Purl Soho Pullover in Purl Soho’s NEW Worsted Twist!
Our budding collection of Purl Soho yarn is growing… Introducing our latest inspiration, Worsted Twist! Worsted Twist pays homage to a classic 2-ply farm yarn with its straightforward earthiness and deep sophistication. Spun in one hundred percent of the softest merino wool you can imagine, our newest yarn is so fresh and simple that all of our fall ideas start here!
Its smooth finish makes Worsted Twist a fabulous choice for interesting stitch patterns, and its amazing softness makes it just right for everything that you wear close: cowls, scarves, hats, mittens, sweaters, and blankets. Choose from a palette of moody blues and evocative neutrals, animated by pops of our favorite brights.
Worsted Twist’s timeless look and toasty touch reminded us immediately of our favorite sweater from college. Remember it? The one that kept you cozy at bonfires and football games, on autumn walks and winter adventures? The Purl Soho Pullover is that sweater… only better: classic, comfy and totally beautiful!
With ingenious shoulder shaping and simple design details, the Purl Soho Pullover is a super fun and quick knit. Joelle actually whipped up the prototype in one trans-Atlantic flight! It is knit in one easy piece and is sized for everyone with sizes Child’s 2 (4, 6, 8, 10, 12/Women’s XS, S, M, L/Men’s S, Women’s 1XL/Men’s M, Women’s 2XL/Men’s L).
Pick up the Purl Soho Pullover pattern and get ready for autumn’s first frost! And browse our whole gorgeous collection of Worsted Twist. From gentle Sea Salt and Ballet Pink to rich Peacock Blue and Dark Loam, we can’t wait to find out your favorites!
Designed by Purl Soho founder and co-owner, Joelle Hoverson.
Share your progress and connect with the community by tagging your pics with #PurlSoho, #PurlSohoBusyHands, #PurlSohoPullover, and #PurlSohoWorstedTwist. We can’t wait to see what you make!
Materials
In addition to a Purl Soho Pullover pattern, you’ll need…
- 3 (4, 4, 5, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 9, 10) skeins for Purl Soho’s Worsted Twist, 100% Merino Wool. Each skein is 164 yards/ 100 grams; approximately 492 (656, 656, 820, 820, 984, 1148, 1312, 1212, 1476, 1640) yards required. (NOTE: We no longer offer Worsted Twist, but choose from one of our other worsted/aran weight yarns.)
- A US size 8 (5 mm), 20-inch to 32-inch circular needle for body of sweater
- A US size 8, 16-inch circular needle for neck of sweater
- A set of US 8, double pointed needles or 12-inch circular needle for sleeves
- A US 7 (4.5 mm), 16-inch circular needle for neck of sweater
- Removable stitch markers (including 1 in contrasting color)
- Stitch holders of scrap yarn
Gauge
4¼ stitches = 1 inch in stockinette stitch, using larger needle
Sizes
NOTE For help picking a size, please check out our Understanding Ease + Selecting Size Tutorial!
Child’s 2 (4, 6, 8, 10, 12/Woman’s XSmall, Woman’s Small, Woman’s Medium, Woman’s Large/Man’s Small, Woman’s 1X-Large/Men’s Medium, Woman’s 2X-Large/Man’s Large)
- Finished Chest Circumference: 20¼ (22, 24, 26¼, 28¼, 30, 32, 36¼, 40, 44¼, 48) inches
- Finished Length from Shoulder to Bottom Edge: 16½ (17½, 19, 20, 21½, 22½, 26, 26, 28, 28½, 28½) inches
- Finished Length from Underarm to Bottom Edge: 10¾ (10¾, 12, 12¾, 14¼, 14¾, 17½, 16¾, 18½, 18½, 17) inches
Pattern
The Purl Soho Pullover pattern is available as a PDF download!
