Adiantum

Adiantum Pullover by Kelly Ordemann

What Is Being Made

Adiantum is a knitted pullover sweater designed as a spring layering piece for unpredictable weather. Named after the maidenhair fern genus, this garment features a distinctive yoke with stranded colourwork foliate motifs inspired by fresh sprigs of thyme. The design combines botanical inspiration with symbolic meaning, as thyme has historically represented steadfastness and courage—qualities embedded in the sweater's aesthetic and concept.

Knitting Techniques

This pullover is knit in the round from the bottom up, a construction method that creates seamless fabric and allows for efficient colorwork integration. The garment employs stranded colourwork techniques in the yoke section, where two colors are carried across the row to create the foliate motifs. This traditional Fair Isle-inspired approach requires careful tension management to maintain even fabric and prevent puckering where colors are floated across the back of the work.

The bottom-up construction means the body is completed first, followed by the yoke and sleeves, making it easy to try on and adjust fit before committing to the upper sections. The light but woolly 4-ply yarn selected for this project provides excellent stitch definition, making the intricate colorwork patterns clearly visible.

Stitches and Stitch Work

While specific stitch abbreviations are not detailed in the available pattern excerpt, the construction relies on fundamental knitting stitches worked in the round. The stranded colorwork sections require proficiency with knit stitches while managing two-color floats—the technique of carrying unused yarn across the back of the work. This intermediate-level skill ensures even tension and prevents loose floats that could catch during wear.

Materials and Yarn Specifications

Adiantum is designed to be knitted in Woollenflower Masgot Fine, a 4-ply weight yarn composed of 100% wool. Each 50-gram skein yields 200 meters (218 yards) of yarn. The yardage requirements vary by size, ranging from 5 to 7 skeins of Yarn A (Natural undyed colorway), with additional yardage needed for the contrasting colorwork sections.

The 4-ply weight classification places this yarn in the fingering to sport weight range, making it ideal for creating garments with excellent stitch definition and drape. The pure wool fiber provides warmth and elasticity while remaining breathable—perfect for a spring layering piece. The undyed natural colorway serves as the base for the stranded colorwork design, allowing the contrasting color to stand out distinctly in the foliate motifs.

Difficulty Level and Pattern Format

This pattern is rated intermediate in difficulty, making it suitable for knitters with foundational skills who are ready to tackle stranded colorwork. The Adiantum pattern is available as a downloadable PDF, originally published in Pom Pom Quarterly, Issue 28, in Spring 2019. The PDF format allows crafters to access the full pattern instructions, schematic diagrams, and yoke charts needed to complete this botanical-inspired sweater.