Light, wearable: a sleeveless buttoned vest worked flat in fingering weight yarn with a gentle peplum flare in a contrasting color. Knitted bottom-up in pieces, seamed, then button bands and peplum finished in Contrast Color. Designed for stitch-by-stitch counts for six sizes (XS–XXL).
28 sts and 36 rows = 4" / 10 cm in stockinette on larger needles (blocked).
Designed for ~2" (~5 cm) positive ease. Alter by choosing a different size or changing needle size.
Button counts (approx): XS–S = 5 buttons; M–L = 6 buttons; XL–XXL = 7 buttons. Choose buttons ~3/8"–1/2" / 10–12 mm.
(Work bottom-up: two front pieces + back.)
Work the body straight in stockinette until waist/peplum start. The peplum is created by switching to Color B and increasing evenly across each piece over a set of increase rounds; after shaping, finish with a short garter border in Color B. Button bands are picked up and worked in garter stitch in Color B with buttonholes worked into the band on the left front when facing the garment.
When the instructions say "increase X sts evenly across the row," calculate spacing = current sts / (increases + 1). Work: k(spacing-1), M1; repeat until you have worked the required increases. If spacing is not an integer, distribute the larger gaps toward the beginning of the piece so your increases sit visually even.
Target increases per piece (total extra sts added to each piece for the peplum). These are distributed across six increase rounds. The pattern below gives the per-round increases for each size so you can increase consistently:
Using Color A and smaller needles (optional), cast on:
Work 1x1 rib (k1, p1) for 1.5" / 4 cm (approx 13–14 rows). Change to larger needles and proceed in stockinette (RS = knit).
Continue in Color A in stockinette until body measures 12" / 30.5 cm from cast-on edge, or to desired waist placement. (Approx rows: 12" x 9 rows/in = 108 rows; adjust if your row gauge differs.) End on a WS row.
Change to Color B. Work one WS row of purl, then begin increase rounds on RS rows. There are six increase rounds in total; work the rounds as follows:
After the six increase rounds, you will have reached the peplum's full stitch count (see the "Stitch counts by piece" section for the final counts per piece). Work an additional 6–8 rounds even in Color B (stockinette) to lengthen the peplum, then work 6 rows of garter stitch (knit every row) to form a neat finished edge. Bind off loosely in pattern.
With Color A, fold body pieces and block or press lightly. We are making a sleeveless vest with set-in shoulders; shape shoulders to match the front/back lengths below.
Back piece: With RS facing, bind off 3 sts at the beginning of the next 4 rows (or adjust so your shoulder slope measures approx 1.5" / 4 cm). Then bind off remaining center sts for the neck as needed so the back neck measures approx 4.5" / 11.5 cm across (you may bind off center 30 (34, 38, 42, 46, 50) sts and finish each shoulder separately). Adjust to match front shoulder height.
Front pieces: work to armhole depth equal to back (measure). Shape shoulders to mirror the back so shoulder seams align. Shape the neck as follows: when you reach 1.5" / 4 cm less than desired full length, bind off center 8 (8, 10, 10, 12, 12) sts for the V (or make a shallow V by shaping each side separately: bind off center then dec 1 st at neck edge every other row once or twice).
Note: Because bust shaping varies with sizing, you may prefer to try-on and shape shoulders/front neck by measuring and matching lengths rather than strictly following the numerical bind-offs. Keep symmetry between both fronts.
Block pieces gently to measurements. Sew shoulder seams with mattress stitch. Set in armholes by seaming the side seams from hem to underarm with mattress stitch, leaving armholes open. Seam sides from hem up to underarm, then seam another 1" / 2.5 cm at shoulder if you prefer a small cap, otherwise leave clean.
Using Color B and needles US 3 (3.25 mm), pick up stitches along the right front edge (as worn) for the right band and along the left front edge for the buttonhole band. Pick up one stitch for every row along the edge; approximately 1 stitch per row. Pick up and knit 3 sts more at top and bottom corners to avoid puckering.
Work garter stitch (knit every row) for button bands: work even for 6 ridges (12 rows). On the left band, create buttonholes as follows: For 5/6/7 buttons place the first buttonhole 1/2" / 1.25 cm from the bottom edge, then space the remaining holes evenly up the band. A single-row buttonhole in garter stitch: on RS row, k to position, bind off 2 sts, continue. On next row, cast on 2 sts with backward loop (or kfb) in place of the bound-off sts. Alternatively work k2tog, yo buttonhole as desired. Continue until band measures same length as front edge; bind off in pattern loosely.
Block to measurements using gentle steam or wet block depending on yarn fiber. Fingering-weight wool or blends prefer gentle hand-wash and dry flat.
If you have questions about sizing or abbreviations, contact support at team@verde.uk. Pattern hosted at https://purljam.verde.uk. Socials: #purljam
Happy knitting — enjoy your two-color peplum vest!