Denim Rib Vest

an original pattern designed for Chris — squishy, stretchy, and deliberately roomy

🧶 Drops Paris Recycled Denim · mistake rib · finished chest ≈ 63″ relaxed

The design, and why the numbers are what they are

Built from your measurements: 54″ chest, 60″ at the widest. The widest point rules the fit, so the body is a straight tube — no waist shaping to cling anywhere — at ≈ 63″ around, relaxed. That's 3″ of ease over your widest point in a fabric that can stretch far wider, which means the vest hangs from the shoulders and simply never touches down. At the chest it's roomier still. Nothing hugs.

It's knit flat in two pieces and seamed in mistake rib — a deep, stretchy ribbed fabric made from one memorized row. Chosen deliberately for this yarn: cotton has no elastic memory, and mistake rib's single-strand structure resists the sag that fisherman's rib invites in cotton, while fitting comfortably inside 18 balls. The side seams act like tent poles that keep a big cotton garment from growing. Deep V-neck with a mitred rib band, ribbed armhole bands, generous armholes — and in recycled denim, those rib columns look like a jean jacket's handsome cousin.

What you need

Yarn: Drops Paris Recycled Denim (aran cotton, 50 g / 75 m) — needs about 1,150–1,200 m ≈ 16 balls; your 18 balls cover it with real margin. Keep them one dye lot if you can; if two lots, alternate two-row stripes through the body.
Needles: 5 mm for the body, 4 mm for hem and bands — plus a 4 mm circular (80 cm) for the neckband and a shorter 4 mm circular or DPNs for the armhole bands.
Notions: stitch holders or spare yarn, a safety pin (for the V's center stitch), tapestry needle, 2 removable markers.

Yarn budget: finally comfortable. Your 18 balls (1,350 m) cover the ~16 this vest needs, with spare. The checkpoint discipline still applies: the Back takes about 45% of the total — weigh your remaining yarn when the Back is done and confirm you're on track.

Tension (gauge)

19 stitches × 28 rows = 10 cm in mistake rib on 5 mm needles, measured relaxed, not stretched — after washing. Cotton relaxes noticeably in water, so an unwashed swatch will lie to you: knit it, machine-wash it cool, dry it flat, then measure. A vest this wide magnifies every fraction of a stitch.

Row counter & gauge

Counters save to the project — phone, laptop, back again; your place keeps.

My gauge check

Swatch in mistake rib on the 5 mm needles, wash it, lay it flat relaxed, and measure over 10 cm. Enter what you actually get — the verdict updates live and saves with the project. The needle that lands you on 19 stitches is the right one; if a different needle gets you a fabric you love, say the word and the pattern gets renumbered for that gauge.

Stitches I get
Rows I get (optional)

The stitch — mistake rib

Hem/band rib — Row 1 (RS): P1, then repeat [ K1, P1 ] to the end. Row 2 (WS): K1, then repeat [ P1, K1 ] to the end. Mistake rib — every row, right side and wrong side alike: repeat [ K2, P2 ] until 3 stitches remain · K2 · P1.

That's the whole fabric — one row, memorized in a minute. The "mistake" is that the rib deliberately mis-aligns by one stitch each row, which knots the columns into a deep, squishy, very stretchy texture. No knit-below, no dropped strands — plain single-strand knitting that behaves itself in cotton.

Shaping in this fabric: decreases sit just inside a 2-stitch edge (K2 · k2tog at the start, ssk · K2 at the end of right-side rows). After a decrease shifts the rhythm, don't count from the edge — read the row below: knit the stitches that look like Vs, purl the bumps, and the [ K2, P2 ] rhythm re-establishes itself. Ragged edge stitches disappear into seams and bands.

