Camber Pullover
An elegant daily-wear piece, the Camber Pullover is simple, yet thoroughly thought through. Its dropped shoulders create a flattering arc from cuff to cuff, and it’s that subtle crescent that give this beauty its name.
You knit this one in the round from the bottom up to the underarms, then front and back separately with no armhole shaping, join at the shoulders, and shape the neckline with short rows. Pick up the sleeves at the armholes and knit down to the cuffs, choosing your sleeve length: short, three quarter, or long.
All along the way, you’ll encounter some loving details, like a deeply ribbed hem with an overlapping split, slightly lower in the back. And pretty shoulder seams that lead to a generous jewel ribbed neckline. Beautiful!
We knit up our Camber Pullover in Mulberry Merino, our three-season blend of extra fine merino and mulberry silk. It creates a smooth and supple fabric with a gorgeous luminescence. And in a rich neutral like this Field Mouse color, it becomes a timeless, effortless, wear-with-everything essential.
Designed for Purl Soho by Adam Aronowitz.
Materials
- Purl Soho’s Mulberry Merino, 80% extra fine merino wool, 20% mulberry silk. We used the color Field Mouse.
- Short Sleeve Version: 4 (4, 5, 5, 6) skeins
- Three-Quarter Sleeve Version: 4 (4, 5, 6, 7) skeins
- Long Sleeve Version: 4 (5, 6, 6, 7) skeins
You will also need…
- US 4, 32-inch circular needles
- US 4, 24-inch circular needles
- Set of US 4 double pointed needles
- Stitch markers
- Stitch holders or scrap yarn
- A Camber Pullover Pattern (Please Note: The Camber Pullover Pattern is no longer available for purchase. For assistance, please contact us at customerservice@purlsoho.com.)
Gauge
22½ stitches and 36 rows = 4 inches in stockinette stitch.
Sizes
34¼ (38½, 42¾, 47, 51¼) inches
To fit actual chest circumference 29–32 (33–36, 37–41, 42–45, 46–49) inches, with approximately 2–5 inches of ease
- Finished Chest Circumference: 34¼ (38½, 42¾, 47, 51¼) inches
- Finished Length from Underarm to Cuff: Short Sleeve– 6½ inches, Three-Quarter Sleeve– 11½ inches, Long Sleeve– 17 inches
- Finished Length from High Point Shoulder to Bottom Front: 20¼ (21½, 23½, 24¾, 26¾) inches
SAMPLE: The sweater pictured here is size 38½ inches modeled with 4½ inches of ease.
Pattern
Please Note: This Pattern is no longer available for purchase. For assistance, please contact us at customerservice@purlsoho.com.
Great sweater. I’m wondering if you could recommend a non- wool yarn that would be a good substitute. Thanks!
Hi Karen,
Thanks for reaching out! I think the Camber Pullover would be lovely in either our Season Alpaca or Cotton Pure!
Happy knitting!
Julianna
Lovely pattern. Question re: the pattern. Are the instructions detailed for each side – or does the pattern say “reverse the shaping” for left sleeve etc? I refuse to buy any more patterns without clear instructions for both sides of shaping. Thanks.
Hi Mel,
Thanks for writing in and for the kind words! Although both sleeves are exactly the same, we do write out all shaping instructions for both sides of the front and back neck as clearly as possible!
Best,
Julianna
Really handsome sweater, and doesn’t look inordinately complicated. I might have to give this one a try.
I bought this sweater pattern and the appropriate quantity of mulberry merino before looking at the comments and the Ravelry page. It’s disheartening to see so few completed projects. I’ve knit many top-down sweaters for my child, but I’ve never knit a bottoms up sweater, and I’m a bit nervous about joining the arms and the yoke. Do you have any online tutorials? I couldn’t find any. Thanks.
Hi Manisha,
Thanks for reaching out, and I’m sorry that you haven’t been able to see many finished examples of the Camber Pullover! Fortunately, we do have a tutorial on Joining Sleeves to Body for bottom up sweaters that should be quite helpful.