Update: New Yarn
March 2014
The Purl Soho Pullover is also beautiful in our gorgeous Alpaca Pure yarn! Alpaca Pure knits up at the same gauge as our Worsted Twist, but its unique qualities create a significantly different sweater. Alpaca, with its long fibers, is slightly downier than merino. It is also heavier and denser than merino, which means a super cozy Pullover with a drape like a warm waterfall. But a little goes a long way. For a child, the weight of an Alpaca Pure sweater feels snug and comfy, but for adults it might be a little much (stick with the Worsted Twist!).
Update: 2017
September 2017
Now with better sizing, clearer instructions, and fresh graphics, the Purl Soho Pullover remains an enduring classic… Only better! Like the original, we knit up this adult version in our Worsted Twist, now in warm and toasty Wheat Flour.
UPDATE: NOW IN PLENTY
MARCH 2022
We’re returning to this classic Purl Soho pattern in order to offer more adult sizes and because we couldn’t resist knitting it up in our super-duper soft Plenty. One hundred percent extra fine merino with a distinctive spin and very lively bounce, Plenty knits up into a plump, smooth fabric, just perfect for this essential sweater!
What wonderful looking yarn! xo
Hi,
This looks beautiful! How do you get needles on a transatlantic flight? Is it on certain airlines? Would really love to know.
Thanks so much,
Harebells
Would it be possible to purchase this pattern as a PDF, rather than having it sent by mail? It looks lovely, and I would prefer not to wait.
Thanks,
Jennifer
Would love to make but stymied how many skeins to buy for a women's size 10-12!
Can you assist?
Thank you.
Hi Jennifer-
Unfortunately we don't have the capability to do that right now but it's something we'd like to do in the future.
Thanks so much for getting in touch!
Molly
Hi Harebells-
It was on Delta, I had the addi circulars. I've never had a problem with them except about 10 years ago on an internal flight in Australia.
Thanks for your question!
Joelle
Hello
It's wonderfull !
Could you tell me if you deliver in France and if the explanation for the knitting sweater are translated into French?
Thank you in advance
Is it possible to buy the pattern in the Soho store along with the yarn?
Thanks!
Hi Chermia-
Yes, we have the patterns and yarn at the store in Soho. So please stop on by!
Thanks!
Molly
Hi Kabi-
We do ship to France but this pattern is only in English.
Thank you so much for getting in touch!
Molly
Hi there,
is it possible to get this pattern as a pdf document to avoid shipping?
I would love to knit it, but shipping to Germany is so expensive!
Thanks
Sabine
Hi Sabine-
Unfortunately we don't have the ability to sell this as a PDF. However if you get in touch with our customer service department they can ship it to you in a regular envelope for just the price of an international stamp. Here is their email address:
Customerservice AT purlsoho DOT com
Thank you!
Molly
Wondering about Barbara's question, too…how many skeins for a women's M or L?
How in the world did you manage to create a palette that is near identical to the 2013 Farrow & Ball collection?
http://us.farrow-ball.com/all/newcolours/fcp-category/list?resetFilters=true
Eerie.
Hi Merci-
We love Farrow and Ball so it's great to see that they seem to have been inspired by similar color relationships. It must be something in the air!
Thanks for writing in!
Molly
Is this meant to have negative ease? Or 2 inches ease?
Hi Katie
Joelle says anywhere from 0 to 2 inches and that she prefers 2.
Thank you!
Molly
Is there really no way y'all could scan the hard copy of the pattern and send it as a PDF to those who purchase the pattern and request the PDF? For those of us in hard-to-reach locations with unreliable postal services, it would be greatly appreciated! 🙂
Hi Lucy-
I totally understand your frustration and we are working on having PDFs available for sale on our site. I know it seems like it should be simple but our site has a lot of working parts and we want to present them in the easiest and best way possible. They will be available soon though!
Thank you for getting in touch about this and for your patience!
Molly
I'm relatively new to knitting, and I am wondering whether this pattern would be a good choice for someone knitting a sweater for the first time? Thank you!
Hi Dianne-
This would be a great first sweater! You can feel free to ask us any questions about it as you go. Thanks for getting in touch and good luck with it!
