Haley Jumper - Knitting Pattern for Women in Debbie Bliss Paloma

Haley Jumper Knitting Pattern for Women – Debbie Bliss Paloma

The Haley Jumper is a women's knitted sweater pattern designed by Debbie Bliss, worked in the luxurious Debbie Bliss Paloma yarn. This is a super chunky weight design that combines striking cable detailing with a classic, structured silhouette, making it a standout addition to any handknitter's wardrobe. The pattern is available as a downloadable PDF and is rated advanced in difficulty, making it best suited to experienced knitters who are comfortable working cables and managing multiple sizes simultaneously.

What Is Being Made

The finished project is a women's pullover jumper — a seamed, structured sweater worked in pieces and joined together. The design features cable panels that add texture and visual interest to the fabric, creating a garment that is both warm and elegant. The jumper is offered in multiple sizes, with instructions given for the first size and larger sizes presented in round brackets throughout the pattern.

Construction and Techniques

The Haley Jumper is constructed using a bottom-up, worked flat, seamed method. This means each piece — typically the front, back, and sleeves — is knitted separately from the lower edge upward, then joined using seaming techniques to create the finished garment. This traditional construction approach gives knitters precise control over shaping and fit, and is well suited to heavier yarn weights where seams add structure and stability.

• Bottom-up construction: Knitting begins at the lower hem and progresses upward toward the shoulders, allowing shaping to be worked in a logical, intuitive sequence.
• Worked flat: Each garment piece is knitted back and forth in rows on straight or circular needles, rather than in the round. This means the knitter works both right-side and wrong-side rows.
• Seamed finishing: The individual pieces are sewn together after knitting is complete, using techniques such as mattress stitch or backstitch to join side seams, shoulder seams, and sleeve seams neatly.
• Cables: Cable panels are a key design feature of the Haley Jumper. Cables are created by temporarily holding stitches on a cable needle and crossing groups of stitches over one another, producing a twisted, rope-like or braided texture on the fabric surface.

Stitches and Abbreviations Used

As an advanced pattern, the Haley Jumper employs a range of knitting stitches and techniques. The pattern includes standard abbreviations used across Debbie Bliss patterns, with specific attention to the following:

• Knit and purl stitches: The foundation of all flat knitting, used to create the background fabric and to frame the cable panels.
• ssk (slip, slip, knit): A left-leaning decrease worked by slipping two stitches knitwise one at a time, then inserting the tip of the left-hand needle from left to right through the front of both slipped stitches and knitting them together. This creates a neat, directional decrease used in shaping.
• Cable stitches: Worked using a cable needle to cross stitches, creating the decorative twisted panels characteristic of this design.
• Alternate row instructions: The abbreviation alt (alternate) is used throughout, indicating that certain actions are performed on every other row, which is common in shaping sequences.
• Repeat brackets: Instructions enclosed in square brackets are worked the number of times stated, a standard convention in Debbie Bliss patterns to manage stitch repeats efficiently.

Yarn and Materials

The pattern is specifically written for Debbie Bliss Paloma, described as a beautiful chainette yarn in a blend of fibres. Chainette construction gives the yarn a distinctive hollow, tube-like structure that makes it lighter and loftier than a traditionally spun yarn of the same weight, while still delivering excellent stitch definition — particularly important for showcasing the cable panels in the Haley Jumper. As a super chunky yarn, Paloma knits up quickly and produces a cosy, substantial fabric ideal for a winter jumper.