I find that many of Kim Hargreaves’ older designs fit me very well, so I knitted her Clara Vest (warning: this links to Ravelry project page) . I did add additional shaping for the waist and bust, which meant reducing approximately every 4 rows to the waist, knitting 21 rows straight, and then increasing every 4 rows to the bust before the armhole shaping. I photographed the garment from multiple angles to ensure the fit was reasonable:
As a result, I am using this as my “template garment” for any fair isle vest I knit this year. The first one up is the Keris vest from Marie Wallin’s new book of designs, Cumbria. I purchased the kit using the British Breeds yarn from The Wooly Thistle and I have completed the back piece.
By some good fortune, the stitch count for Keris (size small) was the same size as the stitch count I used for Clara (size large) so I cast that on. Both patterns used a stitch gauge of 28 sts = 4 inches so I thought they might be interchangeable although Clara is a one-color vest and Keris requires stranded knitting. Anyway, I used the same stitch count for the back piece of Keris as I did for Clara [135 stitches] but I discovered that in spite of having knitted 3 Marie Wallin patterns in a row using British Breeds, the gauge for this garment was not the 28 sts = 4 inches I expected but more like 32!!!!!!. Perhaps it was because I had broken my Knitter’s Pride wood needle I used for the other 3 garments and had to substitute an Addie metal needle, but the resulting stitch gauge was much finer so the hip measurement of the back piece of my Keris came out much smaller than expected. Thank heavens I was measuring as I went along!
My friend helped me determine the back vest piece would still fit (just barely) but I then purchased another Knitter’s Pride wood needle (which will probably break at some point—honestly, I’ve had so many problems with these needles!) and the gauge loosened up to get me closer to the dimensions I wanted. Worrying that still would not be enough, I kept increasing stitches after my 21 row waist so that I ended up with the stitch count at a medium size for the bust (149 stitches) instead of the size small I had intended for Keris (135 stitches). This means the vest piece looks a bit top-heavy, but it will still fit me as it is a very cropped vest and so it does not flare out very much at the bottom.
I am now knitting the front of Keris and due to my gauge issue I have cast on a size medium using 149 stitches. I am again reducing every 4th row to the waist, knitting 21 rows straight for the waist, and then increasing back up to 149 stitches for the bust so that the front and back pieces match where the armholes/armhole finishing needs to be precise. The bust measurement of both pieces with be 20" for a total of 40" which is my exact measurement, so I will achieve my goal of 0 ease in the garment. I am about to reach the armhole of the front piece. I find it fascinating that not all stranded patterns in the same yarn have the same gauge, even though the last 3 did. I’m not sure how large of a role the different knitting needles (metal Addie vs wood Knitter's Pride) played in this; I am guessing quite a bit. I’ll post a new update when I finish Keris. In the meantime, I'm enjoying my Clara vest. Happy Knitting everyone!