Sweater Fit Part 4: Choosing the Right Pattern
The Snowy Pines pullover and Alder mittens
This is Part 4 of four-part series dedicated to help you knit sweaters that fit exactly how you want them to. For parts 1 - 3, click on the links below.
Sweater Fit Part 1: Gauge & Swatching
Sweater Fit Part 2: Measuring Yourself & Reading a Schematic
Sweater Fit Part 3: Understanding Ease & How It Affects Fit
Part 4: Choosing the right pattern
All of the time spend swatching, measuring, and choosing a size will be for nothing if you choose a pattern that you end up not liking. It might fit perfectly on your body but be wildly out of place in your wardrobe or make you feel awkward when you wear it. So how do you pick a pattern you will love?
Step 1: Figure out what you wear all the time
We all have our own individual style. Try to figure out what your is. Go through your wardrobe and look at what you wear all the time and what just gets stuffed in the back. Evaluate it closely. What exactly do you love about the things you always wear? Is it the style, color, shape? What do the things you don’t like have in common? Write these things down so you can look for patterns in a style you already know you love and avoid the ones you know you don’t like. For a peek at my process, you might enjoy my Sweater Audit video.
Step 2: Look at photos of other people’s projects
Ravelry has the project page you can browse through. If you don’t use Ravelry, check out the pattern specific hashtag on Instagram. You can see how the sweater looks on other people, worn in different ways, and knit in different yarns. Does the sweater look good on other people? Try checking for one knit in the yarn you are planning to use. Does that yarn play well with the design?
Step 3: Think of the knitting experience
Knitting is not just the finished sweater. It is an entire experience leading up to a finished sweater. I would be remiss if I did not tell you to choose a pattern you will enjoy knitting! Look at the techniques used in the design. Do you want to do all the required finishing (like seaming *shudders with horror*)? Whether you want something interesting that will teach you something new or something easy and mindless, make sure the pattern you are choosing is something you actually want to knit.
A designer dropping a shiny new pattern that gets a lot of hype on the internet does not necessarily mean that it is the perfect pattern for you. Look into patterns and make considered choices when buying them. The pattern is cheap, but your time spent knitting it is not. Going through these three steps and carefully considering what to cast on means you will love your new sweater once it is done.