Ainur Berkimbayeva For Purl Soho: Thistle Yoke Pullover In New Colors
Thistles may be known for their prickles, but in our beautiful Good Wool, Ainur Berkimbayeva’s Thistle Yoke Pullover is nothing but soft, woolly, goodness.
This clever top-down pattern starts with the two-color yoke, working sideways in German Short Rows to create a graphic thistle. After you graft the yoke together, you pick up stitches and knit the body and arms in the round. It’s all in a satisfyingly squishy garter stitch for a very lofty and cozy finish!
We originally knit up the Thistle Yoke Pullover in Good Wool’s undyed palette, but we’ve since added gorgeous dyed colors to the collection, a meadow of beautiful tones as vibrant as fresh Fern Green or as soft and gentle as Periwinkle Gray… We hope you have a field day choosing!
If you love the yarn used in this project, you’ll love all of our other yarn, too! Explore our 35+ lovingly created yarn collections, in nearly every natural fiber and spectacular color you can imagine… Only available here at Purl Soho’s online yarn shop!
Designed for Purl Soho by Ainur Berkimbayeva.
Share your progress and connect with the community by tagging your pics with #PurlSoho, #PurlSohoBusyHands, #PurlSohoThistleYokePullover and #PurlSohoGoodWool. We can’t wait to see what you make!
Materials
- Purl Soho’s Good Wool, 100% Andean highland wool yarn. Each skein of this sport weight yarn 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 Winter Grass for one version and Teal Twilight for the other.
- Contrast Color (CC): 1 skein; approximately 190 (200, 215, 215, 230, 230, 245, 255) yards required. We used Fern Green for the Winter Grass version and Periwinkle Gray for the Teal Twilight version.
- US 3 (3.25 mm), 16-inch circular needles
- US 3, 32- or 40-inch circular needles (depending on size you are making)
- A set of US 3 double pointed needles
- A stitch marker
- Stitch holders or scrap yarn
- A Thistle Yoke Pullover Pattern
GAUGE
22 stitches and 44 rows = 4 inches in Garter Stitch
SIZES
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 inches
Samples: The Winter Grass version is size 34½, worn with 2½ inches of ease and the Teal Twilight version is size 47, worn with 1½ inches of ease.
PATTERN
The Thistle Yoke Pullover Pattern is available for purchase as a PDF download only.
LEARN ABOUT GOOD WOOL + ALL OUR BEAUTIFUL YARNS
Good Wool adds loads of character, beauty, and integrity to this knit! A sport-weight yarn whose lofty 2-ply spin can also bloom into a light worsted/ DK-weight yarn, Good Wool is made from 100% Andean highland wool, a toothy fiber with a deeply natural appeal. This yarn has a spectacular palette of complex and subtly varied colors, including 5 undyed shades. Very close to the hearts of our customers, Good Wool is a true knitter’s yarn!
More Free Knitting Patterns
- Be sure to explore our vast collection of (mostly free!) Good Wool knitting patterns and cast on!
More Sport-Weight Yarns + Light Worsted/DK-Weight Yarns
- Shop our entire collection of sport-weight yarn
- Shop our entire collection of light worsted/ DK-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 Fiber
- Shop wool 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!
Hi! I love this sweater. What would be required to knit the body and sleeves in stockinette rather than garter? Thanks!
Hi Jill,
Thanks for writing in. You can definitely knit the body and sleeves of this design in stockinette instead! The one thing you’ll need to keep in mind is that stockinette has a much taller row gauge than garter stitch does. So you will end up needing to work fewer rounds than expected in the CONTINUE and FINISH YOKE sections of the Yoke (as well as throughout the body and sleeves). Hope this helps!
All the best,
Lili
Would like to know what patterns you have for Good Wool. Thanks you.
Hi Trish,
Thanks for writing in. You can find all of our projects that use Good Wool right here! Hope this helps.
All the best,
Lili
Hi – I recently purchased enough of this yarn in the gorgeous Apple Cider, to be the main color. (Sadly the yarn looks yo be too fine for it’s original destination). What recommendations do you have for the second color? Or do you suggest a different project?
