Mina Knitted Dress in Novita Venla - Downloadable PDF

Mina Knitted Dress in Novita Venla – Pattern Summary

This downloadable PDF pattern by designer Sari Nordlund for Novita guides knitters through creating the Mina (Minna) Knitted Dress, a full-length cable-panel dress worked in Novita Venla yarn. The pattern is rated intermediate in difficulty and is available as a free downloadable PDF.

What Is Being Made

The finished garment is a long, elegant knitted dress with a structured cable pattern running throughout the body. It is sized across five options — XS, S, M, L, and XL — with a completed body circumference ranging from 72 cm (28¼ in) to 104 cm (41 in) and a length ranging from 103 cm (40½ in) to 111 cm (43½ in), making it a floor-grazing or midi-length dress depending on the wearer's height. The generous stitch counts — from 432 stitches at XS up to 624 stitches at XL — reflect the full, sweeping silhouette created by the cable and pleat construction.

Construction Method

The dress body is worked in the round on a larger circular needle, beginning with a cast-on of the full stitch count for the chosen size. Construction starts at the hem and works upward. The seamless, circular construction eliminates the need for side seams and gives the fabric a smooth, continuous finish — a hallmark of Scandinavian knitwear design.

A key structural feature of this dress is the knitted pleat, worked when the piece reaches approximately 65–67 cm in length (depending on size). This pleat is created by slipping groups of stitches onto a cable needle and knitting or purling them together in pairs — both held-in-front and held-in-back variations are used — dramatically reducing the stitch count and drawing the fabric in at a defined point. This technique creates a tailored, fitted transition from the full-skirted lower body to a more fitted upper section, adding sophisticated structure without any cutting or seaming.

Techniques Used

• Knitting in the round on a circular needle for seamless construction
• Garter stitch in the round (alternating knit and purl rounds) worked for the first 5 rounds to create a stable hem edge
• Cable knitting using a cable needle, following a charted 12-stitch repeat pattern (Chart I)
• Chart reading — the cable pattern is presented as a 16-row chart, with rows 1–16 repeated throughout the body of the dress
• Knitted pleats — a structured technique using a cable needle to hold stitches at front or back while knitting or purling pairs of stitches together, creating a sharp, tailored fold in the fabric
• Stitch markers for marking the beginning of the round and managing the repeating cable sections

Stitches Used

• Garter stitch in the round — achieved by alternating a knit round with a purl round, producing the characteristic ridged texture at the hem
• Knit stitch — the primary stitch throughout the cable panels
• Purl stitch — used within the cable chart and as part of the pleat construction
• Cable stitches — worked over a 12-stitch repeat, the cable pattern from Chart I is repeated 36 to 52 times per round depending on the size, creating a richly textured all-over cable fabric
• Knitting together in pairs (a form of decrease) — used specifically during the pleat rows to fold and reduce stitches simultaneously
• Purling together in pairs — also used during the pleat construction for the purl sections of the cable pattern

Materials

The pattern is designed for Novita Venla, a 4-ply (fingering weight) yarn from the Finnish brand Novita. Novita Venla is a smooth