As soon as I touched the gorgeous yarn I used for this vest, a design began to form in my mind. It needed to be cozy yet flowy, earthy yet refined: signatures of A Verb for Keeping Warm’s vibe, if not my own, as well :) You can think of this garment as a wearable shawl, and it’s just about as easy to knit! Constructed sideways in two halves, the only shaping required is at the underarm. A panel of mosaic colorwork at the center back will keep your attention, and plenty of stockinette will allow you to relax and enjoy the rhythmic movements that make us knitters insist on “just one more row.”

NOTES
Design: The Canyonlands Vest is a waterfall style vest with a flowy, open silhouette. The center back features mosaic colorwork. The side edges and bottom hem feature mosaic colorwork and an i cord bind-off. The neckband is worked in 2x2 ribbing.

Construction: This vest is worked sideways in two halves, which are seamed together at the center back with an exposed seam. Stitches are then picked up to work the hem. Finally, stitches are picked up to work the neckband. While this vest fits like a garment, the design’s minimal shaping will make you feel like you are knitting a scarf or rectangular shawl!

Fit: This garment is designed to fit with approximately -1 in. to +1 in. (-2.5 cm to +2.5 cm) of ease in the cross back shoulder width. The cross back shoulder width is the horizontal measurement from shoulder bone to shoulder bone. To pick the best size for you, measure this width and add your preferred ease of between -1 in. to +1 in. (-2.5 cm to +2.5 cm) Make the size with a finished cross back shoulder width closest to that number. For more information on how to measure your cross back shoulder width, see Patty Lyon’s blog post on this topic.

Length: The waterfall style of this vest means that you will want to think about two lengths when deciding whether to lengthen or shorten your vest: the vertical length and the diagonal length. The vertical length indicates where the bottom edge of the vest will hit on your body measured vertically from top to bottom at the center back. The diagonal length is the length that the left and right sides will cascade when measured from the top of the neck trim at the center back neck diagonally down to the outer bottom corner of the vest. If you want to adjust these lengths, the pattern includes instructions and tips throughout for doing so!

Stitch Patterns: The mosaic colorwork stitch patterns in this vest are only charted, so you should be confident in your chart reading skills—or be open to learning!

SIZES
(1, 2, 3)(4, 5, 6)(7, 8, 9)

FINISHED CROSS BACK WIDTH
(13, 13.5, 14)(14.5, 15, 15.5)(16, 16.5, 17) in.
(32.5, 34, 35)(36.5, 37.5, 39)(40, 41.5, 42.5) cm
This vest is designed to fit with approximately -1 in. to +1 in. (-2.5 cm to +2.5 cm) of ease in the cross back shoulder width. Please see the note above on fit!

YARN
This vest was designed with yarns held together. If you would like to work with single-strand yarn, use the yardage listed for fingering weight yarn to estimate your yarn requirements for each of the three colors. You will want an overall yarn weight of approximately worsted.

Fingering weight
MC: (165, 165, 175)(175, 185, 190)(195, 200, 200) g/(720, 720, 765)(765, 810, 830)(850, 875, 875) yds or (660, 660, 700)(700, 740, 760)(775, 800, 800) m
CC1: (30, 30, 30)(30, 35, 35)(35, 35, 35) g/(130, 130, 130)(130, 155, 155)(155, 155, 155) yds or (120, 120, 120)(120, 140, 140)(140, 140, 140) m
CC2: (35, 35, 40)(40, 40, 40)(45, 45, 45) g/(155, 155, 175)(175, 175, 175)(195, 195, 195) yds or (140, 140, 160)(160, 160, 160)(180, 180, 180) m

Lace weight
MC: (80, 80, 90)(90, 95, 95)(95, 100, 100) g/(720, 720, 765)(765, 810, 830)(850, 875, 875) yds or (660, 660, 700)(700, 740, 760)(775, 800, 800) m
CC1: (20, 20, 20)(20, 25, 25)(25, 25, 25) g/(130, 130, 130)(130, 155, 155)(155, 155, 155) yds or (120, 120, 120)(120, 140, 140)(140, 140, 140) m
CC2: (25, 25, 25)(25, 25, 25)(30, 30, 30) g/(155, 155, 175)(175, 175, 175)(195, 195, 195) yds or (140, 140, 160)(160, 160, 160)(180, 180, 180) m

SUGGESTED YARN
A Verb for Keeping Warm Floating (100 g/437 yds (400 m)) – 70% Alpaca, 20% Silk, 10% Cashmere
MC: 2 skeins (all sizes)
CC1: 1 skein (all sizes)
CC2: 1 skein (all sizes)

A Verb for Keeping Warm Wild Bloom (50 g/437 yds (400 m)) – 41% Baby Alpaca, 35% Silk, 13% Merino, 10% Yak
MC: 2 skeins (all sizes)

A Verb for Keeping Warm Soft Current (50 g/
328 yds (300 m)) – 74% Baby Suri Alpaca, 26% Silk
CC1: 1 skein (all sizes)
CC2: 1 skein (all sizes)

The sample vest is knit in the colorways Lucky Penny (MC fingering and lace), Lamb’s Ear (CC1 fingering), Weathered Wood (CC1 lace), Current (CC2 fingering), and Bay Sailor (CC2 lace).

NEEDLES
Needle A (body): US 6 (4 mm)
Needle B (i-cord bind-off): US 7 (4.5 mm)
Needle C (ribbing): US 5 (3.75 mm)
You will need 22 in. (55 cm) to 30 in. (75 cm) circular needles.

GAUGE
Measure gauge knit flat on Needle A, after blocking.
20 sts and 26 rows = 4 in. (10 cm) in stockinette
20 sts and 38 rows = 4 in. (10 cm) in stranded mosaic knitting

SKILLS TO USE (OR LEARN!)
German twisted cast-on, mosaic knitting, chart reading, knit increases and decreases, three needle bind-off, picking up stitches, i-cord bind-off