It’s always an honor testing for Irene Lin. She’s up there at the top of my “Favorite Designers” list. We have the same style aesthetic.

This top-down vest has dropped shoulders (on most women) which makes it a great fit for men who usually have broader shoulders. The Aura Vest is meant to have a lot of positive ease on women, but I found that the smallest size fit my Denny as a classic man’s vest should fit.

If making this for myself or a female relative, I would choose a finer, more drapey yarn because of all the intended positive ease. I would say that a sport weight yarn would be ideal. It would also result in a more lacy, open stitch pattern.

This fishtail stitch is very fun to do. You won’t be bored! It has interesting shoulder and side panel details. Another thing that you should know about this pattern is that it has line-by-line written instructions.

What I did differently:

• I added one more repeat in the upper body (6 rows - front and back) before starting armhole increases.

• Due to this lengthening (mentioned above), I had to pick up more stitches around the armholes (122 sts) and neckline.

• I did not do the tubular bind off for the ribbing as recommended in the pattern. I’ve done the tubular bind off on many items in the past, but I wanted something less stretchy (neck and armholes) for this vest which already has a lot of positive ease. I used “Jeny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bindoff” for the hem ribbing.

• For the body (from underarm), I did 11 repeats (6 rounds each) of the fishtail stitch pattern. Pattern suggests 5 repeats (30 rounds).

Needles used:

Size 5 US - Body

Size 4 US - Neck and Sleeve Ribbing (normal bindoff)

Size 3 US - Lower Hem Ribbing

Size 1.5US - Lower hem bind off (JSSBO)

Finished Measurements:
(before shrinking in a warm dryer)
Note that Denny is modeling the vest in photos BEFORE I shrank it to fit my nephew who is smaller.

Front shoulder width (including ribbing) - 19”

Back shoulder width (including ribbing) - 18”

Body circumference - 40.5”

Back Length (not including neck ribbing) - 23.5” (20.75” + 2.75” hem ribbing)

V-Neck Depth (including ribbing) - 7.25”

Armhole Depth, see photos (from where increasing stops) - 8.25” (does not include armhole ribbing)

Armhole Depth, see photos (from mid shoulder) - 10.5” (does not include armhole ribbing)

Finished Measurements:
(after shrinking in a warm dryer)

Front shoulder width (including ribbing) - 17.5” (shrank 1.5”)

Back shoulder width (including ribbing) - 16.5” (shrank 1.5”)

Body circumference - 39” (shrank 1.5”)

Back Length (not including neck ribbing) - 21.5 (shrank 2”)

V-Neck Depth (including ribbing) - 6.5” (shrank .75”)

Armhole Depth, see photos (from where increasing stops) - 7.75” (shrank .5”) (does not include armhole ribbing)

Armhole Depth, see photos (from mid shoulder) - 10” (shrank .5”) (does not include armhole ribbing)

Tubular Bind Off Video Tutorial

k2tog-tbl and ssk-tbl Video Tutorial

sk2p Video Tutorial

s2kp Video Tutorial
(Centered Double Decrease)

M1PL Video Tutorial

M1PR Video Tutorial

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