Pullunder in Schachenmayr Merino Extrafine 170 - 4864 - Downloadable PDF

Knitted Pullunder (Slipover) in Schachenmayr Merino Extrafine 170 – Pattern No. 4864

This free downloadable PDF knitting pattern from Schachenmayr provides instructions for a classic pullunder — a sleeveless pullover, also known as a slipover or vest — worked in the brand's popular Merino Extrafine 170 yarn. The design is available in three size ranges: 74/80, 86/92, and 98/104, making it a versatile pattern suitable for a range of fits. The finished garment is a polished, structured piece that combines clean stockinette panels with decorative cable detailing for an elegant, timeless look.

What Is Being Made

The project is a knitted pullunder — a sleeveless, over-the-head garment with shaped armhole openings and a ribbed hem. It features a plain back panel and a more decorative front panel incorporating two cable columns and an embroidered or intarsia star motif worked from a chart. The garment is worked in pieces and seamed, making it well suited to knitters who are comfortable with flat knitting and basic shaping techniques.

Yarn and Materials

• Yarn: Schachenmayr Merino Extrafine 170, a 4-ply (fingering weight) yarn made from fine merino wool, offering excellent stitch definition ideal for cable and colourwork detail.
• Colour used: Royal — a rich, deep blue shade referenced throughout the pattern instructions for both the back and front panels.
• Needles: Needle sizes 3 to 3.5 mm are specified, consistent with the fine gauge of the yarn.

Tension / Gauge

Achieving the correct tension is essential for this pattern. The stated tension is 23 stitches and 34 rows to 10 × 10 cm worked in stockinette stitch (smooth knit / glatt rechts) on 3–3.5 mm needles. The 12-stitch cable panel measures 4.5 cm in width. Knitters are encouraged to work a tension swatch before beginning, as the fine yarn and relatively small needle size mean that even small deviations can significantly affect the finished dimensions.

Techniques Used

• Flat knitting — both the back and front are worked flat in rows, then seamed together.
• Ribbing (Bündchenmuster) — a rib stitch border of approximately 1.5 cm is worked at the lower edge of both pieces to create a neat, elasticated hem.
• Stockinette stitch (glatt rechts) — the main body fabric of both the back and front panels is worked in smooth knit stitch, providing a clean background for the cable and motif details.
• Cable knitting (Zopfmuster) — the front panel features two 12-stitch cable columns, one positioned on either side of the central motif area. Cables are a classic technique involving crossing groups of stitches over one another using a cable needle to create a twisted rope or braid effect.
• Charted motif knitting (Zählmuster) — a star motif is worked over the central 19 stitches of the front panel, introduced after approximately 4/6.5/9 cm from the ribbing, and worked over 19 rows before returning to plain stockinette in Royal. This motif is worked from a chart (Zählmuster), requiring the knitter to follow a grid-based diagram row by row.
• Armhole shaping — both the back and front are shaped at the armholes through a combination of casting off stitches at each side and working paired decreases every other row, creating smooth, angled armhole edges.
• Increases (Zunahmen) — on the front piece, 3 stitches are increased evenly across the final wrong-side row of the ribbing to accommodate the additional stitch count required by the cable panels.

Stitches Used

• Stockinette stitch (glatt rechts) — kn