Some of my blog readers have expressed interest in a post about how to adapt a stranded vest pattern to your measurements. Most fair isle or other stranded vests are knitted in a boxy shape, which is not flattering for every body type. Designers tend to stress they will distort the fair isle design if they add shaping, but in my opinion, a boxy shape distorts MY figure and that is more important. Since this is kind of The Year of the Vest in fashion, I decided to dedicate myself to figuring out a stranded vest template for myself. I have to warn my readers, that I tend to knit my vests flat, in two pieces, not in the round. Since many flat stranded patterns are designed for this type of construction, the fair isle pattern breaks into two at each side of the vest, so it's easy to pop in additional shaping at the edges. The pattern is already disrupted; why not disrupt it a little bit more? Those who insist on stranding in the round could just add an additional number of stitches in just the background color for your hip and bust increases/decreases for the waist. Just add in more background stitches to make the garment bigger where you need it and decrease at the waist, and then keep a square panel of the stranded pattern centered in the front and back of the vest. I haven't tried that yet, but in future I may and blog about it here.
Step One of Adding Shaping to a Flat Stranded Vest:
Find a good vest template garment that you have in a solid color.
I chose Kim Hargreaves’ pattern, Clara to use as my template, and knitted it in black. Now I wear this vest constantly. It was my most warn garment on the 2-week cruise I went on in Norway recently.
I chose Clara because it is a V-neck vest knitted flat in two pieces that has a gauge of 28 sts = 4 inches. A v-neck is the most flattering neckline for me. Clara is a shaped vest, and I added additional shaping to suit my figure, and took notes. Kim Hargreaves designs tend to fit the body very well, and so I just added some extra increases and decreases to accommodate my curves, which are beyond a standard size.
Step Two:
Create a notebook to record measurement information. Track your increases and decreases as you knit and adjust your template vest to fit you as well as you can. I determined that for a lightly cropped vest with a gauge of 28 sts = 4”, I should cast on 141 stitches, which for me is about 20” wide at the hips. I worked about 1.5 inches of ribbing straight and then in the stranded section of the pattern, I started decreasing 1 stitch on every side of the piece every 4 rows x 9 to the waist which should be 123 stitches, or 17.5” wide. (18 stitches decreased, or 9 decreases of 2 sitches decreased per row every 4 rows, over 36 rows total). Then I knit one inch straight for the waist, which is about 10 rows. To increase shaping for the bust, I then increased again every four rows (+2 stitches every 4 rows x 13) for a total bust measurement of 21” wide and 149 stitches over 52 rows. These measurements are for ONE HALF of my vest, since I knitted it flat in two pieces. Thus, the total circumference when both pieces are sewn together is 40” at the high hip, 34” at the waist and 42” at the bust. I kept all the instructions for the neck and shoulder the same as my fitted vest template garment. I can post them if anyone is curious in another blog.
This was the recipe I used to knit Keris, a stranded vest pattern by Marie Wallin, and it fits me pretty much perfectly. Since I had managed to maintain the 28 sts = 4” while stranding very consistently using Marie Wallin’s British Breeds yarn, I decided to branch out and knit another vest using this recipe and the British Breeds. The reason I started knitting stranding with a customized recipe is that I adore the fabric of Marie Wallin’s designs but typically the garments do not fit my body type very well. So I chose the stranding chart for Marie Wallin’s Aisling, which I had knitted as a pullover after many struggles with the fit. For the vest, I chose a different color scheme, combining the British Breeds yarn in an ombre effect.
In case anyone else is curious about the order of colors of British Breeds I used, it is as follows:
Thistle
Ocean
Woad
Mallard
Seagrass
Rose
And then repeat.
Again, the Aisling inspired vest fit me pretty perfectly. So far, I am finding my template approach a good success with stranded vests and am tracking all the project measurements, yarn colors and charts in a notebook. Next up, I plan to apply the recipe to a new yarn, Jamieson and Smith 2ply jumper weight. I will be knitting this gorgeous Islay vest by Mary Henderson:
Insert pic
I am trying to discipline myself to finish my Marie Wallin Troutbeck sweater that I am halfway through knitting for my husband first, so it may not be until the fall that I cast on Islay.