Winter Garden Jumper

Winter Garden Jumper by Sarah Pope

What Is Being Made

The Winter Garden Jumper is an advanced knitting pattern for a little girls' woolen jumper dress designed by Sarah Pope. This garment is available in four sizes spanning 12-18 months through 6-7 years, with bodice circumferences ranging from 20 to 27.5 inches and adjustable skirt lengths from 15.5 to 26.5 inches. The design is intended to fit comfortably over layered clothing such as shirts and leggings, with intentional ease built in for growth and comfort.

Design Features and Fit

Winter Garden features a fitted bodice with button closure paired with a fuller skirt silhouette. The skirt circumference at the hem ranges from 27.5 to 41 inches depending on size, creating significant volume for movement and play. The pattern includes options for adjusting skirt length, allowing knitters to customize the finished garment as either a full dress or shorter tunic style. The design was modeled in the 12-18-month size with 0.5 inches of ease and in the 4/5 size with 2.5 inches of ease.

Knitting Techniques and Stitches

This advanced-level pattern employs stranded colorwork knitting, a technique that involves carrying multiple yarn colors across rows to create patterned designs. Stranded knitting requires careful tension management and coordination to maintain even fabric and prevent loose floats on the reverse side. The pattern utilizes this technique throughout the garment construction, making it suitable for experienced knitters comfortable with multi-color fair isle and jacquard-style work.

Materials Required

The Winter Garden Jumper is designed to be worked in Brooklyn Tweed Loft yarn, a worsted-weight wool. Two colorway options are provided:

• Fern Frost colorway (grey jumper): Main color (MC) uses 2 to 3 skeins of Brooklyn Tweed Loft in Snowbound, with contrast colors (CCs) requiring 20 yards each of Loft in Long Johns, Almanac, Old World, Plume, and Thistle, plus 60 yards of Faded Quilt. Field Guide colorway (brown jumper) uses 2 to 3 skeins of Brooklyn Tweed Loft in Nest as the main color, with contrast colors of 20 yards each in Long Johns, Thistle, Plume, Birdbook, and Sap, plus 60 yards of Woodsmoke.
• Exact yardage varies by size, with smaller sizes (12-18 months and 2/3) requiring 2 skeins of main color yarn, while larger sizes (4/5 and 6/7) require 3 skeins.

Needles and Tools

The pattern calls for US #3 (3.25 mm) circular needles in both 24-inch and 16-inch lengths. Circular needles are essential for stranded colorwork knitting, as they accommodate the increased stitch counts created by the patterned design and allow for seamless construction techniques. The 24-inch length is used for the wider bodice and skirt sections, while the 16-inch needle is employed for narrower sections, particularly in smaller sizes.

Skill Level Considerations

Designated as an advanced pattern, Winter Garden is best suited for knitters with solid experience in stranded colorwork techniques, circular needle work, and garment shaping. The combination of multi-color fair isle knitting with fitted bodice shaping and skirt construction requires attention to stitch counts, color changes, and proper tension throughout the project.