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Big Sweaters are, Well, Big for Fall

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Giant sweaters are in fashion for fall.“Yarn for years” is how Wall Street Journal reporter Megan Hayes described the sweaters seen in collections for this fall (which were shown back in the spring). She notes that giant cowls and roomy sweaters were everywhere to be seen, as well as layers of knits — sweaters and skirts with a scarf and legwarmers, for example.

While knitters certainly would love to dress like that, most of the time you shouldn’t wear all knits all the time, the style experts say. They recommend pairing your knits with sleeker fabrics like leather or lace, and to tone down the volume of a giant sweater with skinny jeans.

Or try what fashion consultant Yasmin Sewell suggests: pair two sweaters of similar or matching colors. Wear one normally and tie the other around the neck. Will that work off the runway? There’s only one way to find out.

What do you think of the trend (back) toward giant knits? Would you knit an enormous sweater for yourself? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

[Photo by Danny Kim for the Wall Street Journal.]

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Comments

  2. Well, this trend does make it a lot faster to knit for tweens and teens! I already have one request for a big fuzzy sweater. I may knit myself some chunky leg warmers, though. That’s one of the few things I miss about the 80s. 😉

  3. Hmmmmm, knitting an enormous sweater for myself – usually done with bulky yarns? Would probably be fast and easy. But I already look like a blog so with a big sweater I’d look like a warm fuzzy blob. 😉 Sure would be comfy though!

Have you read?

Knit a Log Cabin Blanket with All Your Scraps

I guess I must have had this pattern on my mind, because I had chosen this log cabin blanket recipe to write about, promptly forgot about it and a couple of weeks later started knitting a log cabin blanket using all my pink yarn. 

It might stay pink if it makes it to baby blanket sized, or I might add in some pastel green and blue, too, to make a bigger blanket. We’ll see. I’m also holding several strands of yarn together to make a kind of bulky yarn, which means it’s deeply satisfying how much yarn is used even as the project is still relatively small. 

In Kristen Finlay’s version, DK weight yarn scraps (or fingering/sock yarn held double) are used to make a simple scrappy log cabin blanket that’s lighter weight than my version. Log cabin is a great technique for knitters of any skill level because it’s worked in garter stitch. The only not completely basic technique you need for log cabin knitting is picking up stitches. 

If you’ve never worked a log cabin knitting project before, this is a good introduction, and it is really nice to use all your yarn scraps in one big project you’ll use for years to come. 

If you use a lot of DK weight yarn you can keep building on it whenever you finish a project, or if you use more worsted weight you can do the same thing with it, it will just be a little bigger starting out than the pattern calls for. How big it gets is totally up to you. 

I have really been enjoying working on my log cabin project, and it’s my current sitting at my desk and need a break knit (do you have one of those or is it just me?). 

Ready to start your own log cabin blanket knitting project? You can grab the free pattern from Kristen Finlay on Ravelry. 

Need more log cabin inspiration? Check out more log cabin knitting patterns. 

[Photo: Kristen Finlay]