Special Pullover in Adriafil Rainbow - Downloadable PDF

Special Pullover in Adriafil Rainbow – Free Knitting Pattern (Downloadable PDF)

This free downloadable knitting pattern from Adriafil guides you through creating the Pull "Special", a textured pullover worked in the brand's signature Rainbow yarn. The design is notable for its striking combination of smooth stockinette panels and richly dimensional Astrakhan stitch columns, giving the finished sweater a bold, tactile surface that makes the most of the yarn's multicolour character. The pattern is available in three sizes — 42–44, 46, and 50–52 — making it suitable for a range of adult knitters.

What Is Being Made

The finished project is a classic drop-shoulder pullover with set-in sleeves, a ribbed cuff on each sleeve, and a neat ribbed neckband added during finishing. The sweater is constructed in separate pieces — a back, a front (worked identically to the back), and two sleeves — which are then seamed together. The body length measures approximately 50 cm for the largest size before the shoulder shaping begins, and the sleeves measure approximately 31 cm for the largest size. A 1.5 cm elastic rib neckband is picked up and worked after one shoulder seam is joined, giving the collar a tidy, professional finish.

Yarn and Materials

• Yarn: Adriafil Rainbow, colour number 80 — an aran-weight yarn celebrated for its self-striping, multicolour palette that creates automatic colour variation without the need to change skeins
• Quantity: 600 g of Rainbow yarn
• Knitting needles: Primary needles size 7 (UK) / approximately 4.5 mm for the main body and sleeves; size 6 (UK) needles for the neckband and shoulder finishing
• Additional tools: A tapestry needle for seaming and finishing

Tension / Gauge

The pattern specifies a gauge of 14 stitches and 14 rows over 10 × 10 cm, measured across the combination of stitches used in the pattern with size 7 needles. Checking your tension swatch before casting on is strongly recommended, as the Astrakhan stitch in particular can behave differently from knitter to knitter and will affect the final dimensions of the garment significantly.

Stitches and Techniques Used

• Elastic rib stitch — used for the sleeve cuffs (worked for 1 cm) and the neckband (worked for 1.5 cm). Rib stitch creates a stretchy, form-fitting edge that helps the garment retain its shape at the openings.
• Stockinette (stock stitch) — the smooth knit-on-right-side, purl-on-wrong-side fabric that forms the panel sections between the Astrakhan columns. It provides a clean contrast to the textured stitch and allows the Rainbow yarn's colour transitions to show clearly.
• Astrakhan stitch — the showpiece technique of this pattern, worked over 11 stitches in a 7-row repeat. This stitch creates a looped, bouclé-like or fur-like surface reminiscent of Astrakhan fabric. The construction involves working 3 stitches into 1 stitch (knit 1, purl 1, knit 1 into the same stitch) and then purling 3 stitches together on alternating pattern rows, creating a dense, three-dimensional texture. Even-numbered rows and the wrong-side rows act as rest rows worked in purl or knit respectively, allowing the texture to build up on the right side of the fabric.

Construction Details

The back is cast on with 70 stitches (for the largest size) using size 7 needles, then arranged immediately into the stitch pattern: alternating panels of stockinette and Astrakhan stitch, with a 1-stitch increase worked into the first row of each Astrakhan panel to accommodate the stitch multiple. Three Astrakhan columns run vertically up the back and