Purl Soho Pullover in Alpaca Pure
If you know me (or even just meet me!), you know that I love the basics. The walls in my home are creamy white; my wardrobe is a uniform of interchangeable layers; and ideally my cooking is confined to three fresh ingredients or less. In knitting, too, I love the basics: stockinette stitch, simple silhouettes, no-fuss engineering, and classic natural fibers.
When not much “extra” is going on, then little shifts have a big impact and slight changes become a fascinating design exercise. A simple garter stitch hat in a cool gray is a whole different thing from the same hat in a warm brown. And The Purl Soho Pullover, originally knit in our Worsted Twist merino, takes on a new life in our gorgeous Alpaca Pure, the latest fiber to join our budding collection of Purl Soho yarns!
Alpaca Pure knits up at the same gauge as our Worsted Twist, but its unique qualities create a significantly different sweater. To me, this is fascinating. The subtle differences in the texture, weight and feel of the alpaca mean a whole new 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!).
And now what I’ve really been waiting for, the perfect opportunity to show off my beautiful (smart, curious and hilarious) niece, Bobbie, in her favorite new sweater! -Joelle
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, and #PurlSohoPullover. We can’t wait to see what you make!
Materials
In addition to a Purl Soho Pullover pattern, you’ll need…
- 5 (6, 6, 7, 8) skeins of Purl Soho’s Alpaca Pure, 100% alpaca. Approximately 492 (656, 656, 820, 820) yards required. I used the color Ballet Pink. (NOTE: We no longer offer Alpaca Pure, but choose from one of our other worsted weight yarns.)
- A US 7 (4.5 mm), 24-inch circular needle for body of sweater (or 20-inch for size 2)
- A US 7, 16-inch circular needle for last two rounds of neck
- A US 7, 12-inch circular needle for sleeves (or US 7 double pointed needles for size 2)
- A US 6 (4 mm), 16-inch circular needle for neck
- Removable stitch markers (including one in a contrasting color)
- Stitch holders or scrap yarn
Gauge
4 1/4 stitches = 1 inch in stockinette stitch, using larger needle
This gauge is exactly the same as for the Worsted Twist version (although on a smaller size needle), which means the pattern is exactly the same too!
Sizes
For Child’s 2 (4, 5, 6, 10)
- Finished Chest Circumference: 20 1/4 (22, 24, 26 1/4, 28 1/4) inches
- Finished Length from Shoulder to Bottom Edge: 16 1/2 (17 1/2, 19, 20, 21 1/2) inches
- Finished Length from Underarm to Bottom Edge: 10 3/4 (10 3/4, 12, 12 3/4, 14 1/4) inches
And if you’d like more info on making the Purl Soho Pullover in Worsted Twist (for kids and adults), just click here!
Pattern
The Purl Soho Pullover pattern is available for purchase as a hard copy or download!
delicious
Never mind the kids, where can I get an adult pattern for this beautifully structured jumper? I am just finishing off the cardigan I knitted with your merino wool, which I bought while visiting NY last summer.
Happy stitching, Barbara
Adelaide, Australia
Hi Barbara-
This is actually a version of our Purl Soho Pullover which comes in child's size 2 all the way to men's large!
https://www.purlsoho.com/purl/products/item/9240-Purl-Soho-The-Purl-Soho-Pullover
Thank you for your question!
Molly
I know its been a year or 7 but the link is no longer available.
Is there somewhere I can download or purchase the pattern?
Thanks!
Hi Donna,
Thanks for reaching out! You can find the pattern here: Purl Soho Pullover Pattern! However, the link to “buy this yarn” no longer works since we have discontinued Alpaca Pure. In its place, I would recommend using Worsted Twist!
Warmly,
Gianna
The colour is what captured me, it is so soft and gentle and very pretty! xx
Hi!
Thank you for your lovely projects!
Somehow, the instructions and pattern of "Molly's Sketchbook: Toddler T-Shirt" are missing. Could you please fix that?
