instructions as written, but just until it measures approx 1″, ending after after working a WS row – make note of how many rows this is.
• Step 2: With the RS of the work facing you, use locking markers to mark where you want your buttonholes to go, along the Right Front. The marker should always be placed in-between 2 purl stitches and I typically like to place my first one 7 stitches in from the bottom. And then I would place remaining markers 12 stitches apart (if you want them further apart, you can do 16 stitches apart).
• Step 3: On the next row, start the row as follows: k2, p2, k2, p1, remove marker, yo, k2tog, k1, *[p2, k2] to 1 st before next marker, p1, remove marker, yo, k2tog, k1; rep from * through last marker, then [p2, k2] to end.
• Step 4: Then you would continue working the established rib pattern for the same number of rows as that worked in step 1, and then bind-off in pattern as instructed.

For a video tutorial of all this, you can refer to my YouTube lesson here (it’s for a different pattern but the technique is the same!).

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Blocking Tips

It’s very important to block your Nordic Trail because that is what will really open up the eyelets and the back lace pattern. Below is a picture of my sample before blocking as well as after – it really makes a big difference!

Another helpful tip regarding blocking is that when I laid it flat to dry on my blocking tiles, I made sure the front bands were overlapping. Nordic Trail’s dimensions are such that the front bands overlap so it would be best for it to dry in that position, as shown below:

A Post-Blocking Tip

To open up the faux side seam on your Nordic Trail, I highly recommend hand-steaming the sides. This will relax the stitches a bit in that area. Here is a photo of me using my hand-steamer on the sides:

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