The Back

With 4 mm needles, cast on 151 stitches. Work the hem rib for 6 cm (2½″), ending after a wrong-side row. Change to 5 mm and work mistake rib until the piece measures 43 cm (17″) from the cast-on, ending after a wrong-side row. (Length lever: add or subtract rows here if you want the vest longer or shorter — decide once and do the same on the Front.) Armholes: cast off 9 stitches at the beginning of each of the next 2 rows. 133 stitches Decrease row (RS): K2 · k2tog · work in pattern until 4 remain · ssk · K2 Work a wrong-side pattern row. Repeat this pair 13 times in total. 107 stitches Work straight until the armhole measures 27 cm (10¾″) from the cast-off row, ending after a wrong-side row. Shoulders: cast off 30 stitches at the beginning of each of the next 2 rows. Slip the remaining 47 back-neck stitches onto a holder. Back done. 🎉 Now weigh your yarn — the Back is ≈45% of the project.

The Front

Work exactly as the Back through the armhole cast-offs. 133 stitches Split for the V (RS): work 66 in pattern · slip the next stitch (the center, number 67) onto a safety pin · leave the remaining 66 waiting on the needle or a holder. Work the left side first on its 66 stitches.

Left side (66 stitches) — armhole edge at the start of RS rows

Armhole decreases — at the start of right-side rows: K2 · k2tog on every RS row, 13 times in total (matching the Back). V-neck decreases — at the end of RS rows: …work in pattern until 4 remain · ssk · K2 — on every RS row 10 times, then every other RS row (every 4th row) 13 more times — 23 in total. The V starts steep and relaxes; the first V decrease shares a row with the first armhole decrease. When all decreases are done you have 30 stitches (66 − 13 − 23). Work straight if needed until the armhole measures 27 cm, matching the Back exactly (count rows if in doubt). Cast off the 30 shoulder stitches.

Right side (66 stitches) — mirror image

Rejoin the yarn at the neck edge with the right side facing. Neck decreases now come at the start of RS rows (K2 · k2tog, every RS row × 10 then every 4th row × 13) and armhole decreases at the end (…until 4 remain · ssk · K2, every RS row × 13). Same schedule, same totals. At 30 stitches and 27 cm of armhole, cast off the shoulder. Front done. 🎉

Bands & making up

Join the shoulder seams (30 sts each side) — mattress stitch or backstitch, right sides matched. Neckband — with the 4 mm circular, right side facing, starting at the left shoulder seam: pick up and knit about 3 stitches for every 4 rows down the left V edge · knit the pinned center stitch and hang a removable marker on it · pick up the same number up the right V edge · rib across the 47 held back-neck stitches, decreasing 1 at the center back if needed to make your total even. Join and work K1, P1 rib in the round, arranging the rib so the marked center stitch is a knit. Mitre the V on every round: rib to 1 stitch before the marked center · slip 2 together knitwise (that's the stitch before + the center) · K1 · pass both slipped stitches over. This eats 2 stitches per round and folds the band crisply into the V. Work 8 rounds, then cast off in rib, still decreasing at the center on the cast-off round. Sew the side seams, hem band to underarm. Armhole bands — with 4 mm, right side facing, pick up an even number around each armhole (≈3 per 4 rows along the slopes, 1 per cast-off stitch — expect roughly 120). Join, work K1, P1 rib for 8 rounds, cast off loosely in rib. Repeat on the other armhole. Weave in ends. Machine-wash cool with like colors — recycled denim behaves like jeans: it may shed a little indigo the first wash or two, then settles and softens. Lay flat and pat — don't stretch — to about 63″ around; dry flat completely (cotton holds water; give it a day or two). Wear immediately and often. 🎉

Fit insurance: after the Back and the seaming of one shoulder, you can try the whole thing against yourself. Cotton lengthens a touch with wear (it hangs; it doesn't spring back) — so err slightly short in length, never in width; the width is engineered to clear the middle without touching.

Project photos

Progress shots and the finished vest — photos upload straight from your phone and stay with the project.

Page settings

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Denim Rib Vest — an original pattern designed for Chris Malone from his own measurements,
in mistake rib and Drops Paris Recycled Denim. The numbers are all his.

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