743 Delphine Pullover - Jumper Knitting Pattern for Women in Valley Yarns Amherst

743 Delphine Pullover – Knitting Pattern Summary

The 743 Delphine Pullover, designed by Kirsten Hipsky and published under the Valley Yarns brand, is a beautifully crafted women's pullover sweater featuring traditional Fair Isle colorwork motifs adorning the neckline. This pattern is available as a downloadable PDF and is rated as advanced beginner in difficulty, making it an excellent stepping stone for knitters who are comfortable with the basics and ready to explore colorwork and seamless construction techniques.

What Is Being Made

This pattern produces a women's pullover jumper worked in a hybrid round-raglan yoke construction. The sweater is knitted seamlessly from the bottom up, meaning the body and sleeves are worked in the round and then joined for a single continuous yoke — eliminating the need for seaming. The yoke is decorated with a striking stranded colorwork panel inspired by traditional Fair Isle motifs, giving the finished garment a classic, heritage-inspired aesthetic with a modern fit.

The pattern is offered in a wide range of finished sizes: 36 (40, 44, 48) (52, 56, 60) inches in circumference, accommodating a broad spectrum of body sizes. The sample shown in the pattern photography is worked in size 40 inches.

Techniques Used

• Bottom-up seamless construction: The body and sleeves are each worked in the round from the cast-on edge upward, then joined together at the yoke. This approach produces a clean, professional finish without any sewn seams.
• Raglan yoke shaping: The yoke is shaped using raglan-style decreases, creating smooth, diagonal lines that radiate from the sleeve joins to the neckline.
• Stranded colorwork (Fair Isle): The yoke features traditional Fair Isle motifs worked in three colors simultaneously. In stranded knitting, unused yarn colors are carried loosely across the back of the work, creating a double-layered fabric that is both warm and visually rich.
• Working in the round: The entire garment is worked in the round on circular needles, with double pointed needles used where the circumference becomes too small for a circular needle.

Stitches Used

• Stockinette stitch (St st): The main body of the pullover is worked in stockinette stitch, achieved by knitting every round when working in the round. This produces a smooth, classic fabric surface.
• Stranded colorwork pattern: The yoke section uses a distinct colorwork stitch pattern with a gauge of 5 stitches and 6 rows to 1 inch, slightly tighter than the body gauge.
• CDD (Central Double Decrease): Worked by slipping 2 stitches as if to k2tog, knitting 1, then passing both slipped stitches over — used for shaping.
• k2tog (knit two together): A standard right-leaning decrease used in shaping.
• ssk (slip, slip, knit): A left-leaning decrease that mirrors k2tog, used for balanced shaping.

Materials – Yarn

The pattern is written specifically for Valley Yarns Amherst, a 100% Merino Wool worsted weight yarn sold in 50g / 109-yard skeins. Three colors are used:

• Color A – Balsam: The main color, requiring 9 (10, 11, 12) (13, 14, 15) skeins depending on size.
• Color B – Lake: A contrast color for the Fair Isle yoke, requiring 1 skein.
• Color C – Sweet Pea: A second contrast color for the yoke colorwork, also requiring 1 skein.

Valley Yarns Amherst's 100% Merino Wool fiber content makes it an ideal choice for colorwork, as the natural elasticity of Merino helps maintain even tension across stranded floats, and the soft fiber is