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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Just about anything you can make in fabric you can make in knitting, but there are some styles that you just don’t see that often translated into knitting.

For example, a button down collared shirt. This is a classic design, of course, and it looks great in a knit version, but it’s just not something you see much of.

Noma Ndlovu’s Guglethu shirt is the pattern to try if you want to knit your own button down shirt. This one is inspired by cashmere tops (though the sample was made out of yak yarn, not cashmere, and uses two strands of lace weight yarn held together) and includes lots of high-fashion details like double-knit cuffs, collar and shoulder seams.

It has a patch pocket on the front and 10 buttons including the button band and the cuffs.

The designer says you can also use a DK weight yarn held singly if you’d rather, and that the shirt looks good in a variety of yarns. There is another version on Ravelry that uses Berroco Remix Light, which is a mix of nylon, cotton, acrylic, silk and cellulose fibers. It has a more relaxed look but it still really pretty.

The pattern has 12 sizes, with a full bust measurement ranging from 32.35 to 72.25 inches, or 82 to 183.5 cm. The designer suggests 2 to 6 inches, or 5 to 15 cm, of positive ease when you pick your size. I could totally see knitting one that’s even bigger to wear more like a jacket, because I do that a lot with button down shirts I already own.

I love all the details on this shirt, which isn’t necessarily difficult to knit, but might introduce you to some things you’ve never knit before (like those cuffs with the plackets, or a shirt collar like this).

To learn more about this shirt and grab a copy of the pattern for yourself, head to Ravelry.

[Photo: Noma Ndlovu]

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