Syncope Sweater Knitting Pattern

I can’t say for sure what has come over me, but I have lately been feeling like I want to knit a cropped sweater. I do not particularly have a wasitline that I would consider conducive to cropped sweaters, but maybe this is part of me accepting my body as it is in middle age (gasp).

In truth I’ve started to think it would be cute to have a cropped sweater to wear over dresses or with button down shirts. If things get really wild, it might cause me to experiment with high-waisted pants. Look out, world.

Syncope means fainting, and the reason this sweater has that name is because the designer, Winter’s Weather Knits, has lately been prone to fainting spells because of low weight and blood pressure. They say this sweater feels like the sensation of fuzziness before fainting, which doesn’t really sound like a good thing, but they report that it is kind of comforting.

Whatever the name, it’s a cute cropped drop shoulder sweater with a slipped stitch pattern that gives it a lot of simple texture. It’s worked from the bottom up in one piece and comes in nine sizes.

Chest measurements for the sweater range from 39 to 71 inches, or 99 to 180.5 cm, and it is meant to be worn with 8.5 to 10.5 inches/21.5 to 26.5 cm of positive ease. You can adjust that as you like, and you could also make it longer if you want, though it’s harder to adjust bottom up patterns because you can’t try them on as you go. If you know how long you typically like your sweaters you can go by that measurement.

The sweater is worked in fingering weight yarn, so it’s great for that weird time when nature can’t quite decide what season it is. Or for layering when you don’t want to add too much extra weight or warmth.

You can find the pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: Winter’s Weather Knits]

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Beautiful people and beautiful sweaters combine in Lasse L. Matberg’s Viking Knits. The book includes more than 40 Scandinavian inspired knits for men, women and children featuring textured stitches and colorwork.

Matberg is known as The Viking and has worked as a chef, naval officer, fitness instructor and model, as well as being on a couple of reality TV shows. He comes from a long line of makers and his book was first published in Norwegian in 2021 and has since come out in an English version.

The book is divided into sections including everyday sweaters, knits for the great outdoors, stylish knitwear, Norse sweaters and accessories. Some of the patterns use the same designs in different versions for men, women and children. I counted seven projects rated for beginners, 19 for intermediate knitters and 17 for experienced knitters. The more difficult patterns tend to have allover colorwork or stitch patterning.

The pattern stitches and colorwork are shown in charts, with a little bit of text to tell you how to make the garment. Most of the book is sweaters, but there are also hats (sometimes coordinating with sweaters), scarves and a couple of sitting mats.

You can check out all the patterns on Ravelry. Some of my favorites are the more basic ones, such as the Power Sweater, a close-fitting (sized for men) ribbed sweater; the Heart Sweater, a raglan with allover lice stitch; and the Midsummer Sweater, with textured stripes and a henley neckline. I also like the Breeze designs (there are versions for men, women and children) that have colorwork diamonds on them.

Sizing on the garments varies, but there are six sizes for the men’s patterns (noted as small through XXL and then Lasse sized), six for women (XS to XL) and three for children (age 2-4, 6-8 and 10-12).

The yarns used in the book aren’t available in the United States but you can find suppliers here if you want to use the same yarns. Otherwise the book gives a lot of details about yarn content and gauge so you should be able to find good substitutes wherever you live.

If you have Norwegian or Scandinavian heritage or just like the look of cozy textured or colorful sweaters, this book is a lot of fun, and the eye candy is pretty great, too.

About the book: 192 pages, hardcover, 43 patterns. Published in English in 2023 by Search Press. Suggested retail price $29.95.

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