Ainur Berkimbayeva For Purl Soho: Tiny Tucks Top
Here’s a knit for all kinds of brains: the ones who latch onto feats of engineering, as well as the ones that ponder beauty’s mysteries. Really, we all have room in our brains for both kinds of appreciation, and Ainur Berkimbayeva‘s Tiny Tucks Top is filled with moments of surprise in both departments!
On the construction front, Ainur’s top has an interesting twist around every corner. You start with two front pieces knit flat and sideways, then join them at the center with a pretty ridgeline seam. You then pick up at the shoulders and knit the back in one piece from top to bottom, then graft its sides to the front’s sides. A few rounds of ribbing tidy up the bottom edge, while the neckline and armholes get a pick up and bind off finish. Lots to think about!
In the name of beauty, those tiny tucks! Flowing from the top of the shoulders, they spread like branches of an estuary, gentle and free. You make them as you go, picking up into a row down below, then knitting those stitches together with the live ones on the needles.
And to top it all off, our Cattail Silk with its wonderfully earthy texture, whisper-light drape, and offhand elegance. It also comes in 26 totally lovely colors, from the ones we used here, Pale Wisteria and Kingfisher Blue, to worlds of pink and gray, green and purple.
Whatever color you pick, the hidden beauty of Cattail Silk is that each skein has so much yardage you’ll need just 2 or 3 to make your Tiny Tucks Top!
Yarn lovers, if you adore the yarn used in this project, you’ll love exploring all of our other yarn collections! Discover over 45 thoughtfully designed yarns in nearly every natural fiber and in every spectacular color you can imagine. Only available here at Purl Soho’s online yarn store, where every skein is created with care and your creativity in mind!
Designed for Purl Soho by Ainur Berkimbayeva.
Share your progress + connect with the community by tagging your pics with #PurlSoho, #PurlSohoBusyHands, #PurlSohoTinyTucksTop and #PurlSohoCattailSilk. We can’t wait to see what you make!
Materials
- 2 (2, 2, 2, 2) (3, 3, 3, 3) skeins of Purl Soho’s Cattail Silk, 100% silk yarn. Each skein of this fingering weight yarn is approximately 618 yards/100 grams. Approximately 815 (915, 1015, 1070, 1215) (1355, 1425, 1570, 1780) total yards required. We used the colors Kingfisher Blue and Pale Wisteria.
- US 3 (3.25 mm), 32-inch circular needles
- Spare US 3 or smaller, straight or circular needles
- Crochet hook size D or E (3.25 or 3.5 mm)
- Scrap yarn for provisional cast on
- A stitch marker
- Stitch holders or scrap yarn
- A Tiny Tucks Top Pattern
Gauge
27 stitches and 40 rows = 4 inches in stockinette stitch
Sizes
NOTE For help picking a size, please check out our Understanding Ease + Selecting Size Tutorial!
36¾ (41, 44¾, 49, 52½) (56¾, 60¾, 64½, 68½)
To fit actual chest circumference of approximately 32-35 (36-39, 40-43, 44-47, 48-51) (52-55, 56-59, 60-63, 64-67) inches, with 2-5 inches of positive ease
- Finished Chest Circumference: 36¾ (41, 44¾, 49, 52½) (56¾, 60¾, 64½, 68½) inches
- Finished Length From Shoulder to Center Back Hem: 22½ (22¾, 23¼, 23¾, 24¾) (25½, 26¼, 27, 28½) inches
Samples: The Kingfisher Blue top shown here is size 36¾, and the Pale Wisteria top is size 41, worn with 5 inches of ease.
Pattern
The Tiny Tucks Top Pattern is available for purchase as a PDF download only.
LEARN ABOUT CATTAIL SILK + ALL OUR BEAUTIFUL YARNS
We used Cattail Silk for this pattern because its earthy, natural beauty brings a light drape and offhanded elegance to your knitting. A 100% mulberry silk yarn, Cattail Silk has a rustic spin with bitty nubs and very subtle variations in texture. Choose from a lovely bouquet of colors, and cast on with this fingering-weight yarn for a truly compelling knit!
More Free Knitting Patterns
- Be sure to explore our vast collection of (mostly free!) Cattail Silk knitting patterns and cast on!
More Fingering-Weight Yarns
- Shop our entire collection of fingering-weight yarn
- If you want to use a different yarn, be sure to take the time to get the correct gauge. Need help? Check our All About Gauge Tutorial!
More Yarns With Similar Fibers
- Shop silk yarn
Looking for more inspiration? Explore all of our free knitting patterns and knitting tutorials, buy one of our many knitting kits and yarn bundles, and shop for beautiful yarn. We have over 35 gorgeous natural fiber yarns in 100’s of magnificent colors, designed to bring integrity, beauty, and joy to your next knitting project and only available at Purl Soho!
Absolutely love this too, except for the wider bottom. As I’ve gotten older I find I don’t want to accentuate my hips! The beautiful shoulders and front seam make me want to try this but with a more fitted bottom. Any thoughts on how to make that happen?
