Upper Back of the Brookdale Vest

The upper Back is worked similarly to the upper fronts, starting with armhole shaping. The only thing different while working the remaining armhole depth (compared to the Fronts) is that there is “Back Detail” worked in garter stitch. This is a patch of garter stitch that is simply a little visual detail that looks like this when it’s all completed:

The Back Detail serves no structural purpose – it’s just a cute little design detail that adds a pop of interest and texture to the back. I love to add in little details like this in my pieces when I can :).

This Back Detail section of the upper Back (along with the last row of the back in the “Separate Neck & Shoulders section) accounts for 16 rows. So if you added or took out rows in your armhole depth of the Fronts, then you’ll need to just work 16 rows less than that total number of rows worked in the fronts. Put another way, just make sure to add or take out the same number of rows you had done for the Fronts before this “Back Detail” section. If you didn’t make any alterations, then you can simply work as instructed in the pattern.

The last section of the Back is “Separate Neck & Shoulders“. This is where you will first work your Back Left shoulder stitches and then transfer them to a holder. Then work your Back Neck stitches and then transfer them to another holder. And then work your Back Right shoulder stitches, keeping them on the needle. This is what it will look like (once you’ve turned the work again so the RS if facing you):

After this you’ll be ready to move on to the Finishing section! If you have time before this and would like to start weaving in some of your ends on your body, you can do that now (or just wait until the very end – either works!). If you do want to weave in some ends now, just focus on the ends from the underarm down to the hem.

How I weave in ends

There are lots of different methods out there for weaving in ends, but I’ll share the method I like to use – the duplicate stitch method! I have found this method to work well because it secures the end in well and it also avoids significant bulk.

Click here to read my tutorial on the duplicate stitch. Please note: the demo’s in the top portion of this tutorial show it in garter stitch. But if you keep reading, you’ll see the part where I show it in stockinette stitch which better applies to the Brookdale Vest.