Stranded colourwork knitting pattern summer top | short sleeve knitwear | sport weight | seamless | PDF

Hayat Top pattern by Zaneteknits.

IMPORTANT: The product sold here is a knitting pattern in a PDF format and NOT the finished top.

Languages: English, German, Spanish, French and Dutch.
Pattern is also available in Danish, Norwegian, Italian and Portuguese
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Difficulty: Intermediate.

The Hayat Top is a seamless top down design with a European shoulder that gives you that tailored, polished look. The kind that makes people stop and say "wait, you made that?" It’s made in sport-weight gauge which makes it light enough to wear from spring through autumn.

It is worked seamlessly from the top down and you can choose to make a short or full length sleeve. The shoulder shaping is built in and the set-in sleeve caps sit exactly where they should.
The lower body features stranded colourwork with a contemporary motif, like looking out across a landscape where colours shift and deepen toward the horizon. Floats are managed with Ladderback Jacquard, and charts that show exactly where to place the ladderback stitches are included. Every technique has a video tutorial linked right here in the pattern, so you won't get stuck. You can pick waist shaping or a straight fit, and try it on as you go.

The neckband goes on last, which means if it doesn't sit right, you just fix it at the end.

The name Hayat comes from the Arabic word for life. A top that feels alive in the details and gives you a garment you will reach for again and again.

Sizes: 1 (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)

Finished chest circumference:
- 85 (95, 105, 115, 125, 135, 145, 155, 165) cm
- 34 (38, 42, 46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66)”

Designed to be worn with 5-10 cm / 2-4” positive ease around the chest.

Yarn: Sport weight yarn. Depending on the length of the garment, allow approximately:

Main Colour (MC):
- 610 (680, 750, 815, 890, 960, 1050, 1125, 1195) m
- 670 (745, 820, 890, 975, 1050, 1150, 1230, 1310) yds

Contrast Colour (CC):
- 190 (210, 235, 255, 275, 300, 320, 340, 365) m
- 205 (230, 255, 280, 300, 325, 350, 375, 395) yds

NOTE: This estimate is for the short sleeve option and includes an extra 10% to cover swatching and differences in knitting style, yarn structure, or fiber content.

For long sleeves add 235 (235, 250, 255, 260, 275, 280, 295, 300) m / 255 (255, 275, 280, 285, 300, 305, 325, 325) yds of MC.

Yarn used in the sample (size 2 with short sleeves) is Artisan Fibres by Fruity Knitting (90% Falklands Corriedale, 10% Mulberry Silk; 150 m [164 yds] / 50 g): 5 balls of White Opal as main colour and 2 balls of Billabong as contrast colour.

Gauge: 24 sts & 32 rows = 10 cm / 4” in Stockinette stitch and stranded colourwork in the round, blocked.

Suggested needles:
- 3.25 mm (US 3) or needle size that gets the gauge for main fabric; circulars with sharp tips, 60-100 cm / 24-40″ long and (optional) double-pointed needles for small circumference knitting
- 2.75 mm (US 2) or 2 sizes smaller than gauge needle for neckband.

Notions: Stitch markers, locking markers, row counter, tape measure, stitch holders or waste yarn, tapestry needle.

Techniques used: Lifted increases, knitting in the round, stranded colourwork, Ladderback Jacquard, Backwards loop cast-on, Icelandic bind-off.

Construction notes: This sweater is worked seamlessly from the top down, beginning with a cast-on at the back neckline, followed by shoulder shaping using lifted increases. The back is worked down to the underarms, incorporating increases for armhole shaping.

Subsequently, stitches are picked up along the back shoulders to form the front shoulders. Each side is worked individually, using decreases and increases to sculpt the front armhole and neckline, and continues down to the point where the fronts are joined by casting on additional stitches, completing the front neckline. The front is then continued down to the underarms, with increases for the armholes.

The back and front are joined, and stitches for the underarm are cast on. The body is worked in the round and finished with a wide stranded colourwork panel and a short hem of 1x1 corrugated rib.

The neckband is added by picking up stitches around the neckline, followed by a short 1x1 corrugated rib worked in the round on smaller needles.

For the sleeves, stitches are picked up along the shoulder edges and the underarm cast-on edge. The sleeve caps are shaped using short rows, and then the sleeves continue in round to the desired length, finishing in the same rib as the hem.