356 Window Top-Down Pullover - Jumper Knitting Pattern for Women in Valley Yarns Valley Superwash DK

Pattern Summary: 356 Window Top-Down Pullover by Kirsten Hipsky

The 356 Window Top-Down Pullover is a women's seamless pullover knitting pattern designed by Kirsten Hipsky and published under the Valley Yarns brand. It is worked in Valley Yarns Valley Superwash DK weight yarn, making it a practical and accessible choice for knitters who appreciate easy-care fiber. This is an intermediate-level pattern available as a downloadable PDF.

What Is Being Made

This pattern produces a women's pullover sweater featuring a top-down yoke construction worked entirely in the round after the initial flat rows. The design incorporates lace detailing — referenced in the pattern name as the "Window" motif — giving the finished garment an elegant, feminine texture. The pullover is offered in five finished sizes: 34, 37½, 41, 44½, and 48 inches, providing a wide range of fits from smaller to plus-friendly proportions.

Construction and Techniques

The garment uses a seamless, top-down construction, which is a popular modern approach to sweater knitting that allows the knitter to try on the piece as they go and eliminates the need for seaming at the end. Key construction techniques include:

• Top-down yoke shaping: The yoke begins by casting on stitches separately for the left front, left sleeve, back, right sleeve, and right front, with raglan-style markers placed between each section. This creates the classic raglan increase structure from the very first row.
• Flat to round transition: The yoke begins worked flat (back and forth in rows) to shape the front neck opening. After a set number of increase rows, stitches are cast on across the front neck and the work joins seamlessly in the round.
• Raglan increases: Both the flat rows and the in-the-round rounds use paired increases on either side of each raglan marker — adding 10 stitches per increase row while flat, and 8 stitches per increase round once joined in the round.
• Sleeve separation: At the dividing round, sleeve stitches are placed on scrap yarn and underarm stitches are cast on, separating the body from the sleeves for independent working — a hallmark of seamless top-down construction.
• Lace patterning: The "Window" design element introduces lace stitches, adding visual interest and an open, airy quality to the fabric.
• Worked in the round: After joining, the body and sleeves are each worked in the round, avoiding any seams throughout the garment.

Stitches Used

The pattern draws on a combination of foundational and decorative knitting stitches and techniques:

• Knit and purl stitches — the foundation of the stockinette and reverse stockinette fabric throughout the body and yoke
• M1 (make one) increases — used during the flat yoke rows to build raglan shaping
• Inc (increase) stitches — used during the in-the-round raglan rounds
• SK (likely ssk or a similar decrease) — referenced in the lower body section, indicating decreases are used in shaping
• Lace stitches — forming the signature "Window" motif that gives the pullover its name and decorative character
• Slip marker (sm) — used throughout to maintain raglan placement

Materials

This pattern is designed specifically for Valley Yarns Valley Superwash DK yarn, a DK weight yarn from the Valley Yarns brand. The superwash treatment makes the finished sweater machine-washable, which is a significant practical advantage for an everyday wearable garment. Knitters will need circular knitting needles in a size appropriate for DK weight yarn (typically US size 5–7 / 3.75–4.5 mm), as the seamless, in-the-round construction requires circular needles of varying cord lengths — a longer cord for the body and shorter cords or double-pointed needles for the sleeves. Scrap yarn or stitch holders are also required for holding sleeve