Hi Dee,
Great question! The flared a-line shape of the top is created by increases while knitting the back, which you could certainly omit if you prefer the top to have a straight shape. However, this will remove quite a bit of width, so I would definitely recommend measuring your hips where the bottom of the top will hit to make sure that the bust measurement will be large enough to fit over your hips! The pattern includes a schematic with both the finished bust and hip measurements, so you can easily compare them to your own measurements to make sure the top will fit correctly.
I hope that helps!
Julianna
Hi Dee,
We recently heard from Ainur that omitting the short rows might not be the best way to alter the shape of this top. Due to the tucks and the construction of the front, the center of the top tends to pull up and in, which is offset by the short rows, so they are necessary. Instead, Ainur recommends altering or leaving out the increases in the “Shape A-Line” section of the back. Since this is a longer top, we still recommend making sure the bottom of the top will fit over your hips without the increases!
All the best,
Julianna
Do you have a video about making the tucks? I can’t seem to visualize from the instructions what I am supposed to do.
Hi Liana,
Thanks for reaching out! I’m afraid that we don’t have a video tutorial for how to make these tucks, but it’s very similar to how we work the cording stitch detail along the bottom hem and sleeve cuffs in our Lightweight Raglan Pullover. If you’re still having trouble with the tucks, feel free to reach out to us at [email protected] for additional assistance!
Warmly,
Kelsey
Is it possible to add sleeves to this pattern?
Hi Fran,
Thank you so much for writing to us with your question! Unfortunately, we don’t have the resources to rework this pattern, but it is possible to add sleeves to your Tiny Tucks Top by either picking up stitches around the finished arm-hole or knitting the sleeves separately and seaming them on.
I hope this helps!
All the best,
Carly
I love this pattern. I can always count on Purl Soho for shic inspiration.
I am wondering if I can make this straight across the bottom so that it is not longer on the bottom sides. If so how would I do that? I hope I explained properly and the change I want to do makes sense to you.
Thank you
Hi Brigitte,
Thank you for reaching out! The Tiny Tucks Top is knit on a bias, so the center detailing can’t be omitted without changing the construction of the top. We’re sorry about that!
If you’d like, here are some other projects that might interest you: the Lovely Lightweight Tee, Contour Tee, Goode, Arie, and Sayer!
I hope these recommendations help, and please let us know if you have any questions!
All the best,
Carly
is there a mistake in this pattern? I have just ordered it, and I see no provision for knitting the front. There are instructions for the A-line and for the short rows and tucks, but nothing about knitting the body of the tank. What am I missing??
I mean I understand that the front is knitted sideways, but only 16 rows? (less than 3 inches according to gauge.). I can just keep knitting until it’s the width I want I suppose, but I wanted to check in and make sure I am not misreading something. Please advise
Hi Carolyn,
Thanks for your question! The front panels of the Tiny Tucks Top are knit in 2 separate pieces that will be grafted together later in the Center Front section of the pattern. Both panels are cast on at the side seam edge, then knit horizontally towards the center front where both panels will be grafted together.
When working the Left Front, you won’t be finished with this panel until you’ve completed the A-line, Arm Hole, and Shoulder Tucks sections, then you will move on to casting on for the Right Front.
I hope this helps, and please feel free to send any other questions our way!
All the best,
Carly
thank you!
You’re very welcome, Carolyn!
Happy knitting!
Carly
Hello…I have a question regarding the total tucks. I’m on page 2 Left Front and doing size 44 3/4.
Row 13 is the first tuck
Row 23 is the second tuck
Repeating rows 14-23 (3) times would create 5 total tucks, but the patter states 4 total tucks for this size. Am I reading this wrong or how many total tucks should there be at this point in the pattern? Thank you.
Ally
Hi Ally,
Thanks for reaching out! For size 44 3/4, it looks like the pattern actually says to repeat Rows 14-23 two more times, which would create 4 total tucks. Here’s what that instruction looks like, with your size in bold:
Repeat Rows 14–23 two (2, 2, 3, 3) (3, 4, 4, 4) more times. [4 (4, 4, 5, 5) (5, 6, 6, 6) total tucks]
I hope this helps clarify things!
All the best,
Lili
I ended up hibernating this pattern because of the back. I do not know what happened. I got to the section where I have to shape the A-line and followed the instructions. But by the time I had increased to the right number of stitches, the length from the armhole to the bottom was 15 inches and not 12 3/4. I knit to gauge. Something went awry. I’d love any thoughts about why this might have happened.
Hi Liana,
I’m so sorry to hear that you’ve hit a stopping point in this pattern! The extra length could be due to how frequently you worked the Increase Row in the SHAPE A-LINE section. Perhaps you worked 10 rows in-between each Increase Row, rather than working it as the 10th row (and therefore only 9 rows in-between)? I’d recommend counting the rows between the increases to double check, and then we can go from there and troubleshoot further if necessary!
All the best,
Lili