Your basket is empty.
Continue Shopping
Ainur Berkimbay For Purl Soho: Center Point Popover in June Worsted
Ainur Berkimbay’s Center Point Popover is a sweater on its own terms, defying definitions at every turn and keeping you guessing in the best way. Now in our cotton and linen June Worsted yarn, it’s a totally on-point summer sweater—or layer it up year-round!
Ainur has a rare gift for synthesizing the mathematics of geometry, the medium of knitting, and the parameters of human form to create designs that are as fun to knit as they are exciting to wear. The Center Point Popover came out of extensive paper folding experiments, exploring how 90-degree angles could shape a garment—and that curiosity led her to this ingenious center-out construction, which feels as logical as it does unexpected.
To make the popover, you knit the back and front separately—each growing outward from a few stitches, with four spokes radiating from that striking center point. The back is worked in the round as a full square, while the front is worked flat as three-quarters of one, with that missing quarter creating the V-neck. You then join the two panels, shape the hips and shoulders, and knit the short sleeves. If you’d like, you can add long ribbed sleeves, a cozy hood, or both!
June Worsted is a cotton-linen yarn with the wonderfully soft and knit-able feeling of an animal-fiber yarn, but with the cooling, vegan, and anti-allergen properties of a plant-based yarn. It really rises to the occasion of a dimensional welted stitch pattern like this one, giving you lots of squishy depth. After a machine wash and dry, the fabric softens even more, taking on a gently brushed, lived-in look that just gets better and better!
This lovable yarn comes in generous 100-gram peanut balls (no winding required!) and a palette of sun-touched colors inspired by early summer, including this deep Saltwater Blue. Each color has a bit of flaxen warmth and a touch of linen’s gorgeous, wild character visible on the surface.
The laid-back qualities of June Worsted are a perfect match for the Center Point Popover‘s breezy, cropped silhouette. Grab the pattern, pick your favorite color, and cast on for your new favorite throw-it-on layer, as free and easy in the wearing as it is clever in the making!
Yarn lovers, if you adore the yarn used in this project, you’ll love exploring all of our other yarn collections! Discover over 55 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!
Pattern designed and written by Ainur Berkimbay for Purl Soho. 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. See more from Ainur on her website!
Story written by Andrea Lotz for Purl Soho.
Materials
- Purl Soho’s June Worsted, 70% organically grown cotton and 30% linen. Each ball of this worsted/aran-weight yarn is 164 yards/ 100 grams. We used the color Saltwater Blue.
- Short Sleeve Without Hood: 5 (6, 7, 8, 9, 10) balls; approximately 780 (900, 1050, 1185, 1325, 1500) yards required
- Short Sleeve With Hood: 7 (8, 9, 10, 11, 12) balls; approximately 1125 (1245, 1395, 1530, 1675, 1845) yards required
- Long Sleeve Without Hood: 7 (7, 8, 9, 10, 11) balls; approximately 1005 (1125, 1275, 1410, 1550, 1725) yards required
- Long Sleeve With Hood: 9 (9, 10, 11, 12, 13) balls; approximately 1350 (1470, 1620, 1755, 1900, 2070) yards required
- US 6 (4 mm), 16-inch circular knitting needles
- US 7 (4.5 mm), 16-inch circular needles
- US 7, 32-inch circular needles
- A set of US 7 double pointed needles
- Stitch markers, including one unique
- A Center Point Popover pattern
NOTE: If you want to use Magic Loop, you won’t need the US 7, 16-inch circular or double pointed needles listed above… Just stick with the 32-inch ones!
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 sweater shown here is size 40½, worn with 7½ inches of ease.
PATTERN
The Center Point Popover Pattern is available as a PDF download.
Share your progress and connect with the community by tagging your pics with #PurlSoho. We can’t wait to see what you make!
Learn About June Worsted + All Our Beautiful Yarns
This project is the perfect mix of cool, cozy, and soft, thanks to our June Worsted yarn! Made with a mix of organically-grown cotton and Belgian linen, this worsted-weight yarn has the wonderfully soft and knit-able feeling of an animal-fiber yarn, but rest assured, it also has the cooling, vegan, and anti-allergen properties of a plant-based yarn. It’s also super beautiful, incredibly endearing, and machine washable, too… You will love it for everything from towels to garments to blankets!
More Knitting Patterns
- Be sure to explore our collection of (mostly free!) June Worsted knitting patterns and cast on!
More Worsted/Aran-Weight Yarns
- Shop our entire collection of worsted/aran-weight yarn (What does worsted-weight yarn mean, really? Our guide to worsted-weight yarn will answer your questions and more!)