Molly
I'm working my way through this pattern, and though I'm getting the stated stitch gauge, mine is coming out a bit long. Would you be able to list the recommended row gauge? Thanks! 🙂
Hello Emmalee-
The row gauge is 6.5 rows per inch.
Thank you!
Molly
Hi, Molly,
I am knitting this right now and I have a question on the Shape the Shoulders section. In the previous section, you have (for the Women's size Medium) 12 stitches for each sleeve. Then, you instruct to knit 1 round and move the markers 1 stitch to the right for the 1st and 3rd markers and 1 stitch to the left for the 2nd and 4th markers. Wouldn't that make the sleeve stitches total 10 instead of 12 as listed for the end of the Shape the Shoulders section?
Thanks,
Jennie
gradirei avere le spiegazioni dei modelli in italiano . E' possibile? Grazie Anna
gradirei avere le spiegazioni dei modelli in italiano . E' possibile? Grazie Anna
Hi Anna-
I'm sorry but none of us speak Italian!
Thanks for getting in touch!
Molly
Hi Molly
I just ordered the pattern but I cannot figure out how many skieins to buy for Woman's Medium.
Plus should I buy a size smaller? I wear size 6/8.
Thank you
Hi Ellemiek-
You should look at the finished measurements to see what size you should make. The way you read the measurements and yarn amounts can be a little tricky so here's an explanation:
The sizes are listed like so:
Child 2 (4, 6, 8, 10, 12/Women's X Small, Women's Small, Women's Medium, Women's Large/ Men's Small, Women's 1-XL/ Men's Medium, Women's 2-XL/ Men's Large)
Which means that for, say, the Women's Medium size you will always follow the instructions/ yarn requirements/ sizing that is listed seventh in from the parenthesis.
For example, again for the Women's Medium, you would need 8 skeins.
Please let us know if you have any more questions and good luck with the project!
Molly
Dear Molly
Thank you for the explanation but I am afraid that when I start this project I will need some more (lots) more help. Maybe it is because I am Dutch or maybe because I am a beginner but the knitspeak is like acabadabra to me! I tthink I understand how to knit the body but after that I am lost. YOKE PREPARATION FOR MEDIUM: Do you mean knit 4 and then put the 8 stitches that you haven't knit yet before these 4 stitches on a stitch holder?
Don't get me started on the sleeves but I will ask you later if I may. I want to work out the pattern before I start.
Thank you
Ellemiek
Hi Ellemiek,
For that step you will knit 4 stitches past the marker and then put the last 8 stitches you knit (which are the 4 stitches before the marker and the 4 stitches after the marker) on a stitch holder. I hope this helps you envision the yoke preparation better! Good luck and please let us know if you have any more questions!
Hello!!!
I was wondering if you might have a picture of this sweater on a man? I am thinking of Knitting this for myself, and despite being employed in a creative field, I am lacking the imagination to picture this in a masculine context.
I am mostly curious to know if it will suit me. I'm a younger guy (29), 6', slight to average build and probably, dare I say, usually found sitting in the 'hipster' neck of the woods wearing a well worn pair of skinny leg jeans and a gingham shirt with my long hair piled up on my head… I know I know…
It looks like it would be ok, but I would love your opinion/advice. Happy new year and happy knitting!
I was looking at the finished sizes and it appears that there is a measurement missing in the list. Perhaps one in between the 32 and 36 1/4 measurements? Thanks!
Hi Sarah-
I don't see what you're referring to. When I count there are 11 sizes and 11 finished measurements but I'm sure I could be missing something. Are you talking about the chest measurements?
Sorry for being a bit dense!
Molly
Hi Molly,
In the Shape Underarm section – K2tog twice means 4 stitches decreased?
Isn't K2tog – 1+1 = 1 – then K2tog again – 1+1=1 – thus we're going from 4 to 2 stitches? Per round.
So that after DECREASE ROUND 1, Knit 1 round, DECREASE ROUND 1, Knit 1 round, by the end of the Shape Underarm section basically, I would have decreased (1+1=1) x 4 thus going from 8 stitches to 4 stitches.
