How to Knit Sweaters
Knitting a sweater can provide one of the most challenging projects you can make with yarn and needles. You will knit the sweater in sections. When all sections are complete, you'll stitch them together. This makes for a lot of work to complete one item, but the end result will reward you with comfortable, hand-crafted warmth. Three key components go into taking on a sweater project: patience, time and a gauge. Keep your first sweater project as simple as possible.
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Instructions
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Choose a basic sweater pattern. It should use only one color of yarn, preferably a chunky yarn with a simple stitch pattern. Look for any of these three stitch patterns: stockinette, reverse stockinette or garter. Keeping track of a more complicated stitch pattern only adds to the worries of knitting your first sweater. If you use a chunky yarn, you'll use larger needles. This means you'll make fewer stitches per inch allowing you to finish the sweater faster. You can't knit a sweater in a day. However, you're less likely to lose interest and risk never finishing if you feel you're getting somewhere each time you sit down and work.
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Buy yarn for your sweater. Look for an easy care yarn that's machine washable. Buy at least two extra skeins to ensure you won't run out of yarn before you finish the sweater. If run out, you risk not finding yarn from the same dye lot as your original yarn, leaving you with a sweater of varying hues. If you have extra yarn when you're finished, you could make a coordinating hat or a pair of mittens to match your sweater.
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Knit a gauge swatch to match the pattern's gauge. When you complete the swatch, wash it according to the yarn package's instructions and block it. Then measure the gauge swatch. This is the single most crucial element of knitting sweaters. Spending a few hours on a gauge swatch could save you countless hours of rework if the measurements don't match up.
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Keep all the materials you need for making your sweater together in an easy-to-carry bag. Store extra yarn separately until you need it, but keep the ball of yarn you're currently working with and one extra in the bag at all times. Using a bag helps you keep everything, including any books and papers you need, all in one place. And you can easily take the bag with you when you're knitting away from home.
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Tips & Warnings
Use variegated yarn to add some color without using multiple colors of yarn at once. Keep a knitting book on hand to use as a reference if you need instructions explained. If your pattern is on loose paper, store it in a binder or folder to protect it and keep any sheets from getting lost or damaged.
References
- Photo Credit Image from the collection of Melissa J Wantuck
