A vest / tabard / dickie hybrid with a modern wrap around shape, worked seamlessly in all-over brioche stitch. Named after my great-great-great grandmother.

YARN

Aran weight yarn, approximately 544 (592; 650; 702; 739) 798; 855; 931; 993 metres / 595 (647; 711; 768; 808) 873; 935; 1018; 1086 yards.

Sample shown in West Yorkshire Spinners 100% Bluefaced Leicester Roving in shade 002 Light Brown.

Yarns used by test knitters:

• Knit Picks Simply Wool Twist Worsted Weight
• Brooklyn Tweed Shelter
• DROPS Nepal
• Studio Donegal Soft Donegal 2ply
• Classic Elite Yarns Lush
• Malabrigo Rios
• Knit Picks City Tweed Aran

NEEDLES & NOTIONS

• 5mm needles: circular needles of your preferred length for working small circumferences for the yoke (ie. 16” / 40cm, or 1 long needle for magic loop), plus needles of your preferred method for working flat for the body (ie. 24” circulars, or straight needles).
• 4mm needles (of any type) for working waist tie
• Scrap yarn for holding stitches
• 4 stitch markers (with one marker different to the rest to denote the beginning of round)
• Tapestry needle
• 2 x 38mm D-rings (inner diameter)

GAUGE

14 sts and 40 rows to 4” / 10 cm in brioche stitch on 5mm needles, blocked. See Notes for swatching brioche stitch.

SIZING

1 (2: 3: 4: 5) 6: 7: 8: 9 detailed in schematic & size chart images. Sample shown is a size 2 on a 34 inch / 86 cm bust.

For sizes 1-4, the side ‘wings’ meet in the centre as shown in photos. For sizes 5-9, the side ‘wings’ do not meet, as it is not possible to include enough shaping without distorting the fabric or making the vest much longer. The Livingstone Vest is #SizeInclusive to a bust of 62”.

NOTES

This pattern uses brioche stitch worked flat and in the round, brioche increases, (optional) Italian cast on, simple short rows, i-cord bind off, and a small amount of Kitchener stitch. Videos are linked in the pattern for these techniques.

Construction: the Livingstone Vest is worked seamlessly from the top down, in all-over brioche stitch. It begins with the neckband and yoke, which are worked in the round, before dividing to form the front and back. Increases are worked on the back to form ‘wings’ that wrap around to the front. These ‘wings’ are attached with either D rings or waist ties. They can be modified to be wider or narrower, and sit higher or lower, to accommodate different shapes.

Swatching: Cast on an even number of stitches for your swatch (I would recommend around 18 stitches for this gauge), then work the setup row and basic brioche as follows, using the abbreviations on page 2:
• Setup row: sl1yo, k1 to end.
• Basic brioche row: sl1yo, BRK to end. Repeat this row until your swatch is a suitable size.

Brioche stitch counts: This entire vest is worked in brioche stitch, which works slightly differently to conventional knitting. On all rows, every alternate stitch is ‘shawled’ by wrapping the yarn over, and on the following row this ‘shawl’ is worked together with the stitch. For this reason, the yarn overs do not count as separate stitches; they are simply ‘paired’ with a stitch. Therefore when counting stitches, do not include the yarn overs in the total, as each brioche stitch/yarn over pair counts as one.

Brioche row counts: Every 2 rows of brioche stitch will produce one visible row of ‘V’s. For example when counting rows in your swatch, 20 brioche ‘V’s represent 40 rows.

Blocking: Brioche stitch grows considerably when blocked, and the combination of a wool based yarn and brioche stitch make for a fabric that opens up significantly. It would be great to see this vest knitted in different yarns and fibres, however the nature of brioche stitch means it is especially important to block your swatch as yarn choices can have a massive effect on how much or little the fabric grows. For this reason, take care when trying the garment on to check fit.

I LOVE seeing people knit my patterns and make them their own - if you could tag @lilykatemakes and #LivingstoneVest on Instagram that would be great!