Bifurca pullover

Bifurca pullover is a sister design to Bifurca vest. 

It is a cropped pullover with modular construction and a couple of stranded colourwork sections. The pullover consists of a central panel (essentially a rectangle worked in the round) and four sides, worked sideways from the central panel and joined at the underarms. The sleeves are picked up along the armholes and worked top-down in the round. The hem is picked up along the front, back and sides and extends the length of the body. 

Bifurcation means splitting of a larger whole into two smaller and separate units. Furca hence means a fork. Imagine a tree that splits in the middle into two smaller branches — that’s where the inspiration comes from. And since both the front and back are identical — it’s bifurca — two-forked. 

You can take a closer look at my sample and discover the design process in this podcast episode.

Sizes

The pattern is written for nine sizes 

1 (2, 3, 4, 5) (6, 7, 8, 9) with a finished bust circumference of ca. 80 (88, 100, 108, 120) (128, 140, 148, 160) cm // 31.75 (35.5, 39.75, 43.5, 47.75) (51.5, 55.75, 59.5, 63.75) in incl. 5-20 cm (2-8 in) of recommended positive ease. 

The sample is shown in size 2 on a 160 cm (5.3 ft) tall model with ca. 84-66-94 cm (33–26–39 in) body measurements. For more of the finished garment measurements, please refer to the schematic. 

Yarn

MC: 

ca. 196 (206, 221, 240, 278) (299, 300, 321, 357) g 

or less than 2 (3, 3, 3, 3) (3, 4, 4, 4) skeins of No.3 from G-Uld, 100% New Zealand lambswool, with 450 m (492 yds) in 100 g, shown in colourway Natural Dark Brown;

or ca. 884 (926, 992, 1082, 1252) (1347, 1351, 1446, 1607) m // 967 (1013, 1086, 1184, 1370) (1473, 1478, 1582, 1758) yds of any other fingering/sport weight yarn with a matching gauge. The yardage estimation includes 5% extra. 

CC: ca. 30-36 g or ca. 125-146 m (137-160 yds) of any similar yarn (G-Uld also have mini-skeins), I’m using Darnie from Studio Donegal, 100% lambswool, with 410 m (449 yds) in 100 g, in colourway Oatmeal).

Needles and notions

• 2.5 mm (US 1.5) and 3.0 mm (US 2.5) circular needles; 
• spare cables, spare circular needles or scrap yarn to keep sts on hold;
• 2.5 mm (US 1.5) double pointed needles, 2.5 mm (C/2) crochet hook or a French knitting dolly to make an i-cord;
• 8 removable stitch markers, plus a BOR marker;
• a tapestry needle for joining the sides with a kitchener stitch and weaving in the ends.

Gauge

• 26 sts & 36 rnds in 10 cm (4 in) on 3.0 mm (US 2.5) needles measured over stockinette stitch worked in the round after blocking;
• 26 sts & 36 rnds in 10 cm (4 in) on 3.0 mm (US 2.5) needles measured over colourwork pattern worked in the round after blocking;
• 26 sts & 40 rnds in 10 cm (4 in) on 3.0 mm (US 2.5) needles measured over half-twisted 1x1 ribbing (k1tbl, p1) worked in the round after blocking.

Adjust the needle sizes if necessary to obtain the correct gauge.

Language



• English
• French,
• German