Thoughts on Sweater Ease

Since this is a perfect time to knit sweaters (and I’m trying to finish up about five of them this month!) I thought it would be good to share this article from Knitting Daily discussing the issue of ease in sweaters and how you decide which of the sizes given in a pattern is the one you want to knit.

This issue came up specifically because people were asking about the amount of ease in a particularly lovely sweater from the current issue on Knitscene. Editor Amy Palmer notes that the magazine does not indicate how much ease these is in any given pattern, but you can find the right size for you based on the measurements in the schematic.

There are a lot of things that go into how much ease you want in a sweater, and how the model looks in the garment probably shouldn’t be a consideration. It depends on how you like a sweater to look and feel, if you tend to wear shirts under your sweaters, your gauge and the stitch pattern involved.

It’s a lot to think about but it’s an essential first step to sweater success!

[Photo via Knitscene.]

Next Pattern:

As I write this, it’s probably time to start thinking about winter knitting if you haven’t already. And it’s definitely time to think about gift knitting if you have any of that you plan to do for the holidays.

The Dreamy Waves Scarf from Knit Picks, designed by Stacey Winklepleck, would be a great project to go in either category.

It uses two different multicolored yarns and a simple repeating wave pattern to make a project that looks a lot more complicated and dramatic than it is. The gradient look happens naturally just by switching which yarn you’re knitting with.

This pattern uses worsted weight yarn so it’s a pretty quick project even though a scarf is large and this one is pretty wide. It measures 8.5 inches (21.5 cm) wide and 63 inches or 120 cm long. Of course you can make it longer or shorter as you like. As written it takes one ball of each color so it’s a pretty economical project, too.

It’s rated for intermediate knitters but if you know how to do various increases and decreases you’ll be all set. The pattern uses knit 2 together, make 1 left and right, centered double decrease and slip slip knit. All of the stitches are explained in a glossary in the pattern so even if you haven’t done all of them it shouldn’t be too hard to figure out.

The pattern also includes tons of options for different colorways in yarn that Knit Picks sells, so you can see how different combinations knit up before you buy the yarn. That’s such a great idea!

Of course if you already have two multicolored yarns with long color runs on hand, you can absolutely use them, too. It might also be fun, but would give you a totally different look, to use a solid color and a bunch of scraps or one multicolored yarn to see how the different colors play together. So many options!

You can grab this free pattern and check out all the color options at Knit Picks.

[Photo: Knit Picks]

Summer Shawl and Scarf Knitting Patterns

Take It Easy with the Bessie Scarf

Sweater Scarf Knitting Patterns

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