by

This design was inspired by a favorite piece of clothing owned by my mom, Teresa. It was a long tunic vest from a big chain store, in deepest shade of purple. Unfortunately, the whole thing was made with low-quality acrylic knitted fabric and was pilling very badly. My mom requested my own version of it, and voila, I dedicated this pattern in my mom's name.

The general theme of this tunic vest is comfort. It is a very classic piece of clothing you can wear every day in the fall and not get bored. It features cable and simple lace patterns and a cozy shawl collar.

The tunic has about 2 inches of positive ease and is worked flat, front and back separately from the bottom up. The armhole shaping is unusual; the armhole is a straight line, and only shaped at the shoulders, so that the armholes fall on the upperarms instead of top of the shoulders. The hem and the shawl collar are worked in 2x2 ribbing. The collar is picked up directly from the neckline and shaped with short rows to raise the back of the neck. 

SIZE
XS[S, M, L, 1X, 2X, 3X]
Shown in size M with 3.5 inches of ease.

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS
Bust: 32[35, 40, 43.25, 48, 51, 56] inches; 2-3 inches of positive ease is recommended
Total Length: 21[22, 23, 23.5, 23.5, 24, 25] inches

MATERIALS
Yarn
Stitch Nation by Debbie Stoller Alpaca Love [80% Wool 20% Alpaca; 132yd/121m per 85g skein]; color: Sunflower; 6[7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15] skeins

Recommended needle size
[always use a needle size that gives you the gauge listed below -- every knitter's gauge is unique]
32-inch or longer US #7/4.5mm circular needle
32-inch or longer US #8/5.0mm circular needle
Set of US #7/4.5mm dpns (optional)

Notions
cable needle
yarn needle
4 safety pins
stitch markers
crochet hook for cast on
waste yarn or stitch holders

PATTERN NOTES
[Knitty's list of standard abbreviations and techniques can be found here.]

The Body begins with a crochet provisional cast on.

4/4 RC: Slip 4 sts to cn and hold to back, k4; k4 from cn.

4/4 LC: Slip 4 sts to cn and hold in front, k4; k4 from cn.

M1L: Insert left needle, from front to back, under strand of yarn which runs between last stitch on left needle and first stitch on right needle; knit this stitch through back loop.

M1R: Insert left needle, from back to front, under strand of yarn which runs between last stitch on left needle and first stitch on right needle; knit this stitch.

Charts
The charts for this pattern are very large and fit on a letter-sized page.
Click here and print the resulting page.

DIRECTIONS
BACK

Tubular Cast on:
With smaller needles, waste yarn, and using crochet cast-on method, cast on 38[42, 48, 52, 59, 62, 68] sts.

Change to working yarn and [k1, yo] to end. 76[84, 96, 104, 116, 124, 136] sts.

Next Row: K1tbl, sl1 wyif, [k1, sl1 wyif] to end.

Next Row: [K1, sl1 wyif] to end.

Body:
Next Row [WS]:  P1, [k2, p2] to 3 sts before end, k2, p1.

Undo the waste yarn from the cast on. The stitches are secure and will not need to be picked up from the cast on edge.

Next Row [RS]: K1, [p2, k2] to 3 sts before end, p2, k1.

Continue in 2x2 ribbing as established until piece measures 3.5 inches from the cast-on edge, ending after a WS row.

Switch to larger needles and begin charts as follows:

Row 1 [RS]: K6, p3, work Row 1 of Lace Chart, p2[4, 6, 6, 8, 10, 12], k1[2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11], p1[2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11], work Row 1 of Cable Chart, p1[2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11], k1[2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11], p2[4, 6, 6, 8, 10, 12], work Row 1 of Lace Chart, p3, k6.

Row 2 [WS]: P6, k3, work next row of Lace Chart, k2[4, 6, 6, 8, 10, 12], p1[2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11], k1[2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11], work next row of Cable Chart, k1[2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11], p1[2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11], k2[4, 6, 6, 8, 10, 12], work next row of Lace Chart, k3, p6.

Cont in established patt for 2 rows more.

Inc Row [RS]: K1, m1R, patt to last st, m1L, k1. – 2 sts inc’d

Work even in patt for 3 rows, then repeat Inc Row once more. 80[88, 100, 108, 120, 128, 140] sts.**

Work even in patt until piece measures 15[15, 16, 16, 16, 16, 17] inches from cast-on edge, ending after a WS row.

Armholes:
With 2 safety pins, mark each end of the last row for beginning of armhole.

Work without shaping until armhole measures 6[7, 7, 7.5, 7.5, 8, 8] inches from the safety pins, ending after a WS row.

Shape shoulders:
Next Row [RS]: K1, ssk, patt to last 3 sts, k2tog, k1.
Repeat this row every RS row 9[10, 12, 16, 19, 19, 23] times more. 60[66, 74, 74, 80, 88, 92] sts rem.

