Gauge = 5.25 st/in, 8 rows/in on size 5 needles.

Made quite a few changes to pattern, including adjusting stitch counts for gauge and changing cable pattern. I was making this for an almost-5-year-old, so I made a hybrid of the size 3-4 and size 5-6 patterns. It ended up being a little big but still wearable.

Cable pattern (in the round), inspired by Dr. G's Memory Vest:
p1 - k5 (switch to p5 every 6th row) - p1 - k1 - p2 - (4-st right-twisting cable - p1 - 4-st left-twisting cable) - p2 - k1 - Pine tree motif, rotated 180deg (12 sts) - pattern from other side of motif (22 sts)

Body:

• CO 144 sts with size 4 needles, worked in K2/P2 rib in the round for 1.5 in
• Switched to size 5 needles (didn’t do any of the decreases in the pattern) and worked 14 sts in stockinette, then cable pattern on the front (56 sts) and st st on the remaining stitches (74 sts) for 10”
• Bound off 5 sts for armhole, worked in pattern over the next 74 sts (= front), bound off 5 sts for armhole, worked st st over the remaining 60 sts (= back). Finished front and back pieces separately (flat)

Back:
(Worked in st st throughout with 1 edge st in each side in garter st)

• WS: Work in st st with 1 garter st on each edge
• RS (armhole decreases): Work 1 edge st in garter st, work 3 sts in st st, then slip 1 st as if to K, K1, psso. Continue working in st st until 6 sts remain. K2 tog, then work 3 sts in st st and 1 edge st in garter st (if I did this again, I’d do the decreases 2 sts in from the edge instead of 4 sts. This way, the full 5-st bar repeat in the cable pattern could continue all the way up the shoulders)
• Repeated these two rows a total of 7 times (46 sts remain), then continued in st st with garter edge st
• When piece measured 14 3/4”, bound off the middle 18 sts for neck and finished each shoulder (14 sts) separately
• Transferred sts to waste yarn when piece measured 15 1/4”

Front:
(Continued cable pattern throughout, with odd-numbered rows modified for working flat instead of in the round, and did 1 st garter edging as on back)

• Reconnected yarn at front so that the even-numbered rows of the cable pattern were on the RS
• Did armhole decreases as for back, but working in cable pattern instead of st st
• At the same time, when piece measured 10 3/4” (for me, this was after just one set of armhole decreases), I bound off the middle 6 sts and finished each side separately. At this point, I stopped doing the tree motif in the cable pattern and changed the remaining live sts in the tree motif to st st
• RS (neck decreases; performed at the same time as armhole decreases): For the side of the front where the neck is at the beginning of the RS: Work 1 edge st in garter st, then slip 1 st as if to K, K1, psso; finish row. For the side where the neck is at the end of the RS: Work in pattern until 3 sts remain. K2 tog, then work 1 edge st in garter st
• Repeated neck decrease every other row a total of 8 times (leaving 19 sts per shoulder after all armhole and neck decreases were finished)
• When piece measured 15”, on RS, dec 5 sts evenly spaced across shoulder (14 sts remain per shoulder)
• On next row, transferred remaining sts to waste yarn. Used kitchener stitch to connect to back shoulder pieces

Armhole and neck:

• Picked up 72 sts around armholes and worked ribbing with size 4 needles as described (picking up one st for the end of every row/every bound off st gave me 82 sts, then I decreased evenly around on the first row of ribbing to get 72 sts)
• Picked up 104 sts around neck and worked ribbing with size 4 needles as described