An Overview of Sweater Construction Options

Yes you can knit a sweater now! There are so many different ways to knit a sweater, and thinking about how you want your sweater to go is a good place to start when you’re trying to choose a pattern.

The first consideration is whether you want your garment to be knit in pieces or all in one piece (or as much as possible in one piece). Both pullovers and cardigans can be worked either way.

There are pros and cons to both. Knitting that is pieced may be more portable, makes it possible to do intarsia and, some people say, is more stable and durable because the seams support the weight of the sweater. On the other hand, advocates of seamless sweaters may tell you they are faster, better for other kinds of colorwork and more likely to get to a state where you can wear them because there’s minimal finishing once the knitting is done.

Whichever method you choose, you can also work from the top down or the bottom up. I usually see pieced garments worked from the bottom up, and while circular yoke and raglan sweaters make more sense to me worked from the top down, you really can go either way.

Another choice you may have to make is how the sleeves are knit. They, too, can be done top down or bottom up and they can be worked flat or in the round. You may work the body from the bottom up in the round and then work the sleeves from the top down in the round, or you can work the body and sleeves both from the top down.

Of course if you’re just looking at patterns rather than designing a sweater yourself you don’t have to really think about all these different options, but it’s nice to know what’s out there and to understand how different sweaters go together before you start knitting them.

Does a particular style of sweater seem more or less attractive to you as a knitter? I’d love to know. And throughout the month I’ll be sharing patterns for different construction methods, so look out for your favorites.

Looking for knitting patterns for knitted Cardigans? Check out these Knitting patterns we found on Etsy.

Looking for pullover and sweater patterns? Check these books out.

Next Pattern:

Not too long ago I was seeing a crochet pattern for a glasses holder shaped like a bear all over the Internet. It was super cute, and also useful as a place to put your glasses on your bedside table instead of just throwing them somewhere random.

This project stewed in my brain for a little while and I decided I needed to make a knit version, but I didn’t want to make a bear. If you know anything about me you might know that I’m a cat person, so of course my version had to be a cat.

The base is just a basic little basic worked from the center out to the desired size, then up the sides as long as you want them. Knit some ears and add embellishments to make it whatever kind of animal you want.

The way I figured out to work the base from the center out was to use a crochet cast on, which gives you an easier way to pick up stitches from the back of the cast on than if you worked a more traditional cast on for a knitting project. It’s kind of fun to do things in a different way from time to time.

This little project is adorable if I do say so myself, and even as a plain little basket not made into an animal it’s a cute way to keep your glasses or other little things in one place. I’m tempted to make one for my desk to hold pens or even little little scissors and sewing needles that are always on my desk but somehow always seem to get lost on my desk.

If you need a little holder for your glasses on your table, check out the pattern at Our Daily Craft.

[Photo: Our Daily Craft]

Comments

Ronnie Gosnell says
October 7, 2014 at 1:02 pm
Well, as a knitter, I prefer seamless knitting… but recently I made a sweater specifically to gauge and even though it was to gauge it was too big for the wearer. In the back of my mind I am wondering, if I had knit it with seams, would it have been “truer” to the gauge… but perhaps (and more likely) the publisher didn’t state the gauge correctly.

Next Pattern:

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