Marte Pullover in Adriafil Merino - Downloadable PDF

Marte Pullover in Adriafil Merino – Free Knitting Pattern Summary

The Marte Pullover is a classic, elegantly simple knitted pullover designed for women, worked in Adriafil Merino yarn in a crisp ice white (shade 47). This is a free downloadable PDF pattern that produces a beautifully clean, minimalist sweater with a relaxed silhouette, shaped sides, set-in sleeves, and a generous folded collar. The design is well-suited to intermediate knitters who are comfortable with basic shaping techniques such as decreasing, binding off, and picking up stitches.

What Is Being Made

The finished project is a women's pullover sweater worked in pieces — a back, a front, and two sleeves — which are then seamed together and finished with a knitted collar. The pattern is sized for a size 44 (with adjustments for sizes 42 and 46), making it adaptable for a range of fits. The overall aesthetic is clean and timeless, relying on the natural beauty of the Merino yarn and the smooth texture of stockinette rather than decorative stitch patterns.

Materials Used

• Yarn: Adriafil Merino in ice white, shade 47 — approximately 400 grams required. Adriafil Merino is a DK weight yarn, known for its softness, warmth, and excellent stitch definition, making it ideal for garments worn close to the skin.
• Knitting Needles: Size 4 mm knitting needles are used throughout the pattern for both the main body and the garter stitch edging sections.
• Additional Tools: A tapestry needle is required for seaming the garment pieces together during the make-up and finishing stage.

Gauge

Achieving the correct gauge is essential for this pattern. The stated gauge is 20 stitches and 27 rows over 10 x 10 cm, worked in knit stitch (stockinette) using 4 mm needles. Knitters should work a swatch and adjust needle size as necessary before beginning the garment to ensure accurate sizing.

Pattern Stitches and Techniques

• Garter Stitch: Used for the lower body edging (approximately 1 cm / 2 rows), the sleeve cuffs (a notably generous 20 cm of garter stitch), and the finished collar. Garter stitch — created by knitting every row — lies flat, adds texture, and provides a natural, non-rolling edge. The extended garter stitch cuffs are a distinctive design feature of the Marte Pullover, giving the sleeves a relaxed, casual character.
• Knit Stitch (Stockinette): The main body fabric is worked in stockinette stitch, producing a smooth, flat surface on the right side. This stitch is achieved by knitting on right-side rows and purling on wrong-side rows in flat knitting.
• Side Shaping: The back and front are shaped at the sides through decreases worked inside 3 stitches at each end, decreasing 1 stitch every 12 rows, 4 times. This creates a subtle waist shaping that begins at approximately 18 cm from the cast-on edge.
• Armhole Shaping: Set-in armholes are formed by decreasing 1 stitch every 2 rows, 5 times (for size 44), again worked inside 3 stitches at each end for a neat, clean edge.
• Neckline Shaping – Back: The back neckline is shaped by binding off the centre 24 stitches (size 44), then working each shoulder separately with additional bind-offs of 2 stitches and then 1 stitch every 2 rows, creating a shallow, elegant back neck curve.
• Neckline Shaping – Front: The front neckline is deeper than the back, beginning earlier in the construction. The centre 20 stitches (size 44) are bound off, and then 1 stitch is decreased every 2 rows, 5 times on each side, producing a graceful V-shaped or rounded front neck opening.
• Sleeve Cap