A Perfect Sweater to Knit if You’re New to Knitting Sweaters

There are so many great simple sweater knitting patterns out there, I feel like I say that patterns are great for beginners or for your first sweater all the time.

Honestly, I love these super basic sweater patterns even though I’ve probably knit 20 or more adult sweaters in my career. Give me a simple stockinette stitch, top-down, circular knit sweater any day. It’s great for TV knitting once you have a grasp on the shaping or when that part is done, and it’s a perfect blank slate project to add colored stripes, textured stripes, use your odd balls, etc.

The Studio Sweater from Ysolda Teague is worked in DK or light worsted weight yarn with an integrated deep ribbed neckline. It has a circular yoke and a bit of short row shaping to lower the front of the sweater. After that raglan shaping is integrated for a better fit around the underarms.

Once the sleeves are separated it’s smooth stitching unless you want to add additional cup shaping for a better fit. There are regular and tall length options, and the straight fit makes it a gender-neutral style.

There are 12 size options in the pattern to fit a chest measurement ranging from 30 to 73 inches, or 70 to 183 cm. You can choose how much ease you want to include, and there are four cup shaping options (from no shaping to a G/H cup).

As the pattern notes say, this would be a great first easy sweater project or a simple, well-fitting sweater project for someone with more experience who just doesn’t want to put a lot of thought into the project. Either way you’re going to get a great sweater, and a good sweater pattern you’ll probably come back to again and again.

You can get a copy of the pattern from Ravelry.

[Photo: Ysolda Teague]

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Blankets are a great blank slate project that you can change up in a million different ways. From color to stitch pattern to size, the possibilities are almost endless.

Jared Flood, the designer behind Brooklyn Tweed, was inspired by a log cabin quilt his mother made in 1995 to re-create that design in knitting, which led to more blankets and ultimate Brooklyn Tweed’s Knit and Crochet Blankets, which includes 25 patterns from an array of designers using different skills and techniques to make cozy, pretty blankets.

The patterns are divided into three aesthetic themes: traditions, minimalism and colorplay. The patterns are rated on a scale of one to five, with one being the easiest, and there aren’t any pieces rated five. Two blankets are rated one, 14 are two, eight are three and one is four.

In addition, three of the 25 patterns are crocheted, but they either use single crochet or granny stitch, so they are pretty easy even if you don’t do a lot of crochet. You can see all the patterns on Ravelry.

Some of my favorites include Rattan by Rastus Hsu, a chunky blanket worked in knits and purls with simple crossing stitches to make a raised woven look; Homewood by Seth Richardson, covers in dramatic, loopy cables; Ainur Berkimbayeva’s Tessellate, one of the beginner projects that doesn’t really look beginner but is totally worked in knit and purl stitches; Warp + Weft by Aist? Butkevi?ien?, which is mostly knits and purls but makes a fun woven look fabric that blew my mind a little bit; and the same designer’s Canyonland, a multicolored blanket with wavy stripes.

The patterns tell you how to resize them for different dimensions and include information on pattern repeats where it is possible to make a totally custom size.

Many different techniques are included here such as cables, lace, shadow knitting, intarsia and other colorwork techniques, as well as modular knitting and lots of sewing pieces together. The patterns are all presented with charts, but there are line by line written instructions available on the Brooklyn Tweed website if you need them.

The book ends with a deep dive into log cabin knitting, telling the story of the quilt Jared’s mom made and how he made it in knitting, as well as the multitude of variations you can make if you want your own log cabin style design.

The back of the book includes a little written information about some of the special techniques needed, but there are no photos.

This is a lovely book full of inspiration for knitting and crochet blankets for any skill level. If you like to make blankets as gifts or aspire to have a handmade blanket in every room of the house, these designs would be a great place to start.

About the book: 192 pages, paperback, 25 patterns. Published 2024 by Abrams Books, suggested retail price $24.99.

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