Peace Vest in Rowan Cotton Revive - Downloadable PDF

Peace Vest in Rowan Cotton Revive by Martin Storey – Pattern Summary

The Peace Vest is a classic, elegantly structured knitted vest designed by Martin Storey and worked in Rowan Cotton Revive, a 100 g sport-weight yarn. The pattern is available as a downloadable PDF and is rated intermediate in difficulty, making it an ideal project for knitters who are comfortable with shaping techniques and are ready to move beyond straightforward construction. The sample shown in the pattern photography is worked in Breeze 006, a colourway that highlights the clean, breathable quality of the cotton yarn.

What Is Being Made

The Peace Vest is a sleeveless, close-fitting knitted vest designed to fit a wide range of chest sizes. The pattern covers nine sizes, accommodating chest measurements from 71–76 cm (28–30 in) up to 152–157 cm (60–62 in), with actual garment chest measurements ranging from 84 cm to 165.5 cm. This generous size range makes the pattern highly inclusive and suitable for a broad audience. The vest features a shaped front slope, a neckband, and carefully constructed armhole and shoulder shaping, giving it a polished, tailored appearance suitable for layering or wearing on its own in warmer months.

Construction and Structure

The Peace Vest is worked flat in two main pieces — a back and a front — which are then seamed together. Both pieces begin with a ribbed lower border worked on smaller needles before transitioning to the main body fabric on larger needles. The front features a distinctive front slope shaping, where stitches are divided and each side of the neck is worked separately, with decreases worked at the neck edge to create a graceful V-shaped or sloped neckline. Shoulder shaping is achieved through a series of cast-off rows at the beginning of right-side and wrong-side rows, a standard but precise technique that gives the shoulders a neat, structured finish. A neckband is picked up and worked using a circular needle, creating a smooth, continuous finish around the neck opening.

Techniques Used

• Flat knitting – the back and front are each worked back and forth in rows on straight needles
• Ribbing – an uneven rib pattern is used for the lower border, adding elasticity and a refined textural detail at the hem
• Stocking stitch (stockinette) – the main body fabric is worked in stocking stitch, giving the vest its smooth, classic surface
• Armhole shaping – worked through a sequence of cast-off rows and decrease rows to create a clean, fitted armhole
• Front slope shaping – stitches are divided at the centre front and each side is worked separately with neck-edge decreases, forming the characteristic front neckline
• Shoulder shaping – achieved by casting off groups of stitches at the beginning of successive rows
• Picking up stitches – used to work the neckband on a circular needle after the main pieces are complete
• Holding stitches – centre front and back neck stitches are placed on holders and later incorporated into the neckband

Stitches Used

• Uneven rib – the lower border is worked in a specific rib pattern beginning with K2, P2 repeated to the last three stitches, then K2, P1, creating a subtly asymmetric ribbed texture
• Stocking stitch – knit on right-side rows, purl on wrong-side rows; this forms the smooth main fabric of the vest body
• K2tog (knit two together) – a right-leaning decrease used during front slope and armhole shaping

Materials

Yarn

The pattern calls for Rowan Cotton Revive, a sport-weight yarn sold in 100 g balls. As a cotton-based yarn, Cotton Revive is well suited to a vest construction — it is breathable, has good stitch definition, and drapes beautifully in stocking stitch. The quantity