The yarn I’m using is a different gauge than that given in the pattern. Also, the color patterning of the yarn kind of hides the subtle texturing of the pattern. This probably would have looked better with a solid color boucle, but I’m stash busting to get rid of this yarn, so I used it anyway.

My gauge:
US 5 needles in band pattern:
3.5 sts/in
6 rows per inch
(about 66 stitches per yard)

8-row Pattern band:
8 rows stockinette, 8 rows reverse stockinette

10-row Pattern band:
10 rows stockinette, 10 rows reverse stockinette

Each band is a little less than 1.25”.

Knitting flat versus knitting in the round:
I thought about knitting the body in the round up to the armholes because the patterning in the yarn may cause a sharp color contrast at the side seams (pink/black), but the colored stripes will be closer together and I don’t want that type of effect, I like the larger blocks of color when knitted flat. If I were knitting this with a solid color boucle, I’d knit this in the round up to the armholes, no doubt about it. There might be a slight jog at one side where you switch from purl to knit and vice versa, but the nature of the boucle yarn hides that a bit.

Back:
Tubular cast on: Provisional CO 30 stitches using US 7 needle, k 2 rows, pick up 60 stitches in knit stitch (16.75”).
Garter stitch for 1 inch.
Switch to US 5 needles.
Do 2 8-row pattern bands (16 rows). The piece measures a little less than 3.5”.

Waist: Switch to US 2 needles. Do 10-row pattern bands for 20 rows, about 2.5 inches. Piece measures 6” total.

Increase: Switch back to US 5 needles and 8-row pattern bands. Increase 1 stitch each end of the needle. Increase again 36 rows (about 6”) after this. 64 stitches. Continue until piece measures 13.7” (should be about 10” from start of waist section). Ended after row 8 of reverse stockinette stitch pattern band, 10 pattern bands total.

Armhole shaping:
Keeping in pattern, cast off 2 sts beg of next 2 rows.
Dec 1 st each end next 2 rows, work 1 row even, then dec 1 st each end of next row (54 stitches).
Continue without shaping until armhole is 7.3” long, should be about 44 rows from start of armhole shaping, ending on row 4 of reverse stockinette pattern band. Laid flat, piece measures 21”.

Note: Rather than keeping the proportions the same between the vintage pattern (and smaller size) and my measurements, I have kept the shoulder widths of the front sections the same as the vintage pattern (a little more than 4”) and widened the neck hole.

Shoulder shaping:
Rest of pattern is reverse stockinette.
Row 1: pattern to last 5 sts, wrap and turn.
Row 2: pattern to last 5 sts, wrap and turn.
Row 3: pattern to last 10 sts, wrap and turn.
Row 4: pattern to last 10 sts, wrap and turn.
Row 5: pattern to last 15 sts, wrap and turn.
Row 6: pattern to last 15 sts, wrap and turn.
Row 7: Cast off center 24 stitches for back of neck. Leave sts on needles (15 sts each side) to graft to shoulders of front piece.

Note: The pattern calls for a reverse stockinette yoke of several inches, which I forgot to do, so only the last 12 rows are the reverse stockinette section.

Front:
Same as for back up to armhole shaping. Ended after row 8 of reverse stockinette stitch pattern band, 10 pattern bands total.

Armhole shaping (it’s the same as for the back):
Row 1 of pattern: Keeping in pattern, cast off 2 sts beg of row
Row 2: cast off 2 sts beg of row
Row 3: Dec 1 st each end of the row
Row 4: Dec 1 st each end of the row
Row 5: work 1 row even
Row 6: dec 1 st each end of the row (54 stitches).

Neck decreases:
Divide stitches in half, 27 stitches for right and 27 stitches for left. Put right front stitches on spare needle or waste yarn.
On left front stitches (RS), work to 4 stitches from end (neck edge), dec, work 2 stitches garter stitch neck edging.
Next row: Work 2 sts garter stitch neck edge, work to end.
Decrease 1 st neck edge every 4th row until 17 sts left on needle (total of 10 decreases). I ended on row 3 of reverse stockinette pattern, 43 rows after start of armhole shaping. Completed next row, row 4 of reverse stockinette pattern. Work measures 21”.

Shoulder shaping:
(In reverse stockinette stitch) Work 1 row even, keeping the 2 garter stitches at neck edge. Work to 6 sts from armhole edge, wrap and turn. Work 1 row even, keeping the 2 garter stitches at neck edge. Work to 11 sts from armhole edge, wrap and turn. Leave stitches on spare needle to graft to back shoulder.

Right front:
Attach yarn to neck edge. Work 2 stitches garter stitch neck edging, dec, work to end.
Next row: work even, including garter stitches at neck edge.
Decrease 1 st neck edge every 4th row until 17 sts left on needle (total of 10 decreases). I ended on row 3 of reverse stockinette pattern, 43 rows after start of armhole shaping. Completed next row, row 4 of reverse stockinette pattern. Work measures 21”.

Shoulder shaping:
Work to 6 sts from armhole edge, wrap and turn. Work 1 row even, keeping the 2 garter stitches at neck edge. Work to 11 sts from armhole edge, wrap and turn. Work 1 row even, keeping the 2 garter stitches at neck edge. Leave stitches on spare needle to graft to back shoulder.

Shoulder seaming:
With RS facing, put 2 garter stitch neck edge stitches on safety pin, then do 3-needle bind off of 15 remaining front shoulder and 15 back shoulder stitches. Repeat for other side.

Neck edging:
Take two garter stitches from safety pin, put on needles.
Lace graft:
(RS): k1, slip 1, pick up a stitch from the body, pass slipped stitch over picked up stitch, turn.
(WS): k2, turn.
Repeat until neck edge reaches other 2 live stitches on safety pin, and kitchener stitch together.

Cap sleeves (make 2):
Tubular cast on: Provisional CO 23 stitches using US 7 needle, k 2 rows, pick up 46 stitches in knit stitch (13”). Switch to US 5 needles. Garter stitch for 1 inch.
Dec 1 st each end for 4 rows.
Dec 1 st at beg of next 2 rows
Work 2 rows even
Repeat 4 times, total 16 rows.
Dec 1 st each end for 4 rows.
Bind off 4 sts at beg of next 4 rows (6 sts left)
Bind off.

Seaming:
Seam sides and fit sleeves into armholes. I used a worsted weight black yarn to seam up the sides and the sleeves, rather than seaming with the boucle yarn.

It looks pretty good, even with the patterning colors of the yarn! The shoulders might be half an inch too wide for me, so maybe I should have aimed for a 35” bust rather than 36”. It’s very stretchy and could probably fit a 38” or 40” bust.

I have almost completely rewritten this pattern because of the different yarn and measurements I’m using, so I think I’ll post this pattern on my blog later. Man, what a lot of work! Someone else might as well benefit from it. :)