Saw this vest in two versions at Stitches West. First version was in Louet Euroflax Sportweight as the pattern calls for. The second was in Claudia Handpaint Linen Laceweight. The orange yarn caught my eye for my mom, who had a birthday coming up two weeks after stitches! However, the pattern looked too short. It is a cute cropped vest, but there is cute, and there is elegant. Longer seemed more elegant and that is what I was thinking of for my mom! So I got two skeins to account for the extra length. (Didn’t need the second one, as it turned out.)

The pattern is very minimalist and shows no schematic, so although it is a simple, mostly stockinette pattern, a beginning knitter might have a hard time with making modifications.

Here are the modifications I made:
I got gauge with size 8 needles. Rav page says 4.5 st per 4 inches (!), but the printed pattern actually calls for 18 stitches per 4 inches. According to gauge the cast on edge (the length) was 14 inches. I wanted more length so cast on 91 stitches for an extra 6 inches in length.

The extra length I added did not change the length of the armholes. The length of the armholes is about 8 inches.

The panels and back are all set to be 15 inches across. I was a concerned that the measurement of 15 inches was too small, but measured a few tops and 15 from bra strap to bra strap seemed fine for a medium. I may have been a tiny bit generous in my measurement of 15 inches, so that it would still be a size medium even with some shrinkage in the washing.

Tip: I put the ball/cake of yarn in a ziplock bowl because the outside started to fall off immediately and was getting tangled. This worked brilliantly! The container was the perfect size for the center pull ball.

I washed and then froze the garment and then ironed the frozen fabric. I had learned this tip from a weaver about softening linen. Then I pinned it out for blocking, dampening it again with a wet washcloth laid over it after I pinned it out. Dried overnight. More hot, hot, hot ironing. Now it is ready for buttons!

LOVE this!!!!! Lacy, elegant, and gorgeous!

P.S. I am wearing it in the pictures and it is big for me. Mom is about 8” taller than I am and more of a Med/Large. I am usually an XS/S. Hope that gives you an idea of the fit of the modifications I did.