Swept Up Broomstick Top in Caron Simply Soft Light - Downloadable PDF

Swept Up Broomstick Top in Caron Simply Soft Light – Free Knitting Pattern (Downloadable PDF)

The Swept Up Broomstick Top is a stylish, lightweight women's pullover top designed for intermediate knitters who want to explore a beautiful combination of textured and lace knitting techniques. Published by Caron and available as a free downloadable PDF, this pattern produces a finished garment with a striking contrast between an ornate broomstick-stitch border and an elegant lace body. The top is worked flat in separate pieces — back and front — then joined at the shoulders and sides, with a neckband worked in-the-round and sleeves worked back and forth after shoulder seaming.

What Is Being Made

This pattern creates a women's knitted pullover top with a decorative broomstick-stitch hem border, an all-over lace stitch body, and set-in or shaped sleeves. It is available in four sizes with the following finished measurements:

• Small (S): 38" [96.5 cm] width, 23½" [59.5 cm] length
• Medium (M): 42" [106.5 cm] width, 24" [61 cm] length
• Large (L): 46" [117 cm] width, 24½" [62 cm] length
• Extra Large (XL): 50" [127 cm] width, 25" [63.5 cm] length

The finished top is designed to be a relaxed, wearable garment suitable for warmer seasons, given the lightweight DK-weight yarn and open lace construction.

Techniques Used

This pattern is rated intermediate in difficulty, making it ideal for knitters who are comfortable with basic stitch patterns and ready to expand their skills. Key techniques include:

• Broomstick stitch knitting — a distinctive textured technique in which stitches are dropped and worked through their back loops together to create a looped, clustered effect along the hem border
• Lace knitting — working a repeating 21-stitch lace pattern across the body of the garment, requiring comfort with yarn overs, decreases, and maintaining stitch counts
• Flat knitting — the back and front pieces are worked back and forth in rows on circular needles
• In-the-round knitting — the neckband is worked in-the-round on circular needles after shoulder seaming
• Seaming — shoulder and side seams are joined after the flat pieces are complete
• Shaping — includes increases and cast-ons mid-piece for sleeve and body shaping
• Gauge swatching — essential for achieving correct sizing, as the pattern specifies a precise gauge

Stitches Used

The Swept Up Broomstick Top draws on a variety of knitting stitches and stitch techniques, including:

• Broomstick Stitch: Worked by dropping stitches and knitting through the back loops together; creates the signature looped texture at the hem. Worked over a 12-row sequence alternating with a simple knit-purl rib.
• Lace Stitch (multiple of 21 stitches): A four-row repeating lace pattern featuring yarn overs (yo), left-leaning decreases (ssk), right-leaning decreases (k2tog), and the central double decrease S2KP2 (slip 2 stitches, knit 1, pass slipped stitches over), creating a symmetrical, open lace fabric across the body
• Knit (k) and Purl (p): Used throughout for ribbing and maintaining pattern on wrong-side rows
• Yarn Over (yo): Creates the deliberate eyelets that define the lace pattern
• S2KP2: A central double decrease that forms the pointed, symmetrical decrease lines characteristic of this lace design
• Wrapping yarn twice