How to Knit a Sweater

Do you want to learn how to knit a sweater, but you don’t know where to start?

Everything you need is right here in this blogpost!

First, I will walk you through the supplies you will need to knit your first sweater, and then we will knit a sweater together during my free, 4-hour long class on how to knit your first sweater! Every single part of knitting this sweater is covered in great detail. You only need to know how to knit and purl.

Don’t be scared! Sweater knitting is not as intimidating as it seems, and I’ll help you every step of the way!

We are going to knit the sweater in the photo below. It is a top-down, seamless circular yoke pullover. It comes in sizes from 3 months up to a 70 inch / 178 cm finished chest circumference. You can make a sweater for yourself or make a teeny tiny baby sweater if you want to quickly learn the sweater knitting basics.

This is what you will need:

Pattern:

This class uses the Woodsmoke sweater pattern. You can buy it on my website here and on Ravelry here. Use the code FIRSTSWEATER for 20% off this pattern.

Purchase your copy and print it out so you can easily circle the numbers for your size.

Needles:

You will also need two pairs of circular needles: one US size 5 (3.75 mm) and one US size 3 (3.25 mm). I recommend a 32-inch (80 cm) cord length, but you can use one that is longer than that. You will be using the Magic Loop Method for small circumferences so don’t worry if there aren’t enough stitches to go all the way around a 32-inch (80 cm) needle when we start. And don’t worry about how to do the Magic Loop Method because I will show you how to do it when we get there

Follow this link to check out my favorite needles to use. This is an affiliate link. If you purchase something via this link, I will make a small commission at no cost to you. These are the exact needles I use.

Yarn:

Woodsmoke uses sport weight yarn. If you are in Australia, New Zealand, and the UK, this weight of yarn is often labeled as 5-ply.

I recommend using a non-superwash wool yarn (here is why), but you can use superwash wool or even acrylic if you want to. I don’t do yarn snobbery over here!

Some yarns I recommend are:

Harrisville Designs Flywheel (This is the yarn used to knit the Woodsmoke you see in the photos. The color is Granite.)
De Rerum Natura Ulysse
North Bay Fiber Co Heritage Sport
North Bay Fiber Co Elemental Sport
Barrett Wool Co Woolens
Knit Picks High Desert Sport
Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Sport (This one is superwash just FYI)

Notions:

You will also need the following notions:

Tape measure
One stitch marker
Waste yarn
Tapestry needle
Scissors

Once you have gathered all your supplies, hit play on the video below, and we will knit this sweater together!