In the end, I ripped this back for the yarn because I just wasn’t wearing this and, after giving it to my mother (who gave it back), neither was she…

Gauge - Preblocked (note that the yarn was used previously and was kinky so preblocked gauge may be slightly off):

US8 - Stockinette 18.5 st and 28R in 4”
US9 - Stockinette 17.5 st and 25R in 4”
US9 - Garter (single strand) 20.75st and 32R in 4”
US 10 - Garter (double strand) 19.5 st 28R in 4”
US 10 - Seed (double strand) - forgot to measure…

US 10.5 - Seed stitch (double strand) - 13st and 24R in 4”

Postblocked:

US8 - Stockinette 19 st and 26R in 4”
US9 - Stockinette 18.5 st and 23R in 4”
US9 - Garter (single strand) 18st and 29R in 4”
US 10 - Garter (double strand) 14.5 st 28R in 4”
US10 - Seed (double strand) 12 st and 25R in 4” (3st x 6.25R per inch)

US 10.5 - Seed stitch (double strand) - 14st and 24R in 4” Gauge too open so stick with US10

I’ve decided to make this pattern with altered length and using needles that don’t yield instructed gauge, for size 3. Part way through the double stranded seed stitch front, I opted to block the fabric (seed stitch) to confirm the gauge… The vertical gauge is really difficult to pin down on the double-stranded (aka chunky-weight) front piece because the yarn is very springy and the seed stitch stretches at a diff rate than the garter stitch.

Back Body:
To make the vest ~21” long (vs 17.3”) on back body at the largest size - note that I’m making something between sizes 2 - 3 in terms of horizontal measurements and it would appear that there’s a reasonable amount of horizontal give in the front body, given large gauge, so it doesn’t appear that there’s a lot of need to go up a size if you’re between):

• At my gauge on US8 needle (produces preferred fabric density in stockinette), I cast on 67st and work as pattern instructs for 136 rows in total, broken down as follows: 16R/2.5” rib 75R or 11.5” stockinette, 46R or 7.0” for the armscye (combo seed and stockinette for 30R followed by full seed stitch for 16R).

Front Body:
To make the front vest the same proportionate length AND to make it the width of the size 3, given my different row gauge:

• After a few tries with up to 55 st on a US 10.5 at cast on (way too wide) I cast on 33 st on US 10 needle, holding yarn double.

• Work 79R in seed stitch (or 12.75”) per pattern instructions. Somehow this expanded to 13.5” after blocking, probably because the fabric is so dense and the stitches are so large. The swatch didn’t tell the whole story. (* Also note that some of these rows are to account for an extra 1.75” of length because the back body has been lengthened by ~3.5” and half of that should be absorbed by each side of the front body rectangle. I’ve opted to keep the garter section at the length stipulated for the size 3 (17.75”) because I am narrow in the shoulders and I need the length on the seed stitch panels for reasons noted above.)

• Work 118R in garter stitch (17.75” once blocked) per pattern instructions. Note that this is 59R on either side of the centre of the panel. So each half of the panel (aka one side of seed stitch plus half of the garter panel) should block to ~23”.

• Work 79R in seed stitch per pattern instructions.* Cast off. Use a CO analogous to German twisted cast on: https://strandsoflife.com/modified-icelandic-bind-off/

276R worked altogether.

Yardage used for back body: 91g / 231 yards

Yardage used for front body: 241g / 612 yards

Seaming: The reason I didn’t give this pattern 5 stars is because there’s basically no information to guide the seaming process and, if you’re a new knitter (as this designer posits you might be given that this is a first “easy” sweater-like project), the seaming is likely the most convoluted part of the entire experience. Effectively, stitch ratios will be relevant presuming you opt to mattress stitch - and that’s the kind of seaming that will produce a beautiful (“seamless”) end result.

It would be wise to take post-blocked gauge of the following vertical measurements (just to be certain that they have remained consistent with what your blocked swatch indicated before you started knitting) because you will be seaming stitches, having different vertical ratios, to each other and you need to know those ratios:

1. Front double-stranded seed stitch section to Back single-stranded ribbing section
2. Front double-stranded seed stitch stitch section to Back single-stranded stockinette section
3. Front double-stranded garter section to Back single-stranded seed stitch section. (Important note: in this part of the seaming, you’ll measure the horizontal gauge for the Back piece because that’s the part that’s being seamed.)

Next, if it’s new to you, I recommend that you look up tutorials on mattress stitch, such as seaming seed to garter and stockinette to seed. I couldn’t find any videos on seaming stockinette to seed but the premise is the same as seaming garter to seed. Remember that the double-stranded fabric is likely to have a very diff gauge than your single-stranded fabric (never mind the different stitch patterns which would naturally produce different vertical gauges) just given that the yarn is twice as thick. Depending on your level of confidence, you can pin the garment (including easing the garter portion into the back piece), and “wing it”. But I’d still recommend mattress stitch for a clean finish.

About Altering the Sizing: This was almost easier to hack by knitting in segments of pre-determined length and then blocking to confirm how the front piece grows to conform in length to the back piece. It doesn’t help that my yarn is springy but heavy (the front) and that I didn’t get gauge or work with the same yarn weight as suggested, nor did I maintain the pattern-proposed vertical measurements. My sense is that the length of the front piece should be about 11% smaller in full distance than the 2 side body (lengths) of the back piece PLUS the width of the back piece at the top (the seed stitch end).

If one has more projected breasts, the length of the seed stitch segments will need to be longer than instructed (at size) to get to the same height on the upper chest (as shown in the marketing photo). I have high-set breasts and a narrow frame so I don’t need quite as much length, proportionately, in the garter section (the part that creates the neck and shoulders of the vest) as the pattern instructs.

Altering this pattern was a bitch but I did learn some interesting things and, if I like it, I can always knit this vest again for myself - as this one will likely go to my mother.

If I decide to make this again to my proportions (lengthened substantially) I’ll need ~91g of worsted yarn for back body and 240g of worsted yarn for the front body. I’d also cut about 0.5” from the back length on the next go round (or add an inch to the front piece (i.e. 0.5” on either side of the seed stitch) but I do want slightly more length in the back body than on the front because the front fabric is heavy and it will stretch. If I opt to use DK yarn or something woolen-spun, I’ll get a lighter sweater, which would be preferable, so I might try making this again, at some point, in DK and estimating the number of yards required. Don’t forget to, swatch again with DK yarn to ensure that you can get the same gauge using thinner yarn.

This is NOT a light-weight garment, at least not in worsted-spun, worsted-weight yarn. The reason that my numbers don’t add up in terms of grams used, above, is because I had to marl one strand of one dye lot with another, for 2/3 of the project, because the strands weren’t exactly the same shade (diff dyelots).

According to the pattern info, the size med is designed to use about 750 yards (which is about what I used) and I made mine almost 3” longer than instructed at the largest size. But I also used 2 strands of worsted-weight vs DK.

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Keep information below for a later date in the event that you opt to make the Ribblesdale Vest using this same yarn, grey colourway (in stash)

Ribblesdale swatch in brioche:

Preblocked US 8: 16st and 22R (or 23?) in 4” - note, I believe that the row count needs to be doubled based on what I’ve read - so let’s call it 45R?

Postblocked US8 : 13st x 46R in 4” Arguably, I should go down 1 needle size to get st gauge and to get closer to row gauge. Having said this, at 13st per 4”, it might be easier for me to make the size 3 without concerns about it being slightly snug. Even if I were to go down a size, my row gauge would prob still be shorter than instructed which would help me to shorten the armscye without having to change any math. So, when/if you make this vest, use US7 needle.