I knit a sweater, ya’ll! Over the summer, my (future) sister-in-law and I agreed to knit our first sweaters at the same time. Becky has been knitting much longer than I have, and she’s the one who originally taught me how to knit, so I felt honored to be able to help her push her knitting boundaries a little bit.
We both chose free patterns from Tin Can Knits. She chose the Flax Pullover and I chose the Harvest Cardigan. I knit my first ever swatch for this pattern. But, after two different swatches, I never got recommended gauge. Anxious to get started, I sized up to a 10.5 needle for the body of the cardigan and started knitting.
The pattern was easy to follow, and not too complicated. I certainly learned a few new techniques along the way, but I didn’t find knitting a sweater to be overwhelming. This pattern starts by knitting the ribbing around the front of the sweater. It is then worked top-down in stockinette, and live stitches are left to come back to for the armscyes as you keep knitting down the body. The sleeves are knit as the last step. I wanted to knit the sleeves two-at-a-time using magic loop, but couldn’t wrap my head around how to set that up. Instead, I knit them one-by-one using magic loop. My gauge changed pretty dramatically when I went from knitting back and forth to in-the-round on the sleeves (all on the same needle). You can see that in my shoulders. I’m not sure what that’s about. Has anyone else had this issue?
The yarn I used is Cascade’s Pacific yarn, which is a washable acrylic and wool blend. When I brought this sweater to my knitting group, a few more experienced knitters were ooing and aahing over the texture. Apparently I twist my stitches when I purl, so this isn’t technically knit in plain stockinette. It’s all I know how to do, though!
I’m very proud to be able to say that I’ve knit a sweater. It is quite warm to wear, much more so than any of my other cardigans (maybe with the exception of this cocoonish Carrie Cardigan. I feel like the fit could be better. The sleeves feel baggy (probably due to my gauge issues), and it doesn’t really want to stay put around my neck. I am certainly not going to go back and change anything at this point, though. Knit and learn!
Abstract
Pattern: Harvest Cardigan by Tin Can Knits, size XS
Yarn: Just over 4 skeins of Cascade’s Pacific yarn from Freeman’s Creative
Needles: US10.5 circular, US8 circular
Cost: $41.66
Time: 83 days
It’s beautiful! Yes, it’s common to have different gauge between knitting straight and in the round. Knitters frequently purl more loosely than they knit. If you’re twisting purl stitches that might throw it off a bit more. I’m happy to take a look if it’s helpful! Very Pink Knits has some great tutorials on gauge.
You did a fabulous job with your first sweater!
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Thanks so much, Katie! This is all very helpful info!
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Love the color. Great job!
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Thank you!
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