Sizing in Knitting Patterns

Every time I write a garment pattern, I think a lot about sizing. Not just the number of sizes to offer and the physical/mathematical work of making the pattern for various sizes, but also more generally about the proper size the garment should be for people of particular sizes.

When I first started out I thought if a pattern said its chest measurement and mine were the same that must be the right size for me. In some cases that’s right, but in others you don’t want a piece of knitting that is your exact same size. A bulky sweater, for instance, or even just a cardigan that’s meant to be worn over another piece of clothing, needs to be bigger than you are to fit well and comfortably.

There are standards for the sizes of people you will find within a given clothing size, but that does nothing to account for ease, which is the fancy term for that extra space that makes a sweater more comfortable. And it’s not always easy to tell the amount of ease that ought to be found in a particular garment for the best fit.

Yarn companies and book publishers are getting better about this. Interweave Knits, for example, has its galleries, which show some garments from the magazine on a range of people or offer tips for customization. I’ve read two books recently that suggested how much ease you should have when choosing what size to knit, and the recent Berroco newsletter took on the issue with its presentation of the free pattern Talcott, which is an oversized sweater worked in a cotton/linen yarn (Berroco Linsey, by the way, which is an absolutely beautiful yarn — great to knit with, soft, gorgeous colors…).

Berroco says that its patterns are always the same garment size even if the measurements vary. So if you know you usually knit a medium, you’ll still want to knit a medium in an oversized pattern to get the proper amount of ease.

That makes a lot of sense, and actually is probably the way most people handle it.

How do you decide which size of a project to make? Any ease horror stories? Spill it!

[Photo by Berroco.]

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I’ve shared a lot of Christmas stocking knitting patterns over the years (see posts 1, 2, 3 for example) but what if you want to knit a stocking for a non-human member of your family. If you’re looking for Christmas stocking knitting patterns for your cats or dogs, this is the post for you.

These large paw print stockings are perfect for either dogs or cats, so they’re great to knit if you have both. They are worked in the round using DK weight yarn, and the stocking measures about 17 inches/43 cm from the top to the heel. You can get the pattern from nicolaluke.

The K4 Project has a super cute Kitty Christmas stocking pattern, which is worked in worsted weight yarn. They also have a dog version, or you can buy both and get a discount if you have both dogs and cats to knit for. Both projects have two patterns, showing how to work the stockings flat or in the round.

Put your dog into a Christmas scene with this stocking pattern from ifanhourChild. It shows a dog in a dog house in the snow, and has room for the dog’s name at the top. It’s worked flat using worsted weight yarn and the pattern includes charts for many small and medium dog breeds (there’s a separate listing for bigger dogs) so you can stitch a dog that looks like yours.

Annie’s Woolens has both dog and cat stocking knitting patterns that are worked in worsted weight yarn in the round. You can change up the colors to suit your pet if you want, and they come with an alphabet chart for personalization. Or you can stick with holiday colors and buy a kit to make the dog or cat stocking.

Waiting for Santa Paws is a pattern from Kate Agner on Ravelry that would be cute for a dog or a cat. It looks like a leg with a paw print on the bottom part of the foot and more paw prints running around the top of the leg. This is a great option if you don’t want to mess with a heel turn because it doesn’t have a heel, because dogs and cats don’t have heels so why would their stockings?

Book Review – 20 to Knit: Tiny Christmas Toys to Knit

Book Review – Knit Christmas Stockings

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