"Mikaela Top" - Top Knitting Pattern For Women in MillaMia Naturally Soft Cotton

Mikaela Top – Knitting Pattern Summary

The Mikaela Top is a women's short-sleeved striped knitting pattern designed by MillaMia, worked in their signature MillaMia Naturally Soft Cotton yarn. This cheerful, colourful top is a fantastic project for knitters at an improving intermediate skill level who want to develop their confidence with multi-colour stripe sequences, seamed construction, and neat finishing. The result is a wearable, lightweight summer top with a relaxed silhouette and a bold, eye-catching stripe pattern made up of carefully sequenced colour bands.

What Is Being Made

The Mikaela Top is a women's fitted pullover top with short sleeves, designed to be worn as a casual warm-weather garment. It features a structured stripe pattern running throughout the body and sleeves, creating a colourful, graphic look. The pattern is available in seven sizes, designed to fit a bust measurement of 82 to 112 cm (32 to 44 inches), with actual bust measurements ranging from 82 to 121 cm (32 to 47½ inches). The length to shoulder is consistent across sizes at approximately 61 to 64 cm (24 to 25¼ inches), and the sleeve length is a fixed 32 cm (12½ inches) for all sizes, giving the top a neat, short-sleeved profile suitable for spring and summer knitting.

Construction Techniques

• Bottom-up construction: The top is worked from the lower edge upward toward the shoulders, a classic approach that allows knitters to try on the garment as they go and adjust length easily.
• Worked flat: All pieces — the front, back, and sleeves — are knitted flat on straight needles, meaning the knitter works back and forth in rows rather than in the round.
• Seamed finishing: The individual pieces are sewn together after knitting, joining the body panels and sleeves with seams. The pattern specifically highlights the importance of careful seaming to ensure the stripe pattern aligns neatly at the joins — a key skill for intermediate knitters to practise.
• Stripe pattern: The defining feature of the Mikaela Top is its detailed multi-colour stripe sequence. The stripes are made up of small, repeating colour sequences using up to eight colours alongside the main colour, creating a complex and visually rich pattern. Knitters are encouraged to think carefully about their colour combinations to achieve the best overall effect.
• Circular needles for finishing: Both 3mm and 3.25mm circular needles are used, likely for picking up and working neckline or armhole edgings neatly in the round.

Stitches Used

• Stocking stitch (stockinette stitch): The main body fabric is worked in stocking stitch, producing a smooth, flat surface that showcases the stripe colours clearly and cleanly.
• Reverse stocking stitch (rev st st): Referenced in the abbreviations, this may be used as a design detail or for specific sections of the pattern.
• Garter stitch (g-st): Also referenced, garter stitch — knitting every row — may be used for borders, hems, or edging details.
• Rib stitch: Ribbing is indicated by abbreviations including rib2tog, suggesting ribbed welts or cuffs are used to create neat, elasticated edges at the hem and sleeve cuffs.
• Decreases: The pattern uses standard decrease techniques including skpo (slip one, knit one, pass slipped stitch over) and rib2tog for shaping armholes, necklines, and sleeve caps.

Materials

Yarn

The pattern is written exclusively for MillaMia Naturally Soft Cotton, a sport weight cotton yarn sold in 50g/1¾oz balls. This yarn is a natural fibre choice, offering breathability and stitch definition — ideal for a summer top. The recommended tension is 25 stitches and 34 rows to 10 cm (4 inches) over stocking stitch on 3.25mm needles.

The main colourway uses:

• Pure White (310) as the main colour (MC) — 3 to