Foundling 235 Adult Vest Knitting Pattern

The Foundling Museum in London contains a collection of many small textile ‘tokens’, items intended to connect the foundlings with their mothers. This adult vest is a companion piece to the Foundling 235 children’s vest, which in turn was inspired by a lone cotton baby’s sleeve, left with Foundling 235 who was admitted 23 May 1746. It’s intended as another connection between mother and child, something which might keep them bound together even if they were physically apart.

This vest is initially knitted separately for the waistband, then joined in the round to work upwards, every round knit, each round starts at the left side. The hem uses a mock cable rib (instructions given in the abbreviations), while the neck and sleeve bands use a (k1, p1) rib. It's intended to have approximately 7.5cm (3in) positive ease through the body, which should leave enough room for another underlying layer. The vest is a boxy design with two side slits to give plenty of room for hips and waistbands to sit comfortably underneath.

The pattern uses Isager Jensen yarn - if you choose to substitute the yarn, please do make a swatch first to make sure the gauge/tension is the same. Instructions are given for 12 sizes, from 87.5cm (35") to 140.5cm (56 1/4") chest.

You will receive a downloadable PDF version of this pattern to print yourself at home.

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