Ainur Berkimbayeva is a form-follows-function kind of designer, a person who sees opportunity in knitting’s constraints, who tackles geometry with confidence and ingenuity, and who ekes beauty out of every stitch. These talents and more materialize in Ainur’s Thistle Yoke Pullover, designed especially for Purl Soho!

Ainur Berkimbayeva For Purl Soho: Thistle Yoke Pullover | Purl Soho

A stunning ring of thistle-y petals backdropped by garter-ridge stripes, this yoke is a short-row tour-de-force. Knit sideways and flat, this part may look a bit intimidating, but super-easy German Short Rows simplify the knitting gymnastics.

Ainur Berkimbayeva For Purl Soho: Thistle Yoke Pullover | Purl Soho

Graft the yoke together at center back, then pick up along its bottom edge to continue à la your usual top-down sweater… But in the end, so not usual!

Ainur Berkimbayeva For Purl Soho: Thistle Yoke Pullover | Purl Soho

Besides the striking yoke, this sweater steals the show with its soft and squishy garter stitch texture, which makes a full 90-degree turn at the moment short-row colorwork cedes to one-color garter stitch. Talk about form following function!

Ainur Berkimbayeva For Purl Soho: Thistle Yoke Pullover | Purl Soho

With all this action, we love Ainur’s decision to keep the yarn naturally understated. One hundred percent undyed Andean highland wool, our Good Wool fits the bill, settling the design into a cozy world of wood grain, pine cones, rays of sunshine, and yes, the beautiful blossom of a thistle!

Ainur Berkimbayeva For Purl Soho: Thistle Yoke Pullover | Purl Soho

UPDATE: NEW COLORS

FEBRUARY 2022

Ainur Berkimbayeva For Purl Soho: Thistle Yoke Pullover | Purl Soho

Now you can make your Thistle Yoke Pullover in a meadow of beautiful tones! We’ve added gorgeous dyed colors to the Good Wool collection, hues as vibrant as fresh Fern Green or as soft and gentle as Periwinkle Gray… We hope you have a field day choosing!

Designed for Purl Soho by Ainur Berkimbayeva.

Share your progress + connect with the community by tagging your pics with #PurlSoho, #PurlSohoBusyHands, #PurlSohoThistleYokePullover, and #PurlSohoGoodWool. We can’t wait to see what you make!

Materials

Ainur Berkimbayeva For Purl Soho: Thistle Yoke Pullover | Purl Soho

Purl Soho’s Good Wool, 100% Andean highland wool. Each skein is approximately 383 yards/ 100 grams.

  • Main Color (MC): 3 (4, 4, 5, 5, 5, 6, 6) skeins; approximately 1080 (1210, 1375, 1545, 1705, 1870, 2045, 2170) yards required. We used Heirloom White for one version and Walking Stick for the other.
  • Contrast Color (CC): 1 skein; approximately 190 (200, 215, 215, 230, 230, 245, 255) yards required. We used Hickory Nut for the Heirloom White version and Winter Grass for the Walking Stick version.

Gauge

22 stitches and 44 rows = 4 inches in garter stitch

Sizes

NOTE For help picking a size, please check out our Understanding Ease + Selecting Size Tutorial!

34½ (38¼, 42½, 47, 51¼, 55¾, 60, 64¼)

To fit actual chest circumference of approximately 30–33 (34–37, 38–41, 42–46, 47–50, 51–54, 55–59, 60–63) inches, with 1–4 inch(es) of ease

  • Finished Chest Circumference: 34½ (38¼, 42½, 47, 51¼, 55¾, 60, 64¼) inches
  • Finished Length From Neck To Bottom Edge: 21¾ (22½, 23½, 24½, 25¼, 25¾, 26¾, 27) inches
  • Finished Sleeve Length From Underarm: 18 (18, 17½, 17½, 17, 17, 16½, 16) inches

Sample: The sweaters shown here are size 38¼, modeled with 4 inches of ease.

Pattern

Ainur Berkimbayeva For Purl Soho: Thistle Yoke Pullover | Purl Soho

The Thistle Yoke Pullover Pattern is available for purchase as a PDF download only.

Ainur Berkimbayeva For Purl Soho: Thistle Yoke Pullover | Purl Soho
Ainur Berkimbayeva For Purl Soho: Thistle Yoke Pullover | Purl Soho
Ainur Berkimbayeva For Purl Soho: Thistle Yoke Pullover | Purl Soho