Hi Donna,
Thanks for writing int! Good Wool should definitely work for the Thistle Yoke Pullover, since this pattern was designed in Good Wool itself! Have you tried making a gauge swatch yet? You may need to move up or down a needle size, but you should be able to achieve the gauge indicated in the pattern with Good Wool.
As for a second color, I’ll recommend a few that I think would go well with Apple Cider! I’d suggest either Lemon Meringue, Well Water, or Pink Salt.
All the best,
Lili
How many WPI (wraps per inch) does this Good Wool have? It annoys me that your yarn descriptions don’t allow comparisons with alternatives.
Hi Mary Lou,
Thanks for reaching out, although I’m sorry to hear that you haven’t been able to get a good sense of this yarn! I happened to have some Good Wool on hand, so I measured the wpi myself, and it comes to about 17.
While we don’t include wpi in out yarn descriptions, we make sure to include the weight of the yarn (sportweight, in the case of Good Wool) and the approximate gauge range. We’ve found that these measurements are a bit less subjective than wpi, and are often even more useful in determining if a yarn is a good match for a pattern or as a substitute for another yarn!
I hope this helps provide you with the information you need, and please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any other questions in the future!
All the best,
Lili
Hi,
The pattern of the the pull it,s in courriel in pdf ?.
Hello,
Thanks for reaching out. Yes, when you order this pattern, you’ll receive a link where you can download it in PDF format!
All the best,
Lili
Hi,Thank you for your reponse,I have a other question.
For size large,how much the skeins I have need?.
Hello,
You can find out how many skeins you’ll need for each size in the MATERIALS section of this page! But for reference, here’s how many you need for each size:
Main Color (MC): 3 (4, 4, 5, 5, 5, 6, 6) skeins; approximately 1080 (1210, 1375, 1545, 1705, 1870, 2045, 2170) yards required.
Contrast Color (CC): 1 skein; approximately 190 (200, 215, 215, 230, 230, 245, 255) yards required.
All the best,
Lili
Merci ,joyeux temps des fetes.
Hi,
I will want to buy this pattern,but the web site say the card is refused.
Hello,
I’m so sorry to hear you’ve been having difficulties ordering from our website! The last thing we want is for you to have a frustrating time while shopping with us. Please reach out to us at [email protected] so we can look into this further!
All the best,
Lili
Do you think that the burnt orange and violet night or coastline gray would make good contrast? I’m looking for something unique and bright for the winter! But since the store is closed, I can’t go and see the yarns next to each other.
Hi Laura,
Thanks for writing in! I happen to have the full set of Good Wool color cards, so I can absolutely help you pick out a fun color combo. I think that Coastline Gray in particular goes very well with Apple Cider. Some other exciting combos I like are Wild Violet + Lemon Meringue, Teal Twilight + Apple Cider, and Tree Frog + Guava Earth. Let me know what you think!
All the best,
Lili
Hi,
It’ s Kieran again. I was wondering how I would adapt this pattern for a man – chest sized- 38 -40 inches. Thank you so much.
Hi Keiran,
Thanks for reaching out, and I’m happy to hear that this pattern has caught your eye! All of our patterns are designed to be worn by people of any gender, but some may fit different body types better than others. I’d recommend taking a look at the measurements listed under SIZES to get a sense of how it fits. I hope this helps!
Happy knitting,
Gavriella
Hi! I recently saw someone with this pattern, but as a cardigan, not a sweater. Do you sell the pattern as a cardigan as well? I would love to buy it. I’m not experienced enough to do the conversion from sweater to cardigan myself. Thank you and kind regards.
Hi Manuela,
Thank you for reaching out! Although that sounds like a lovely idea, I am afraid we do not have pattern instructions for a cardigan version of this pullover. I will be sure to pass along the design idea to our team!
All the best,
Gavriella
Hellol Just wondering if this pattern would work using Season Alpaca as the contrast colour? Or would the different gauge not work?
Many thanks
Hi Bethwen,
Thanks for reaching out! Since Season Alpaca is a sportweight yarn like Good Wool, you should be easily able to match the same gauge. I’d just recommend double checking by knitting up a swatch with stripes of both yarns like in the pattern. You may need to size up or down your needles in order to meet the gauge!
All the best,
Lili
Thank you,