Thus ending up with 208 rather than 204 for the Women's Small.
I hope this makes sense! Confused 😉
Thank you in advance for your guidance, Molly!
Oana
Is a women's medium size equivalent to a women's size 10-12?
Cheers.
Hi Mel-
There is no universal standard for sizing so unfortunately we can't give you a definitive answer. The finished measurements are listed at the very bottom of the story above. I think that a women's 10-12 would probably be more like the large size here.
I hope this helps. Thank you for your question!
Molly
Hi Molly: I have joined the sleeves to the body, ending up with 234 stitches, and I am currently working the Shape Underarm section. I have the markers placed before and after each sleeve, and I am decreasing before and after the markers, so it seems I am only decreasing the front and back. I have made 20 decreases so far, and my front has 62 stitches (down from 71), right sleeve has 45 stitches (down from 46), back has 63 stitches (down from 71), and left sleeve has 44 stitches (down from 46) (214 stitches total). Should I be decreasing a stitch on the front, right sleeve, back, and left sleeve stitches on every decrease row? I am ready to begin the Shape Sleeve Cap section. If I need to end up with 12 stitches for each sleeve, I may be decreasing wrong. I hope I have given you enough information to understand what I am asking. Thanks for your help.
Hi. I want to make this pattern using your worsted-weight yarn. However, my version of this pattern comes in the form of your Cozy,Comfy Pullover in Last Minute Knitted Gifts. The yarn is heavier in this pattern therefore the gauge and stitches cast on are very different. Could anyone tell me what number of stitches I need to start with, then I think I can take it from there. Thanks!
Amy
Hi Amy,
All of the pattern details for a worsted version of the Cozy Comfy Pullover are in the Purl Soho Pullover pattern which you can purchase here:
https://www.purlsoho.com/purl/products/item/9240-Purl-Soho-The-Purl-Soho-Pullover
However, If you don't want to purchase the pattern, you can find the cast on for your size by making a gauge swatch with your yarn and working with the measurements in the Cozy Comfy Pullover pattern. For instance, once you find the stitches per inch on your swatch, multiply that amount by the circumference you want your sweater to be, based on the dimensions in the schematic for the Cozy Comfy Pullover. This will be your cast on number.
Thanks!
Joelle
I am relatively new to knitting, but so far this pattern is going well. I have noticed, however, that although my stitch gauge is accurate, my sleeves are coming out very long. I am knitting the women's small and I haven't made it through the entire "shape sleeve" section and the sleeve is already too long. Can you tell me why the row gauge would be off when the stitch gauge is accurate? My row gauge appears to be about 6 stitches per inch rather than 6.5. I am knitting this in Tosh merino instead of worsted twist, but my gauge swatches turned out accurately (at least in terms of the stitch gauge). I can modify the length of the sleeve relatively easily, but I'm concerned that when I knit the shoulder section, the sweater will turn out to be far too big. Thank you in advance for your help!
Hi Dianne-
Sorry you're having problems with this! First of all I want to make sure you have the latest version of the pattern because we changed the rows between increases to inches because a lot of people are getting a different row gauge. These changes are reflected on our errata page here (under purl soho pullover): https://www.purlsoho.com/create/errata/
If you don't have the latest version I will be happy to forward you the PDF. You can contact me at Molly AT purlsoho DOT com
Your row gauge being 6.5 will make a big difference in the sleeve length but you are correct that you can just modify the length but it should be fine on the shoulder section since there is much less distance on the shoulder section between the decreases.
Thanks so much for getting in touch!
Best-
Molly
Just checking what I think might be an error in the pattern in the length from underarm to bottom edge of the sweater for the Women's Medium size.
The pattern shows this dimension as 16 3/4" for the Women's M. However this seems wrong (too short?). The dimensions for this measurement are listed as follows:
10 3/4 (10 3/4, 12, 12 3/4, 14 1/4, 14 3/4, 17 1/2, 16 3/4, 18 1/2, 18 1/2, 17)"
Should it read 17 3/4" instead of 16 3/4"?