Best,
Julianna
Hi there, I’m on the short row section and wanted to ask if we count the Center Back marker as a stitch marker for the purpose of the short rows?
Hi Manisha,
Thank you so much for writing in and letting us know about this error in the pattern! During the short rows, you should ignore the center back marker and work the decreases only at the shoulder decrease markers. We are working on an official correction to the pattern and will add it to our errata page, but hopefully that clears things up so that you can keep knitting in the mean time! Thanks again for catching this!
Best,
Julianna
This is a beautiful pattern! I am wondering if it would be possible to knit this with Icelandic Lopi Einband yarn (it is lace weight), and if so, do I just select a larger size of the pattern to knit? I’m trying to create a lighter looser fitting garment that is still warm (it doesn’t get very cold where I live). Sorry if my question is unclear.
Hello Sarah,
Thank you for reaching out! Switching gauges for a sweater is always temperamental, so it would take some experimentation. You can always go up in size to compensate for your smaller gauge, though it is hard to predict exactly how it will turn out. I would also reccomend checking out our Lightweight Raglan Sweater or our End to End Pullover which both use a fingering weight yarn and would be closer to your yarn’s gauge.
I hope this helps and happy knitting!
-Marilla
I loved knitting this pullover! The fit is almost perfect. It was a little challenging but fun to knit while in isolation.
I am wondering if you have any advice on the neckline? After casting off I found it is too big and slipping off the shoulders.
Hi Anna,
Thank you so much for reaching out! You might try re-knitting the neck cast off, or perhaps even all of the neck ribbing, on a needle one size smaller than you used previously. This should tighten up the neck a little without changing the look of the sweater!
I hope that helps!
Julianna
Hi Purl,
I just purchased this pattern and the Mulberry Merino, but I’ve tested my gauge several times and it’s way off from what’s stated. It’s supposed to be 22.5 sts = 4″ and I’m knitting 28 sts = 4″ I’ve tried a few times, no luck, and when I knit with #5 needles I got 24 sts = 5″. I’m nervous to try and convert the pattern, but what do you think? The row length is not so correct either so I’m really in a pickle.
Thank you for any advice you have.
Best,
Jenny
Hi Jenny,
Thanks for writing in! Although I’m sure you’re getting tired of swatching at this point, I would recommend knitting one last gauge swatch on a US 6 needle, as it sounds like you’re getting closer to the correct gauge! Needle sizes in knitting patterns are always just a recommendation, so as long as you are knitting at the correct gauge, it really doesn’t matter if you need to move up or down several needle sizes, and adjusting a pattern to match a different gauge can be quite tricky and unpredictable. You might also try switching up your needle material to see if that changes your row gauge! Some knitters find that switching from metal to bamboo or vice versa can alter their row gauge without significantly impacting their stitch gauge. However, if you aren’t able to match the row gauge, I would go with whatever needle gives you the correct stitch gauge, as that’s much more important to the fit of the sweater!
I hope that helps!
Julianna
Hello, I am struggling with the section “Join Front & Back + Shape neckline” when it comes to what to count in which section (front vs back stitches). In the Short Row 1 + Union round, am I supposed to count the Front stitch total from the shoulder decrease marker to shoulder decrease marker? If I do so, I end up with 30 on one side of the neckline and 28 on the other, instead of the intended 29 on each. When I count from the S2KP column on either side of the front neckline stitches on hold, I still end up lopsided. Thank you for your help.
Hi Susan,
Thanks for writing in! I am happy to help you with this one, what size are you making so I can get a better idea of what may be happening?
Warmly,
Gianna
I apologize if this is a repeat, as I cannot remember if I already replied. The size I am making is 34 1/4. Thank you!
Hi Susan,
Thanks for your response! Sorry for the delay, this is an older pattern of ours so I had to do a bit of investigating! To answer your question, you should have an even 29 stitches for the front and 29 for the back, not 28 on one side and 30 on the other. My best guess if you are coming up lopsided is that your stitch marker was possibly not in the correct space going into the short rows.
I hope this helps and please let me know if you have any more questions!
Gianna