Next Row [WS]: Work 13[15, 17, 17, 20, 22, 24] sts in pattern, then BO next 34[36, 40, 40, 40, 44, 44] sts in pattern, work to end. 13[15, 17, 17, 20, 22, 24] sts remain for each shoulder.

Place remaining stitches on holders or waste yarn.
FRONT
Work as for Back to **.
Work even in patt until piece measures 13[13, 14, 14, 14, 14, 15] inches from cast-on edge, ending after a WS row.

Dividing Row [RS]: Work 29[32, 37, 40, 45, 47, 53] sts in pattern, attach a new ball of yarn and bind off next 22[24, 26, 28, 30, 34, 34] sts in pattern (work Cable Chart in St st if your next row is a cable row), patt to end. 29[32, 37, 40, 45, 47, 53] sts rem on each side.  

From here, you will work left and right fronts separately. Place the first set of sts (the left front) on waste yarn or a holder (do not break yarn).

Right Front
Over these 29[32, 37, 40, 45, 47, 53] sts,  work pattern without shaping until piece measures 2 inches from the Dividing Row, ending after a WS row.

Place safety pin in the first st of the last (WS) row to mark beginning of armhole.

Neck Shaping Row [RS]: K1, ssk, patt to end.

Repeat the last row every 6[8, 6, 8, 10, 10, 10] rows 5[5, 6, 5, 4, 4, 4] more times. 23[26, 30, 34, 40, 42, 48] sts rem.

Work without shaping until armhole measures 6[7, 7, 7.5, 7.5, 8, 8] inches from the safety pin, ending after a WS row.

Shape shoulders:
Next Row [RS]: Patt to last 3 sts, k2tog, k1.

Next Row [WS]: Work in patt.
Repeat these two rows 9[10, 12, 16, 19, 19, 23] times more. 13[15, 17, 17, 20, 22, 24] sts rem.
(Note: When there are not enough stitches to complete the Lace chart, simply replace chart with St st.)

Place remaining sts on holder or waste yarn.

Left Front
Place the 29[32, 37, 40, 45, 47, 53] sts on holder for Left Front back on needle.

Work in pattern without shaping until piece measures 2 inches from the Neck Shaping Row, ending after a WS row.

Place safety pin in the last st of the last (WS) row to mark beginning of armhole.

Neck Shaping Row [RS]: Patt to last 3 sts, k2tog, k1.

Repeat the last row every 6[8, 6, 8, 10, 10, 10] rows 5[5, 6, 5, 4, 4, 4] more times. 23[26, 30, 34, 40, 42, 48] sts rem.

Work without shaping until armhole measures 6[7, 7, 7.5, 7.5, 8, 8] inches from the safety pin, ending after a WS row.

Shape shoulders:
Next Row [RS]: K1, ssk, patt to end.
Next Row [WS]: Work in patt.
Repeat these two rows 9[10, 12, 16, 19, 19, 23] times more. (Note: When there are not enough stitches to complete the Lace chart, simply replace chart with St st.) 13[15, 17, 17, 20, 22, 24] sts rem.

Place remaining sts on holder or waste yarn.

FINISHING
Join held shoulder sts with kitchener stitch Using mattress stitch, sew the shoulder shaping sections, then each side seam from hem to the safety pin.

Armhole edging:
With smaller circular needle or dpns and starting at center of armhole, pick up and knit 52[60, 60, 64, 64, 68, 68] sts. Join to work in the round.

Round 1: [K2, p2] around.
Rep Round 1 three times more.
Bind off all sts loosely in patt. Collar:
With smaller circular needle and with RS facing, starting at neck bind-off edge of Right Front, pick up and knit 54[61, 63, 71, 75, 77, 83] sts, place marker 1 (m1), pick up and knit 34[36, 40, 40, 40, 44, 44] sts from back neck, place marker 2 (m2), then pick up and knit 54[61, 63, 71, 75, 77, 83] sts down Left Front neck. 142[158, 166, 182, 190, 198, 210] sts.

Using safety pins or removable stitch markers, place marker 3 (m3) after first 36[41, 43, 49, 51, 53, 57] sts of row, and place marker 4 (m4) before last 36[41, 43, 49, 51, 53, 57] sts of row.

Next Row [WS]: P2, [k2, p2] to end.

Cont in established rib pattern throughout, working short rows as follows:
Next Row [RS]: Patt to m2, sl m, W&T.

Next Row [WS]: Patt to m1, sl m, W&T.

Next Row: Patt to wrapped st, pick up wrap and work together with the wrapped st, patt 1 st, W&T.

Repeat the last row until 1 st rem between last wrapped sts and markers 3 and 4, ending after a WS row.

Next Row: Patt to wrapped st, pick up wrap and work together with the wrapped stitch, patt to end.
Rep last row once more.

Cont even in rib patt until collar measures 5.25[5.75, 6, 6.5, 7, 8, 8] inches from the pick up row, not including the short rows.
Bind off in pattern.

Sew collar edge to neck bind off edge. Weave in all ends. Block gently to measurements.

Jean lives in Irvine, California with her husband and their dog, Bagel.

She blogs here.