Knitting A Top Down Yoke Sweater - The Easy Eyelet Yoke Sweater

If you’ve been following along for the past year or so, I have become head over heels in making seamless knits that are worked from the top down, and in doing so have wanted to design and knit my first top down yoke sweater ever since.

I’m excited to launch my first one ever called the: Easy Eyelet Yoke Sweater. This pattern is extremely beginner friendly in the garment department, and is a great stepping stone for anyone wanting to knit their first top down yoke sweater!

PIN IT NOW, READ IT LATER:

Wanting to try your first top down sweater, but maybe not even sure what a “yoke sweater” is? A yoke sweater is essentially a sweater that is started and knit from the collar down to the hem of the body that includes increases evenly spaced out between a certain amount of rows (The Easy Eyelet Yoke has four of em’!). The best part about a yoke sweater is that it’s completely seamless and you can’t tell where those increases are made - unlike in a raglan sweater where you see the diagonal lines on the sides of the chest and back.

I like to also imagine that it’s called a “yoke sweater” simply because as you’re working the yoke (the part that includes from the collar to chest length, before splitting for the body), looks like an actual yoke of an egg. The empty circle where your head fits in is the bright yellow yolk, and the knit around it - is the egg white! But who knows if this is the actual case - maybe it is!

Check out more of my knitting patterns HERE.
PIN this pattern to your Pinterest boards for later HERE.
Add this pattern to your Ravelry queue HERE.
Buy the Kit on lion Brand HERE.

HOW DO YOU KNIT A TOP DOWN SWEATER?

Top down sweaters are knit by casting on the collar and increasing as you knit until the sweater fits over your neck, shoulders and bust (kind of like a caplet). Once you have achieved the circumference to comfortably fit around your shoulders and bust, your arms are then transferred to scrap yarn to be worked later, and you continue working the body in the round until your desired length. Once finished the body, you pick up the stitches on the arms (which is quite a bit easier than picking up sleeve stitches on a regular sweater since they are already live and waiting for you!) and you knit the arms from the shoulder down to the wrist, and repeat on the second arm.

Though top down sweaters may seem intimidating, I promise they aren’t. Just take the plunge, and if you’re still a bit nervous, check out these awesome Youtube Video(s) that “Very Pink Knits” has. I use them all the time.

PURCHASE THIS DOWNLOADABLE PDF PATTERN (ETSY) HERE:

PURCHASE THIS DOWNLOADABLE PDF PATTERN (RAVELRY) HERE:

DETAILS OF THE EASY EYELET YOKE

I designed this pattern with the phrase “classic minimalism”in mind, while wanting to still holda feminine touch with the eyelets. They subtly remind me of strings of pearls and I wanted to capture that elegant feel, while still being an easy on-the-go-and-grab sweater. Heads up: If you’ve been looking to make your first top down yoke sweater, this is the one is perfect for you, and those eyelets are much less daunting when you realize what they really are (it’s a secret- so you’ll have to purchase the pattern to find out). If you know how to knit and purl in the round, increase and decrease though, you will be able to nail this pattern!

THE YARN

If you haven’t seen me raving about Lion Brand Chainette all over my social media, then you’ll hear all about it now. This is my hands down Number. One. Favourite. Yarn. at the moment. I wish I could design everything in it. It’s part of the Lion Brand Collection and I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s a kind of air blown, chainette type yarn that is light as a feather and knits up like a dream. Even better? This bad boy is an alpaca blend and it DOESN’T PILL. I’ve worn this sweater over 15 times since I’ve made it and have had no issue with pilling under the arms and armpits. I’m blown away. Plus since it’s so light weight, it works up like a worsted, but feels like a fingering weight sweater when it’s on.

I made mine in the color silver, and if you would like to snag some for your own (can only be purchased online through LB as it’s part of their “luxury collection"), click HERE, and you’ll need:

6 (S), 7 (M/L/XL), 8 (2XL/3XL) skeins of Lion Brand Chainette

Happy knitting!