Beatrice Hound's Tooth Vest in West Yorkshire Spinners Illustrious - DBP0025 - Downloadable PDF

Beatrice Hound's Tooth Vest in West Yorkshire Spinners Illustrious – Pattern Summary

The Beatrice Hound's Tooth Vest is a free, downloadable PDF knitting pattern designed by Emma Wright for West Yorkshire Spinners, worked in their Illustrious yarn. This intermediate-level project produces a stylish, structured vest featuring the timeless hound's tooth colourwork motif — a classic checked pattern with sharp, irregular points that has long been a staple of tailored fashion. Translated into knitwear, hound's tooth creates a bold yet sophisticated graphic effect that works beautifully across the body of a vest.

About the Design

The Beatrice Vest is a sleeveless garment designed to be worn as a layering piece or standalone top. The hound's tooth pattern gives the vest a structured, fashion-forward appearance, while the choice of a DK weight yarn keeps the fabric lightweight and wearable across multiple seasons. The design is suited to knitters with some experience, particularly those comfortable working with two colours and reading colourwork charts or instructions.

Colourwork and Hound's Tooth Technique

The defining feature of the Beatrice Vest is its hound's tooth colourwork. This technique involves working with two colours of yarn simultaneously across a row or round, carrying the unused yarn across the back of the fabric — a method known as stranded colourwork or Fair Isle-style knitting. The result is a double-layered fabric with excellent stitch definition and warmth, despite the DK weight construction. Knitters working this pattern should be comfortable managing two yarn strands and maintaining even tension across floats to keep the fabric smooth and non-puckered.

Stitches and Techniques Used

• Knit (K) and Purl (P) — the foundational stitches used throughout the construction of the vest
• Stocking Stitch (St St) — used to create the smooth, classic fabric ground of the vest body
• Reverse Stocking Stitch (Rev St St) — worked with purl on the right side and knit on the wrong side, likely used for borders, trims, or textural contrast details
• Stranded Colourwork — the two-colour technique used to create the hound's tooth repeat across the garment
• SKPO (Slip one, Knit one, Pass Slipped Stitch Over) — a left-leaning decrease used in shaping, such as armhole or neckline reductions
• Shaping techniques — including increases and decreases to form the armhole openings and neckline of the vest

Pattern Construction

The pattern is written with instructions given for the first size first, with larger sizes following in brackets — a standard multi-size format that allows knitters to follow one set of instructions across a range of body measurements. Where a single figure or instruction appears without brackets, it applies to all sizes. Knitters are advised to circle or highlight their size before beginning to avoid confusion mid-project.

The abbreviations listed in the pattern include standard knitting shorthand such as K (knit), P (purl), REP (repeat), ALT (alternate), BEG (beginning), RND (round), RS/WS (right side/wrong side), CN (cable needle), and RH (right hand), among others. The inclusion of a cable needle abbreviation suggests there may be subtle textural or structural details beyond the main colourwork body.

Tension and Sizing

As with all garments, achieving the correct tension is essential to the success of the Beatrice Vest. Emma Wright's pattern emphasises that knitters must work a tension square before beginning. If too many stitches are present over the stated measurement, the tension is too tight and a larger needle should be used. If too few stitches are present, the tension is too loose and a smaller needle is recommended. Getting tension right is especially important in colourwork garments, where stranded floats can cause the fabric to pull in if not managed carefully.

Materials