Ainur Berkimbayeva For Purl Soho: Center Point Popover In Tulip Cotton
Ainur Berkimbayeva’s Center Point Popover breaks the sweater mold and creates something entirely unique, completely individual, and totally on point.
Inspired by Ainur’s love of geometry and some paperfolding experimentation, the Center Point Popover is an exciting tribute to shape and texture. You knit the front and back separately, from that striking center point out, then join the pieces and shape for the hips and shoulders. Choose a hood or not, long or short sleeves, and in the end, it’s exactly right for you.
Originally knit in our Linen Quill Worsted yarn, this time around we used our beautiful Tulip Cotton for a cooler, year-round version. The tidy spin of the yarn adds crisp definition to the lines that reverberate from the center of the piece, and its plant-fiber drape lends an easy elegance. Made in Italy of 100% organically grown, GOTS certified cotton, Tulip Cotton is a gorgeous choice for an extraordinary knit!
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. Ainur sees the unique constraints of knitting as opportunities rather than limitations. Using her remarkable ingenuity and love of geometry, she designs beautiful and adventurous pieces for knitters who share her enthusiasm for shape, texture, and adventure!
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Materials
- Purl Soho’s Tulip Cotton, 100% organically grown cotton. Each skein is 131 yards/ 100 grams. We used the color Blue Spruce.
- Short Sleeve Without Hood: 7 (8, 9, 10, 11, 13) skeins; approximately 820 (950, 1105, 1250, 1400, 1580) yards required
- Short Sleeve With Hood: 10 (10, 12, 13, 14, 15) skeins; approximately 1185 (1310, 1470, 1615, 1765, 1945) yards required
- Long Sleeve Without Hood: 9 (10, 11, 12, 13, 14) skeins; approximately 1060 (1185, 1345, 1485, 1635, 1820) yards required
- Long Sleeve With Hood: 11 (12, 14, 15, 16, 17) skeins; approximately 1425 (1555, 1710, 1855, 2005, 2185) yards required
- US 4 (3.5 mm), 16-inch circular needles
- US 5 (3.75 mm), 16-inch circular needles
- US 5, 32-inch circular needles
- A set of US 5 double pointed needles
- Stitch markers, including one unique
- A Center Point Popover pattern
GAUGE
18 stitches and 36 rounds = 4 inches in pattern stitch (knit 2 rows, purl 2 rows) on larger needles, after blocking
SIZES
NOTE: Please visit our Understanding Ease + Selecting A Size tutorial for tips! Also note, this design is very roomy through the bust, so in this case, choose size based on hip measurement.
40½ (45¾, 51, 56½, 61¾, 67)
To fit actual hip circumference of approximately 31–36 (37–42, 43–47, 48–52, 53–57, 58–63) inches with approximately 4–9 inches of positive ease
- Finished Hip Circumference: 40½ (45¾, 51, 56½, 61¾, 67) inches
- Finished Length From Back Neck To Bottom Edge: 16¼ (17½, 19, 20¼, 21½, 23) inches
- Finished Short Sleeve Length From Underarm: 2¼ inches
- Finished Long Sleeve Length From Underarm: 13½ inches (adjustable)
Samples: The Tulip Cotton sweater shown here is size 51, worn with 7½ inches of ease.
PATTERN
The Center Point Popover is available for purchase as a PDF download only.
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!
I LOVE the tailoring of the Popover, but am wondering if it could be made without the hood. Many thanks for your thoughts!
Hi Sara,
Thank you so much for reaching out to us. The hood on the Center Point Popover is picked up in the Neck Band section and knit directly onto the sweater, so it can be easily omitted from the sweater! For the hoodless version, you will just need to bind off the neck band stitches purlwise as indicated in the pattern.
I hope this helps, and please let us know if you have any other questions!
All the best,
Carly
Thank you, Carly! I see now that the description does mention choosing a hood less version–my apologies for not reading more carefully.
But I am happy to know it can be done as you describe 😊
I love this pattern, but I would prefer it to be longer or not cropped. Is it possible to simply knit it to fall at the hips?
Hi Cathy,
Thanks for writing in! To make this design longer, just continue the Hem section until the body of the sweater is as long as you want it to be. Hope this helps!
All the best,
Lili
OMG, the same question I have were asked and answered! Now I have to decide what color I want… maybe more than one?…
Hi Louise,
I’m so glad to hear that you were able to find the answer to your question right away! Let me know if you’d like any assistance in choosing a color (or colors)!
All the best,
Lili
I like the two toned version that is shown. How many of each color would it take to make that in the first two sizes?
Hi Wendy,
Thanks for reaching out. I’m afraid that we’ve only made this pattern in a single-color version! Where are you seeing a version that uses two colors? I can certainly try to estimate the yardage, but I’ll need a reference!
Thanks,
Lili
Hi! I am working on this pattern and recently joined the front and the back. I got a little lost and want to double check something. The shoulders each have a “seam” going down them. As I knit, is one “seam” on the front section and one on the back? I’m just trying to make sure I have things situated properly. I hope this makes sense!
Hi Christine,
Thanks so much for writing in! The seams that you’re referring to result from the decreases that you do to shape the slope of the sleeves, so they should be exactly on the tops of the shoulders! One on the right and one on the left. I hope this helps, and let us know if you have any other questions!
All the best,
Cat
Hi there! I want to make this with the hood, but when I knit it previously the hood turned out really large. Can I scale it down somehow?
Hi Cecilia,
Thanks for reaching out, although I’m sorry to hear that the hood came out too large! Unfortunately, there is not a good way to modify the width of the hood, since it’s dependent on the width of the neckline, which is fairly wide. But you could shorten the length! To do so, just repeat the rows in the BODY OF HOOD section fewer times before moving on to the SHAPE TOP OF HOOD section. Hope this helps!
All the best,
Lili
Hello!
I am working on this pattern and have completed the front and the back pieces. However, I do not understand how to join the front to the back. The pattern states that the right side of the front & back are facing me (the tail is from the back piece). I’m drawing a blank as to how to execute this join. I have the front on hold on smaller circular needles and the back is on hold on the right size circular needles. I hope I’m not overcomplicating this but I just can’t figure it out. HELP please! Thanks.
Hi Felicia,
Thanks for reaching out, and I’m happy to help explain this round of the pattern! First, I’d recommend making sure that your Front and Back panels are oriented in the position shown in the diagram in the pattern. You’ll have just finished a round of the Back, and then the first thing you do after slipping the end-of-round marker is just knit the first stitch of the round, still on the Back panel. Then, you work an ssk, using the second stitch of the Back and the first stitch of the Front. This is what joins the two panels on this side!
Next, you work across the live Front stitches, following the increase instructions in the pattern. This will take you to the very last live Front stitch before the on-hold Front stitches, and you will work a k2tog with this stitch and the first Back stitch before the on-hold Back stitch. This will join the two panels on the other side! Finally, just work around the Back in pattern, working the increases as stated in the pattern.
I hope this helps clarify things, and please let me know if you have any other questions!
All the best,
Lili