- 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, our Yarn Substitution article, and our Complete Guide To Yarn for lots of helpful information.
More Yarns With Similar Fiber
- Shop cotton yarn (What helps cotton keep its cool? Learn all about this soft, natural fiber in our guide to cotton yarn!)
- Shop linen yarn
- Shop plant-based yarn
- Shop machine washable yarn
Looking for more inspiration? Explore all of our knitting patterns (including tons of 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!
Always a fan of Ainur’s work – this is characteristically exciting. Can i just ask – do you have any picture of how this looks on a person in motion – say with lifted arms? That sloped shoulder looks like it might react a bit oddly.
Hi JC,
Thanks so much for reaching out. We’re so glad to hear you’re as big a fan of Ainur’s work as we are, and that you’re considering the Center Point Popover as your next project.
While I sadly don’t have those kinds of photos available at this time, I think that’s a great idea! I’d be so glad to share your request with our team, and I’m so grateful you reached out with this need. It’s possible that you might be able to find this kind of photo in the projects tab on the Ravelry page for this pattern.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any other questions!
Happy knitting,
Hills
This pattern looks so cool. Are you able to share the main techniques used in the pattern–I want to make sure it isn’t too much of a stretch for me and am wondering how many of the main techniques I would already know versus what I might need to learn. Thanks in advance for any guidance.
Hello Nancy,
Thanks so much for reaching out. I’m so glad you’re as big a fan of the Center Point Popover as we are.
For this pattern some helpful skills to look into or review would be: Make 1 Backwards Loop (M1B)+ Make 1 Frontwards Loop (M1F), Picking Up Stitches, German Short Rows (use in the Hood only). (I’d recommend checking out the increases via your preferred search engine).
I hope this helps, but please feel free to reach out with any other questions you might have.
Happy knitting!
Hills
Love this! Is there any way to make it a little longer without the sleeve being longer?
Hi Diane,
Thanks so much for reaching out. I’m so glad to hear you love the Center Point Popover as much as we do!
I took a look at the pattern… sadly, it looks like the front and back panels are both worked from the center-out. This would make it quite difficult to adjust the length of the garment without impacting the sleeves.
For a similar look, you might consider the Brioche Vest or Ribbed Raglan Pullover.
I hope this helps, and happy knitting!
Hills
Edit: I was incorrect and I’m so sorry for my oversight! There is a hem section past the sleeve section where you could add additional length! I so hope you’re still interested in knitting this super fun project!- Best, Hills
Could you please show picks of the long sleeve and hood? Thanks!
Hi Jessica,
Thanks so much for reaching out. I’m so glad the Center Point Popover caught your eye.
You can see photos of the long sleeve version with a hood on the page for Ainur Berkimbay for Purl Soho: Center Point Popover in Tulip Cotton.
I hope this helps, and happy knitting!
Hills
Hello!
Are you ever going to do this in a crochet pattern?
Fingers crossed.
This is such a beautiful looking garment!
Hi Nikki,
Thanks so much for reaching out. I’m so glad to hear the Center Point Popover caught your eye!
Sadly, it’s not currently available as a crochet pattern. I love this idea though, and would be so glad to pass your interest along to our team. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts!
In the meantime, I might suggest checking out the Terra-Madre Top for a crochet garment project.
Happy crocheting!
Hills
I am excited to start knitting the Center Point Popover; however I have a question about joining the front and back pieces.
The pattern says “With right side of Back facing you, k1, then with the right side of the Front facing you, join Front to Back by working slip slip knit…”. Is this correct, having both Front and Back right sides facing the knitter? I’m not sure how that would work.
Any help or information you can provide will be appreciated.
Hi Thora,
Thank you so much for reaching out. I’m so glad to see you’re excited for the Center Point Popover! This construction can sometimes be a bit tricky to visualize, and I’m happy to help!
Yes, this is exactly right! One thing to note, this is describing the panels laid flat on a table. Each right side will be connected so that they lay flat (facing up) with the shoulders connected.
If this is still a bit troublesome to visualize, please feel free to email us at [email protected] with this question… we would be so happy to help!
Happy knitting,
Hills
Hello, Hills,
Thank you for responding to my inquiry. Yes, I can now visualize the way the pieces are laid out, much like when grafting. I had thought this might be the case, but I discarded that idea.
I appreciate your explanation. Thank you, again!
Hi Thora,
I’m so glad to hear this was helpful! You’re connection to grafting is perfect, thank you for sharing it!
I really hope you enjoy the rest of your Center Point Popover project.
Best,
Hills