The Story Behind the Taylor Swift Sweater

If you were online yesterday (and you might not have been, if you’re in a country where yesterday was a holiday) you might have heard about Taylor Swift posting on Instagram about an amazing handknit sweater she received as a gift at a concert in Denver.

The sweater includes a Polaroid-style picture of Swift inspired by her 1989 album cover.

When she posted the picture she didn’t actually know who had knit the sweater, but the “mystery” has been solved. The knitter is a 27-year-old Colorado stitcher named Jadda, whose progress on the sweater over eight months was well documented.

She said on her Tumblr that the sweater was the first one she ever knit, it was a pieced raglan and she charted the picture and the letters to make the words readable. (It says “It’s like I’ve got this music in my mind sayin’ it’s gonna be alright.” Of course.)

She also noted it was “difficult af” and a “ton of work but so much fun.”

She told BuzzFeed that she attended two concerts of Swift’s in Denver and wore the sweater herself the first night, but thanks to her boyfriend got the sweater into Swift’s mom’s hands along with a letter the second night.

Taylor posted a picture on Instagram yesterday saying the sweater “has very quickly become my everything.” The picture got 1.8 million likes on Instagram and more than 83,000 favorites on Twitter. She posted on Tumblr when she learned who the knitter was, saying she loved the sweater and it was “so comfortable” and clearly “made with love.”

Which is really what we all want when we make something for someone else, right? What a great story!

Looking for a fun birthday gift? Check out this Taylor swift birthday card complete with a bracelet and keychain.

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If you’re new to lace knitting or just aren’t sure how to incorporate the technique into garments, check out these tops and sweaters that use lace as a decorative element.

The easiest lace out there is eyelets, and you can practice them plenty with this eyelet covered sweater from Knitcro Addict. It uses light/DK weight yarn and is worked in four pieces knit flat. It’s intended to be a little cropped and a little oversized, and includes sizes XS to XXL in the pattern.

If you’re in parts of the world where it’s getting colder as you read this, the Nora sweater from Bummbul might be a good choice. This is actually a great one for learning lace because it’s worked in super bulky yarn, which makes it easier to see what you’re doing and makes the lace super graphic. This one just comes in one size, with a 42 inch (106) cm bust, but that could fit a variety of people depending on how much ease you like.

Minimi Knit Design has a cute allover lace cardigan worked in one piece from the bottom up. It’s worked in lace weight mohair held double, which maybe isn’t the best for those new to lace (because it can be hard to rip out) but it sure is pretty. Sizes range to fit from 30 to 66 inches/76 to 168 cm bust measurements.

If you’d rather not have lace all over your sweater, you can knit the Lumi sweater from Originally Lovely, which has a chevron lace pattern on the yoke and is otherwise worked in reverse stockinette stitch. (It’s worked inside out so you don’t have to purl every stitch.) The pattern has 9 sizes from XS to 5XL and uses worsted weight yarn.

Or try the super romantic sookie blouse from Trust the mojo (available on Ravelry). This sweet top is started working flat from the bottom up and has a V-neck and I-cord edgings. The sleeves are worked separately in the round, and the pieces are all joined together to work in one piece to finish off the top. It comes in eight sizes and is available in English and French.

You can also pair lacy sleeves with an otherwise plain top, like on the Starflower Wrap from Annelise Driscoll Gingrow. This intermediate pattern makes a wrap sweater with generous lacy sleeves and a double wrap belt. The pattern has nine sizes, from XS to 5XL, and is available for free from Hobbi.

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