Mullein is inspired by my childhood: the folklore museums I visited, and the flat landscape of the Kielce region in Poland, where I spent many summers at my grandparents’ homestead. Mullein (Polish: Dziewanna) is a common flower that grows tall, with yellow blooms, along the edges of the fields. I wanted the colourwork to bring those summers back, with chickens wandering among the flowers around them.

Mullein is worked seamlessly from the top down with a circular yoke and short row shaping at the back of the neck. You can try the jumper on as you go, so the body and sleeve lengths are fully customisable to your perfect fit. The colourwork is charted only, and the yoke is worked in two colours, which keeps the floats manageable and the fabric smooth.

The pattern includes tips for adjusting the fit for a fuller bust and a longer torso, and guidance on what to do if your row gauge does not match.

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

Mullein was designed with approx. 10 to 20 cm / 4 to 8 in of positive ease, with the larger sizes having slightly more. This means the finished chest circumference should be 10 to 20 cm / 4 to 8 in larger than your full bust measurement. If you prefer a closer fit, you can choose a smaller size, but I would not recommend going below 10 cm / 4 in of ease.

Finished garment measurements

Chest circumference: 84 (96) 108 (120) 132 (144) 156 (168) 180 cm / 33 (37.75) 42.5 (47.25) 52 (56.75) 61.5 (66) 71 in

Upper arm circumference: 30 (32) 38 (42) 46 (50) 52 (56) 58 cm / 11.75 (12.5) 15 (16.5) 18 (19.75) 20.5 (22) 22.75 in

Cuff circumference: 22 (22) 24 (24) 24 (24) 26 (26) 26 cm / 8.75 (8.75) 9.5 (9.5) 9.5 (9.5) 10.25 (10.25) 10.25 in

Neckline: 40 (42) 42 (46) 48 (50) 52 (54) 56 cm / 15.75 (16.5) 16.5 (18) 19 (19.75) 20.5 (21.25) 22 in

Yoke depth: 22.5 (24) 25 (25.5) 27.5 (28) 29.5 (30) 31.5 cm / 9 (9.5) 9.75 (10) 10.75 (11) 11.5 (11.75) 12.5 in

Sleeve length (customisable) 44 (44.5) 45 (45.5) 46.5 (48) 48.5 (48.5) 49.5 cm / 17.25 (17.5) 17.75 (18) 18.25 (18.75) 19 (19.25) 19.5 in

Body length (customisable): 36.5 (36) 35 (34.5) 33.5 (32.5) 32 (31) 30 cm / 14.5 (14.25) 13.75 (13.5) 13.25 (12.75) 12.5 (12.25) 11.75 in

Total length (customisable): 59.5 (60) 60 (60.5) 60.5 (60.5) 61 (61) 61 cm / 23.25 (23.5) 23.5 (23.75) 23.75 (23.75) 24 (24) 24 in

Please note that size 9 (chest circumference 180 cm / 71 in) was not test knitted. If you would like to knit this size, get in touch and I will happily arrange a small test knit for you.

Gauge
Gauge, measured over stranded colourwork after washing and blocking, on 4.5 mm (US 7) needles:
20 sts x 24 rows = 10 x 10 cm / 4 x 4 in

If your yarn produces a different number of stitches or rows over 10 cm / 4 in, adjust your needle size up or down to match the gauge. If your colourwork is tight, consider going up to 5 mm (US 8) for the colourwork sections only.

Needles & Notions
Body, sleeves and colourwork: 4.5 mm (US 7) circular needles 40 cm / 16 in (or DPNs), 60 cm / 24 in and 80 cm / 32 in (for magic loop method) to obtain the correct gauge. If your colourwork is tight consider using 5mm (US 8) for that part.
Ribbing: 4 mm (US 6) circular needles 40 cm / 16 in (or DPNs), 60 cm / 24 in and 80 cm / 32 in (for magic loop method).
Notions: Stitch markers, waste yarn to move sleeves on, tapestry needle, tape measure, scissors

Yarn
Any worsted weight yarn that meets the gauge. The amounts below are approximations. Total yarn usage depends on your yarn (fibre content, ply and so on), your personal gauge and any modifications you make.

Main colour (MC)
325 (375) 400 (450) 475 (525) 550 (600) 650 g
624 (720) 768 (864) 912 (1008) 1056 (1152) 1248 m
683 (788) 840 (945) 998 (1103) 1155 (1260) 1365 yds

Contrasting colour (CC)
135 (150) 185 (200) 215 (230) 250 (275) 290 g
260 (288) 356 (384) 413 (442) 480 (528) 557 m
284 (315) 389 (420) 452 (483) 525 (578) 609 yds

The yarn amount includes a swatch.

Yarn used in sample Malabrigo Rios (100% Superwash Merino Wool, 100 g / 192 m / 210 yds).
Sample in size 3 shown in the colours Bobby Blue 27 (MC) and Camel 208 (CC).

Difficulty
Intermediate - familiar with top down seamless construction, short-row shaping and stranded colourwork.

Techniques used

• Long tail cast on (link to video in the pattern)
• Stranded colourwork (charted only)
• Working in the round
• Short rows (link to video in the pattern)
• Bind off
• Picking up sts
• Increasing (m1L, m1R)
• Decreasing (k2tog, ssk)