Skye Sweater - Knitting Pattern For Women in Debbie Bliss Paloma

Skye Jumper Knitting Pattern for Women in Debbie Bliss Paloma

The Skye Jumper is a women's knitted sweater pattern designed by Debbie Bliss, worked in the luxuriously chunky Debbie Bliss Paloma yarn. This intermediate-level pattern produces a generously sized, cosy jumper featuring a striking colourwork design across the body and sleeves. The finished garment is seamed and worked flat in pieces, making it an excellent project for knitters who are comfortable with traditional construction methods and ready to explore colourwork techniques.

What Is Being Made

The pattern creates a classic women's pullover jumper with a ribbed hem and cuffs, a shaped body, and set-in sleeves. The design is sized to fit a range of bust measurements, from 82–87 cm (32–34 in) up to 112–117 cm (44–46 in), with finished bust measurements ranging from 122 cm (48 in) to 162 cm (63¾ in). The length to shoulder measures between 64 cm and 70 cm (25¼–27½ in) depending on size, and the sleeve length is a consistent 44 cm (17¼ in) across all sizes.

Construction and Techniques

The Skye Jumper is constructed using a seamed, worked-flat method, meaning the back, front, and sleeves are each knitted as separate flat pieces and then sewn together upon completion. This traditional approach gives the finished garment excellent structure and is well suited to the super-chunky weight of the yarn.

• Stranded colourwork: The pattern incorporates a multi-colour chart using stranded and intarsia techniques. Separate balls of yarn are used for each distinct colour area, with yarn twisted on the wrong side of the work to prevent holes — a hallmark of intarsia-style colourwork.
• Swiss darning: Stitches worked in Chestnut 47 (C) are not knitted in as the work progresses. Instead, those stitches are left unworked and embellished afterwards using Swiss darning (also known as duplicate stitch), a technique where yarn is woven over existing knitted stitches to mimic the appearance of knitted-in colour. This is a clever approach that simplifies the knitting process while still achieving a rich, detailed colourwork effect.
• Colourwork chart reading: The pattern uses a key chart with a 18-stitch pattern repeat. On the back and front, odd-numbered rows are knit rows read from right to left, and even-numbered rows are purl rows read from left to right — standard practice for flat colourwork knitting.
• Ribbing: A 2×2 rib (k2, p2) is used for the welts and cuffs, providing a neat, stretchy edging that frames the garment cleanly.
• Shaping: The pattern includes standard jumper shaping techniques such as skpo (slip 1, knit 1, pass slipped stitch over), k2tog, p2tog tbl, and m1 (make one) increases, used to shape the armholes, shoulders, and sleeve head.

Stitches Used

• Stocking stitch (st st) — the primary fabric stitch, creating a smooth knit face and a purl reverse
• 2×2 rib — alternating k2, p2 for stretchy edgings
• Colourwork pattern stitches — worked from a charted 18-stitch repeat across the body and sleeves
• Swiss darning / duplicate stitch — an embroidery technique applied post-knitting to add the Chestnut 47 colour detail
• Decrease stitches: skpo, k2tog, p2tog tbl
• Increase stitches: m1 (make one by picking up and working into the back of the loop between stitches)

Materials Required

The pattern calls for Debbie Bliss Paloma, a super-chunky weight yarn