Autumn Sweater by Nazilia Zemdikhanova is a beautiful free Icelandic-style sweater knitting pattern featuring a bold stranded colorwork yoke and a cozy oversized silhouette.
If you have some knitting experience but have been hesitant to tackle your first colorwork sweater, this is an especially interesting project. The sweater uses bulky yarn and large needles, so the fabric grows much faster than a typical fine-gauge sweater.
Even better, the designer provides the complete pattern as a free download along with video tutorials covering the construction.
Design and photo © Nazilia Zemdikhanova.
Autumn Sweater Pattern Overview
- Designer: Nazilia Zemdikhanova
- Pattern: Autumn
- Craft: Knitting
- Category: Pullover
- Style: Icelandic / circular-yoke sweater
- Yarn weight: Bulky
- Suggested yarn: Ístex Álafosslopi
- Main needles: US 10 / 6 mm
- Smaller needles: US 7 / 4.5 mm
- Gauge: 13 stitches and 18 rows = 4 in / 10 cm
- Sizes: XS, S, M, L, XL, 2XL
- Yardage: Approximately 1,094–1,422 yd (1,000–1,300 m)
- Construction: Bottom up, in the round
- Languages: English and French
- Pattern availability: Free
A Free Icelandic-Style Sweater Pattern
The defining feature of Autumn is its dramatic stranded colorwork circular yoke. Contrasting motifs travel around the shoulders while the body and sleeves remain much simpler.
This creates the classic visual balance associated with Icelandic-style pullovers: straightforward stockinette knitting across large sections of the garment followed by a decorative yoke where the colors and motifs become the focus.
The sweater is designed with positive ease, giving it a comfortable, relaxed appearance that works particularly well with the substantial bulky-weight fabric.
How the Autumn Sweater Is Constructed
Autumn is knitted from the bottom up and in the round. The body is worked first up to the underarm.
The sleeves are knitted separately, then the body and sleeves are joined onto the same circular needle. From there, the upper sweater is worked together as one piece while the stranded colorwork yoke develops toward the neckline.
This method minimizes finishing because the main sections are worked in the round rather than as separate flat front and back pieces that need to be seamed together.
Autumn Sweater Sizes
The pattern includes six adult sizes:
- XS: 38.2 in / 97 cm finished bust
- S: 40.1 in / 102 cm
- M: 41.7 in / 106 cm
- L: 43.7 in / 111 cm
- XL: 45.3 in / 115 cm
- 2XL: 47.2 in / 120 cm
These measurements describe the finished sweater rather than your body measurement. Before choosing a size, compare the finished circumference with your own bust measurement and consider how much positive ease you want.
Yarn and Gauge
The original pattern suggests Ístex Álafosslopi, a bulky Icelandic wool traditionally well suited to warm outer sweaters.
The published gauge is: 13 stitches and 18 rows = 4 inches (10 cm).
The recommended main needle is US 10 / 6 mm, with US 7 / 4.5 mm needles used for the smaller-gauge sections.
Needle sizes are always a starting point. Make a gauge swatch before beginning and change needle size if necessary to obtain the pattern gauge. Gauge is especially important for a sweater because even a small difference can substantially change the finished circumference.
Choosing Colors for the Yoke
The circular yoke is where this sweater really comes alive. The original design uses contrasting colors to make the stranded motifs clearly visible against the main fabric.
When choosing your own palette, aim for enough contrast between the main color and motif colors. Two shades that look very different in the skein can sometimes appear surprisingly similar once knitted together.
You can stay close to traditional earthy Icelandic colors or create a completely different version with brighter contemporary shades.
Skills You'll Practice
- Knitting in the round
- Working a sweater from the bottom up
- Knitting sleeves in the round
- Joining sleeves and body
- Stranded colorwork
- Reading a colorwork chart
- Working a circular yoke
- Managing decreases through the yoke
- Working ribbed edges
- Finishing a seamless-style sweater
Is This a Good First Colorwork Sweater?
Autumn can be an appealing first larger stranded-colorwork project for a knitter who already understands basic sweater knitting.
Much of the garment consists of straightforward knitting in the round, so you are not working stranded motifs across the entire sweater. Instead, the more concentrated colorwork appears around the yoke.
The bulky yarn and 6 mm main needles are another advantage: progress is easy to see, and the project generally grows faster than a sweater made from DK, sport or fingering-weight yarn.
Tips for Better Stranded Colorwork
Try not to pull the unused yarn too tightly behind your stitches. The floats need enough room to stretch across the back of the fabric without drawing the knitted fabric inward.
It can help to spread the recently worked stitches along the right-hand needle before carrying the unused color across the back.
Check your colorwork frequently as you knit. If the yoke begins to pucker, your floats may be too tight.
Free Video Tutorials
One of the strongest features of this pattern is that the designer has also provided video tutorials to accompany the written instructions.
These videos can be particularly useful if this is your first Icelandic-style sweater because you can see the construction and techniques demonstrated rather than relying only on written directions.
Get the Free Autumn Sweater Pattern
The exact Autumn Sweater by Nazilia Zemdikhanova is currently available as a free knitting pattern.
The designer provides the pattern through Ravelry in English and French. The pattern page also contains the designer's current project information and links to the accompanying tutorials.
Get the Free Autumn Sweater Pattern →
Why We Like the Autumn Sweater
Autumn combines several qualities that make a sweater project rewarding: a bold visual result, relatively fast bulky-yarn knitting and an opportunity to learn or improve stranded colorwork.
The straightforward body lets you settle into comfortable knitting before the circular yoke introduces the decorative part of the project. The result is a warm handmade sweater with the unmistakable character of traditional Icelandic-inspired knitwear.
Pattern Availability
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Patterns can move, become paid or be discontinued over time. If the availability of this pattern changes, the designer's current listing should be treated as the authoritative source.
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Autumn and its pattern instructions remain the intellectual property of Nazilia Zemdikhanova. Amazing Knitting provides an independent project guide and links to the authorized pattern source; the designer's row-by-row instructions and charts are not reproduced here.