Knit Ariana Grande’s Giant Sweater

Singer Ariana Grande recently posted a TikTok in which she is singing, but if you’re a knitter you probably didn’t even notice the song because you were so distracted by the giant pink knit sweater she was wearing.

Of course knitters everywhere wanted to know how they could make their own massive cocoon of a sweater, and thankfully Lion Brand has the hookup.

Their Ariana Cardigan uses jumbo yarn so it will knit up in a flash, and it’s actually a really easy sweater knitting project, too. It’s worked in seven pieces — the back, two fronts, two sleeves and two halves of the hood — all in super simple knit 1, purl 1 ribbing.

The pattern only comes in one size, which measures around 45 inches in the chest and is 18.5 inches long. You can easily make yours longer with more yarn, and because the pieces don’t have any shaping other than before the cuff on the sleeves, you can make your panels whatever width you like to make it as oversized (or not) as you like.

The combination of simple pieces, an easy stitch pattern and really big yarn means you can knit up this project in no time and be hibernating like a star before the weekend is out. You can grab the free pattern or buy the whole kit from Lion Brand.

Lion Brand used its Wool-Ease Wow yarn for this project, which is a jumbo (weight 7) yarn available in 13 colors if you don’t want to go with the pink of Ariana’s. The wool and acrylic blend makes it super cozy.

Looking for more celeb-style knits? You can knit a sweater like the one Tom Daley made at the Olympics, or like the patchwork cardigan made popular by Harry Styles, or even a sweater inspired by the Broadway show Mrs. Doubtfire. Or how about some Bernie Sanders mitten inspired patterns (including a cowl that I designed)?

[Photo: Lion Brand.]

When I discovered Kate Atherley’s book Circular Knitting for Beginners and Beyond, I wasn’t sure there was enough to say about circular knitting to fill a book. It’s a pretty short book (144 pages) and includes 10 patterns to practice working in the round on small projects, and it provides a decent introduction to the various ways of working in the round.

The book covers using double pointed knitting needles, flexible double points and circular knitting needles with cables. It talks about working using the full circumference of a circular needle and various ways to work smaller circumference projects, such as using DPNs, magic loop and knitting with two circular knitting needles.

In addition there’s a discussion of preventing problems like twists and ladders, swatching in the round without actually swatching in the round, grafting, blocking and weaving in ends.

More specialized techniques likes knitting from the center out, stranded colorwork, helical knitting and jogless stripes are also explored, as well as working pieces like socks or mitts two at a time.

There’s also some information about seamless sweaters, including the different sweater designs that can be worked seamlessly (and why you might want seams in your sweaters) and how they are worked from the top down or the bottom up.

There are 10 patterns in the book, including a basic stockinette stitch cowl and one with a deliberate twist, wrist warmers, mitts and a pair of colorwork mittens, a hat worked in a solid color or in helical stripes, toe up and top down socks and a beret. It would have been nice to have a basic sweater pattern, too, since the book does talk about working larger garments with circular needles, but it’s still a nice collection of basic patterns worked in the round.

If you’re already comfortable working in the round in different ways, I’m not sure there’s much for you to learn in this book, but it is a good reference for people learning circular knitting or who maybe haven’t tried all the techniques yet or need skill building projects to try.

About the book: 144 pages, paperback, 10 patterns. Published 2026 by David & Charles. Suggested retail price $24.99.

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