I'm sorry for the totally unrelated matter, but since the comment section on that project is also missing I thought I would contact you through a recent project.
Thank you!
Hi Laura-
The Toddler T-Shirt story seems to be working fine from our end. https://www.purlsoho.com/create/the-purl-bee/2013/7/4/mollys-sketchbook-toddler-t-shirt.html
Can you try from another browser? If you're still having problems with it please email me directly: mollyATpurlsohoDOTcom.
Thanks for getting in touch!
Molly
Hi Molly!
This is just the one that I was looking for a long time. But I want to make one for my baby. Am expecting her in this August and think it will be perfect if I can make this for her first winter outfit! Could you tell me how should I do it? Decrease sts? using smaller needle? @.@ Thanks!
Hi Celine-
Congratulations on your soon-to-arrive baby! Adjusting a pattern to be a smaller size is kind of tricky, and there's not a simple formula for how to do it. (And you definitely wouldn't want to use a smaller needle because the sweater would end up super dense and be uncomfortable to knit!) Additionally since this is a pullover with a thick roll neck it might be hard to get on and off of a small baby.
You might want to try looking through our other baby projects to see if something else strikes your fancy? https://www.purlsoho.com/create/baby-projects-knitting/?currentPage=2&SSScrollPosition=955
Thanks so much for getting in touch and sorry I can't be of more help!
Best-
Molly
This sweater is beautiful do you have woman’s sizing??
Hi Barb-
Yes! A version of this pattern is available in a a woman’s size here: https://www.purlsoho.com/create/2013/09/01/new-purl-sohos-worsted-twist/ It uses a different yarn in a smaller gauge but it is the same shape.
Thanks for getting in touch!
Molly
I tried to send this the other day, but not sure it went thru 😉 Love the sweater but having some trouble with the pattern. When I do the short rows, after completing Row 4 and the following Round 1, it says for Round 2 to knit to end. When I do so, there are still 2 wrapped stitches that are left over just after the 2nd pm (these are the wrapped stitches from the purl rows 2 & 4). How do you work them in from the knit side? When I complete Round 1, I have the correct number of stitches…please help 😉 Thx!
Hi Laurie
You are correct that you will be picking up those wraps as you come around the *next round. It can be a little finnicky to pick these up from the front, and I’m not sure that I’ve seen a standard way to do it. I would do as follows: 1) slip the wrapped stitch to the right needle. 2) With the left needle, pick up the horizontal bar of the wrap from the front and from underneath. 3) Slip the wrapped stitch back to the left needle. 4) K2tog the wrap and the wrapped stitch.
-Thomas
Kids?! I want one for me!
Hi Hannah,
Thank you for the comment! We’ve actually put out a version of the pattern in our Purl Soho Worsted Twist yarn in sizes ranging from child to adult large! You can purchase the pattern here; https://www.purlsoho.com/purl/products/item/9240-Purl-Soho-The-Purl-Soho-Pullover
You can also browse the color selection of the worsted twist here; https://www.purlsoho.com/purl/search/?search_keywords=worsted+twist
Happy Knitting!!!
Jake
Any way I can make this with straight needles? I knit with a needle under my arm and cannot knit any other way. I would love to knit this sweater.
Laura
Hey Laura,
Thank you for the comment. Unfortunately this pattern is knit in the round so in order to use straight needles you will have to reconfigure the pattern into front and back panels. Also the shaping for the sleeve would be different if it’s knit flat. If you are comfortable altering patterns in this way you can go for it. However the new Top-Down Turtleneck cardigan is the cardigan version of this pattern and is knit flat. I think that would be the best option for you. You can view that pattern here;
https://www.purlsoho.com/create/2015/04/06/top-down-turtleneck-cardigan/
Hope this is helpful for you and please don’t hesitate to write back if you have anymore questions.
Happy Knitting!
Jake
Could this sweater be knit in cotton? My kids get very hot & prefer cotton- thanks in advance.
