Kate Davies – Starnkeeker Vest – Knitting Kit

Kate Davies – Starnkeeker Vest Knitting Kit

Designed by Kate Davies – KDD & Co

Starnkeeker is Scots for star gazer, and the vest earns the name: allover stars and crosses in four shades, running from a corrugated rib hem to a corrugated rib neck. It is a graphic, confident piece that works as hard over a shirt as it does on its own.

The vest is worked bottom up in the round with steeks inserted for the armscyes and neck, then cut open and finished with picked-up corrugated rib edgings. The shoulders are joined with a three-needle bind off. Kate makes the point that the motif is easier to hold in your head than it looks, and by the time you reach the armscyes you will be reading your knitting rather than the chart.

We have kitted this in Jamieson & Smith 2 Ply Jumper Weight, the classic Shetland jumper weight and our choice for this design in place of the yarn named in the pattern. True Shetland wool is what steeked colourwork wants: it grips, it holds a cut edge, and it blooms when blocked so the pattern settles and evens out.

Choosing your palette

Three palettes, each of four shades, shown in the photographs.

• Shetland Palette 1 · A Light Fawn 202 · B Dark Brown 5 · C Bright Turquoise Mix FC34 · D Marled Salmon Orange FC7
• Shetland Palette 2 · A Light Fawn 202 · B Dark Brown 5 · C Bright Turquoise Mix FC34 · D Bright Pink Mix FC22
• Shetland Palette 3 · A Natural White 1A · B Dark Brown 5 · C Light Turquoise 75 · D Bright Orange 73

We have matched Kate's palette as closely as the Jamieson & Smith range allows, but these are not the shades she used and the two yarns are different, so your vest will not look identical to the photographs of the original.

Skill Level: Advanced ★★★★ (4 out of 5)

Sizes: Eight sizes, 81.5 to 152.5cm / 32 to 60in finished bust. See Choosing your size below.

Gauge: 30 sts x 34 rounds to 10cm (4") over colourwork in the round. Kate gives 3mm as the starting point for swatching

The Kit Includes

• Jamieson & Smith 2 Ply Jumper Weight in the four shades of your chosen palette, in the quantities your size needs. See the table below for ball counts
• Printed pattern in English, with a code to download the digital version

You'll Also Need

• Gauge-size and below gauge-size needles in lengths to suit the body and neck
• Below gauge-size needles of your preferred type for working the armscyes
• 6 stitch markers
• Waste yarn for holding stitches
• Wool needle

Choosing your size

Starnkeeker is given in finished measurements only, so the fit is yours to choose. The sample is knitted in the second size. Ball counts are for the four shades combined and are built into the price of each size.

If you want to add length to the body, order a ball or two extra in each shade.

Techniques used

• Stranded colourwork in the round, two shades per round, worked from a chart throughout
• Corrugated rib at hem, neck and armscyes
• Inserted steeks at both armscyes and the front neck, reinforced and cut
• Armscye and neck shaping worked in pattern, with decreases in the background shade
• Three-needle bind off at the shoulders
• Picking up and knitting the neck and armscye edgings

Kate's steek tutorials are on the KDD site if you want to read up on a method before you cut.

Why You'll Love It

• A graphic allover motif that reads as traditional and modern at once
• Real Shetland wool from Jamieson & Smith in Lerwick
• Three palettes, each chosen as a complete set
• Eight sizes to a 152.5cm / 60in finished bust
• A proper steeking project, with a motif that becomes second nature as you go