I wanted to make just a simple little summer weight waistcoat. This pattern was the closest to the idea in my head - it’s a 4 ply pattern but my tension square with double knit and 3mm hook isn’t too far off, so hopefully making a size smaller should be ok. I want to make the upper fronts a little narrower than the pattern, so will do some extra decreases on the neck edge.

Hopefully the gentle striping in the yarn will look good on a waistcoat. I’m going to try and make the upper fronts and back as one piece, with a long chain across what will be the armhole, to keep the striping even all the way up the body. I’ll then cut the chains and unpick them, then stitch them in.
** Update - it works!!! As you can see in the photo, I did a chain of about 10 sts between the back and the front to give a length of yarn just long enough to stitch in. Hurrah!

Nearly done and it turns out my tension square was rubbish!!!! I decided to make a size smaller and guess what? My waistcoat is a size too small!! At least!!!

Finally Finished. Rather than the buttonhole rows the pattern suggests, I worked 2 rows of half trebles along the front edges, which managed to add nearly an inch to the width - I may steam it and gently stretch just a bit as well.
I only did one row of half trebles round the armholes, just to smooth the edges.
I think I’ll add ties to the front rather than buttons, maybe with a fat bead dangling on the ends of the ties. I toyed with the idea of adding a bead in the middle of each scallop on the final row but couldn’t find any locally in the right colour with a large enough whole. But then I’ve never worked with beads either…

As it’s a snug fit, it probably won’t be worn until the cooler days of autumn.
Update - It’s now October and I’ve worn it a couple of times. Lovely and warm and I got several compliments. Hurrah!!

2nd update - This has become my favourite garment and I’m so glad I took the time to match the colour stripes as they really add a professional touch to it.
And it does fit!!