Hi Janie-
Yes! Blue Sky Worsted Cotton would be a good substitution. It’s really soft and comes in lots of great colors! https://www.purlsoho.com/purl/products/item/721-Blue-Sky-Blue-Sky-Cotton
Thanks for your question and please let us know if you need any more help!
Molly
Is it a posibility to have a translated version of this pattern?
Hi Rita-
I’m afraid we aren’t able to translate this pattern. Sorry we can’t be of more help and thank you for getting in touch!
Molly
I am itching to make this terrific little sweater for my granddaughters but I have a question about the sleeves: it looks in some of the photos as though the sleeve width is progressively decreased toward the wrist but in the photo of the beautiful little girl, the bottom edges of the sleeves look extremely wide. Can I just increase the number of decreases to have a somewhat narrower cuff?
Hi Sherrill,
It’s so nice to hear you are excited about this pattern! The sleeves do increase a bit from the cuff to the shoulder but it’s fairly gradual. In order to make a narrower cuff it will take some rewriting of the pattern. If you are comfortable altering patterns then I would say to go for it! I would do this by figuring out how tight you want to cuff to be and then change the frequency of increasing to get to the proper stitch count.
I hope this helps and if you have any further questions please don’t hesitate to write back!
Good Luck!
Jake
Hi, I received the pattern for this sweater as my free download. However, my computer crashed and I lost it! Could I get it back again? Thank you in advance.
Pat
Hi Pat,
Thank you for writing in! We are sorry to hear that your computer crashed! We’ll re-send the pattern to you.
Best,
Kumeko
I was recently given 1090 yards of baby alpaca yarn. I made a swatch for gauge, and it is perfect for this sweater, which I am keen to make. I need a woman’s large, so I calculated the needed yardage and purchased a contrasting color. DO you have any thoughts about knitting this in two colors?
Hello Ann Marie,
Thank you for writing us. I would experiment with adding in a few stripes in the body and arms. Let us know how it goes and happy knitting!
-Marilla
Will it work if I make this sweater in your beautiful soft cotton. If not do you have a pattern for an oversized ladies cotton sweater?
Hi Elizabeth,
Thanks for reaching out! Unfortunately, Cotton Pure is too thin for this seater, but you could use Blue Sky Worsted Cotton! As always when substituting a different yarn, I would recommend knitting a gauge swatch, but it should knit up to the correct gauge for this pattern. If you prefer to use Cotton Pure, I would suggest taking a look at our Everyday Linen Raglan pattern!
Happy knitting!
Julianna
Hello. What skill level is this lovely pullover? I would like to make a child’s size. Thank you.
Hi Julie,
Thanks for reaching out. We don’t rate the difficulty of our patterns because we want people to feel free to try things that are “too hard” for them; we want to encourage people to discover that learning new techniques enriches the process of making. However, I can absolutely describe the skills involved for this pattern so you know what you’re getting into and can prepare! This pattern uses: wrap + turn short rows, knit front + back increases (kfb), knit two together (k2tog) and slip slip knit (ssk) decreases, and kitchener stitch.
Ultimately, we hope that you will take little leaps into the unknown and find that the satisfaction was worth the challenge! We are always happy to give you advice as you work through the patterns.
All the best,
Lili
I can’t find the pattern for kids. Only the adult. Can you help me?
Hi Ines,
Thanks for writing in! Both the kid and adult version of this pullover are available for download on this page. You can select the kids version from the drop-down menu right beneath the pattern name. Hope this helps!
All the best,
Lili
I just bought some Campo and would love to find a child/baby sweater pattern to knit with it. Could this sweater be knit with Campo? I have the pattern.
Hi Mary,
Campo is a lovely choice for this pattern! Like Alpaca Pure, it’s a heavy worsted weight yarn, you it’ll be easy to achieve the correct gauge. Just be sure to make a gauge swatch before beginning so that you can find the perfect needle size to use. Happy knitting!
All the best,
Lili