Niagara Top in Adriafil Kid Mohair - Downloadable PDF

Niagara Top in Adriafil Kid Mohair – Free Knitting Pattern Summary

The Niagara Top is a beautifully shaped women's knitted top designed to be worked in Adriafil Kid Mohair yarn. This free downloadable PDF pattern produces a lightweight, elegant garment with subtle waist shaping, gently flared silhouette details, and neatly finished armhole edges. The design is well-suited to intermediate knitters who are comfortable with basic shaping techniques such as increasing, decreasing, and working multiple stitch patterns within a single piece.

What Is Being Made

The finished project is a women's top knitted in the round of sizes 40, 42, and 44. The garment features shaped side seams that taper inward and then flare back out to create a flattering fit through the body, along with carefully worked sleeve hole shaping that gives the armholes a clean, structured finish. The border is worked in a stretchy elastic rib to provide a neat, stable hem at the cast-on edge.

Techniques Used

• Side shaping: Stitches are decreased at the ends of rows (inside 1 stitch) every 10 rows three times to shape the waist, then increased every 8 rows twice to widen toward the hip or bust.
• Armhole shaping: Sleeve hole shaping begins at a set measurement from the border, with decreases worked inside 6 stitches that are simultaneously transitioned into k1/p1 rib to create a tidy, structured armhole border. Decreases are worked at graduated intervals — every 2 rows, every 4 rows, and every 6 rows — for a smooth curved edge.
• Border construction: The cast-on edge is worked in elastic rib for 6 rows (approximately 1 cm) before transitioning to the main body stitch.
• Stitch reduction on row 1: After the border, 21 stitches are decreased across the first row of the main body to transition smoothly from the cast-on count to the working stitch count.
• Seaming: A tapestry needle is used for finishing and joining seams.

Stitches Used

• Elastic rib – used for the cast-on border to provide stretch and a neat hem edge
• Knit stitch to end the elastic rib – a transitional stitch used to close out the rib section cleanly
• Knitted stitch (stockinette) – the primary body stitch used throughout the main fabric of the top
• K1/P1 rib – worked along the armhole edges during sleeve hole shaping to create a firm, decorative border at the armholes

Gauge

The stated gauge is 15.5 stitches and 19 rows over 10 x 10 cm, worked in knitted stitch on size 7 knitting needles. Achieving the correct gauge is particularly important for this pattern, as the sizing and shaping calculations depend on it. It is always recommended to knit a gauge swatch before beginning.

Materials Required

• Yarn: Adriafil Kid Mohair in green no. 88 — approximately 120 g required. Kid Mohair is a luxuriously soft, lightweight yarn spun from the fleece of young Angora goats, known for its incredible halo, warmth, and drape. It is classified as a sport weight yarn, making it ideal for delicate, airy garments like this top.
• Needles: Knitting needles size 7 (as specified in the pattern)
• Notions: A tapestry needle for seaming and finishing

Who Is This Pattern For

The Niagara Top is an excellent project for knitters with some experience in garment construction. The combination of multiple stitch patterns, graduated shaping, and armhole detailing makes it a satisfying and skill-building knit. Because it uses only 120 g of Adriafil Kid Mohair, it is