Knit a Cozy Sweater with Lots of Options

December 23, 2024 by Sarah White Leave a Comment

If you’re looking for a sweater knitting pattern that uses up some of your stash and allows you to make just the sweater you want, the Marlina Rib by Shay Johson might be just the thing.

It’s worked with two strands of fingering weight yarn held together to make a DK weight gauge, so you can use the same two yarns throughout or change one or both regularly for an even more colorful look.

The pattern has options to make it either a crewneck or a henley style with buttons, tapered or relaxed sleeves, and a straight hemline or a split hem with buttons (which sounds so cute if you do the henley with split hem and match the buttons on both parts).

It’s also knit from the top down so you can make the body and the sleeves as long as you want. There are 10 sizes available in the pattern, with a chest circumference ranging from 32 to 68 inches, or 81.5 to 172.5 cm. It’s meant to be worn with 4-6 inches/10-15 cm of positive ease at the chest.

The pattern page on Ravelry includes tons of measurements and yardage estimates so you can make sure you’ll get a good fit for your body before you even buy the pattern. Shay also shows a few variations of the sweater so you can see how different options look before you decide how you want to put them together.

The stitch pattern is 1×2 ribbing, which is really easy to do and gives a look almost like fisherman’s rib that’s relaxed and easy to wear.

This sweater looks like a great option for people who are somewhat new to sweater knitting or those who love to have lots of customization options (because it’s like getting multiple sweater patterns in one!).

Check out all the details and grab a copy of the pattern for yourself at Ravelry.

[Photo: Shay Johnson]

Next Pattern:

Have you read?

Hexagon Knitting Patterns

Knitting squares, rectangles and triangles can get boring after a while, so why not throw in some different shapes, like hexagons?

I started thinking about hexagons because of Amy Gunderson’s Rainbow Remnants cowl (see it on Ravelry), which uses all your sock yarn leftovers to make hexagons worked from the center out and joined as you go so there’s no seaming. She also works over the yarn ends so you don’t have to weave in a million ends either.

This reminded me of the classic Beekeeper’s Quilt knitting pattern from Tiny Owl Knits, which has long been a bucket list project for me. It uses little “hexipuffs,” which are tiny hexagon shaped pillows that are stuffed to make your blanket extra cozy. This one also uses sock yarn but each motif is worked separately and then stitched together so there’s a ton of finishing work. But it would be amazing to have on the back of your couch!

Or you can make a blanket that’s one big hexagon, like this Hexagon Baby Blanket from Lion Brand Yarn. It’s worked in sections so you can change color with each piece or alternate self-striping colorways as shown if you like. Or make it a stash buster.

Hexagons of course remind me of quilts, because my parents have a couple of Grandmother’s Flower Garden quilts my great-grandmother made. If you like that classic look and want to make it in knitting, try the April Showers Bring May Flowers blanket from Needles and Balls. Each hexagon is worked separately so you can make your project as big as you like, using whatever yarn you have handy.

Or try the Knitted Hexagon Cushion, a free pattern from Greedy for Colour. These hexis are worked in strips so you could use the same pattern to make a bigger project if you wanted. As written it calls for DK weight yarn but you could experiment with other weights as well.

Fun shapes and stash busting knitting inspired by quilts? I think these projects might hit everything I love in a knitting project!

Next Pattern:

Have you read?

Leave a Reply