Thanks,
Susan
PS: The 17" length for the Men's large also would seem to be too short (perhaps it should read 19" instead of 17")? I couldn't find these in the pattern errata.
I have finished this pattern and am very happy with my first sweater! I do have a question for you: after I successfully grafted the underarms, I noticed I still have some "holes" at the points where the body meets the sleeves. How can I avoid or mitigate this in the future? I only used the Kitchener stitch on the stitches I had placed on scrap yarn–should I have picked up some more stitches from around the underarm? Or knit more tightly at the joints? Thanks for your help!
Hi Dianne-
This is a very common knitting dilemma and you didn't do anything wrong! Different knitters deal with it in different ways. Some people pick up extra stitches at the edge of the holes while others sew in a circle around the hole to cinch it up. It's not an exact science, you just kind of do what works for you.
Thanks so much for this great question. It's made us think that we might want to do a tutorial about this problem at a later date.
Best-
Molly
I just downloaded the pdf (8/2014). I’m confused by the Shape Shoulders and Back Neck section: “Next Round: Change to smaller circular needle. Knit 27 (27, 30, 30, 33, 33, 36, 36, 36, 39, 39) rnds. Change to 16-inch circular needle.” When do I change to US7 circular–at the beginning of the round or the end (for only 1 round of knitting)?
Hi Em!
Thank you for bringing this to our attention! We agree that this is possibly unclear. You should change to the size 7 16-inch circular needle before knitting the specified number of rows. Then you will switch to the size 8 16-inch circular needle for the 1 extra round and bind-off.
-Thomas
I am wondering if the 0-2 inches of positive ease mentioned in a comment above is accounted for in the pattern, or if I should knit a bigger size in order to have some positive ease in my finished sweater…thanks!
Hi Grace-
The finished measurements are listed in the “Sizes” section of this post. So if you’d like your sweater to have 2 inches of positive ease just make the size that is 2 inches larger than your measurements.
Please let us know if you have any more questions and good luck with the project!
Molly
In shape sleeve for medium, if I start with 4 inches, then increase 3 times (once, plus 2 more) every 61/4 inches, won’t I have 22 3/4 inches, not 19 per the instructions?
Hi Kathleen-
It sounds like you are multiplying 6.25 inches times 3 since there are 3 increases, but you should only have 2 sections of 6.25 inches.
It works out to 4 inches, inc row, 6 1/4 inches, inc row, 6 1/4, inc row. That is a total of 16 1/2 inches. So you should then knit for another 2.5 inches to get to 19 inches.
Please let me know if this makes sense!
Thanks!
Molly
Hi,
I have just added the arms to the body of the sweater. First, do the 4 stitches on the scrap yarn from the arm go down (in the underarm area of the sweater) to later be worked in Kitchener stitch? Second, the yarn now seems really tight on my circular needles( especially, around the arms). I have read and reread this pattern and I think I’m doing it correctly, but something seems a bit off.
Thanks!
Hi there!
You are entirely correct! The stitches on hold will be worked in Kitchener stitch later. Also, the stitches near the arms will feel very tight for the first couple of rounds. The further you work away from the underarms, the more space you’ll have to work around.
Happy Knitting!
Thomas
I am having trouble with the short row part of the pattern. Maybe I am not visualizing it correctly, but it seems as if following the short row part with rows 1-4 would result in 3/4 of the neckline being taller (i.e. more rows) than the other 1/4. How would that be rectified later? Is it that rows 1-4 would be worked on the same section of the sweater between the first and third marker, or would it go all the way around? I feel as though I’m missing something.
Hi Robin!
The short rows should all be worked in one of the 4 sections of the sweater (the back). The purpose of the short row section is to make the back of the neck 4 rows taller, as you mentioned, which will tilt the neck of the sweater forward a little.
Hope this helps!
Thomas