Honestly, I do recommend knitting a swatch of your gauge. So knitting a square of fabric and counting how many stitches per 10cm to match what the pattern intends. Also as someone else mentioned a single ply yarn is much less sustainable as it will pill much fast than a plied yarn or a blown yarn. UA-cam is full of knitting podcasts for recommendatons of patterns and yarns. Also, wool and the gang are not a company whose patterns I would be going with. There are SO many fabulous independent designers of ravelry that have thousands of completed projects that you can look at. Ravelry is a knitters best friend unless the formatting doesn't work for you.
Fellow novice knitter here! I've been working on a knitted patchwork blanket for well over a year and it's taking me bloody ages! I'm very, very impressed with how many things you've made within your first six months, and how good they look! This sweater? Could have bought it from a store for all I'd know. The craftsmanship is just impeccable, as is the choice of the delicious forbidden purple. You should be very proud!
haha aw thank you - as long as you don't get too close, it looks pretty seamless. Cheering you on for the patchwork blanket, I'd love to do a patchwork bedspread at some point!
You can use any yarn to knit any pattern! You just have to do a bit of maths first. Skeins of yarn are not made equal in their yardage even when they're the same weight. The recommended number of skeins in the pattern will be based on the recommended yarn within the pattern. Multiply the number of recommended skeins by the yardage in one skein of the recommended yarn to get the total required yardage. Then, choose your substitute yarn (ideally, the same weight of yarn, though you can use combinations, e.g. mohair + fingering as a substitute for a DK). Divide the required yardage by the yardage-per-skein of your chosen yarn, and that tells you roughly how many skeins you will need.
exactly!! it's also possible that you're knitting a lot tighter than the pattern wants you to, meaning it takes more yarn to knit the same amount of fabric. for this reason, patterns give you the 'gauge' you need, or how many rows and stitches are in a 10cm x 10cm square. so it's a good idea to make a swatch before starting a pattern so that it will fit, but also so you're not using up more yarn!
also good to check to make sure the yarn you choose is a similar construction (not sure if this is the right word) to the yarn in pattern- single ply yarn vs. 4 ply vs chainette vs boucle vs whatever else is out there! sometimes it won’t make a huge difference, but sometimes it will! some yarns have more air in them so the weight/meterage will differ, even if it appears to be the same size or weight (dk, worsted, chunky, etc.) of yarn
I rarely knit with the recommended yarn! Knit gauge swatches, and think about yarn structure, and you can go wild. I’d recommend reading Clara Parkes’ Knitter’s Book of Yarn or something similar to get really comfortable
@@emmajones3170I was also going to come in here and recommend gauge swatches (which feels like reminding someone to eat their vegetables haha) But it really does help, and saves all that time of ripping out and redoing if it fits wrong
I love seeing you expand your knitting! Some tips: 1. Most patterns (also) show yardage instead of number of balls you need, although the patterns of a yarn company will probably try to push you towards using their yarn. Then you can look up the yardage of the skeins, and with a skein of yarn from a different brand in the same weight you'll have to meet the yardage instead of the number of balls. Apparently the yarn you used had the same yardage in 7.2 skeins as the Wool and the Gang skeins have in 6 skeins. And that's fine, as long as you know up front. 2. You now used single ply yarn, it is rather bulky and almost looks like roving (unspun wool). While it is pushed as beginner yarn, many people actually find it harder to knit than somewhat thinner yarn. Added to that it pills very quickly, which means that you'd be able to enjoy your jumper much longer if it had been knitted in less bulky yarn with more plies. Yarn weights and properties might be a very interesting rabbit hole to dive into, especially when clothing durability is important to you.
Watching your video of you knitting on the train sitting next to your mum and her knitting..just gave me all the feels. My mum (from Yorkshire) was a wizard knitter (she could knit Faire Isle colorwork, do the NY Times crossword puzzles, and read a book at the same time. She was amazing). I never saw her knit on a train (because we are garbage here in the states in terms of passenger rail service) but I have vivid memories of our being in the car going on vacations and my mum having planned her entire knitting campaign for the vacation - the car trips took about 10 hours one way and she'd knock out most of the body of a cardi knit in the round and then finish it the next day at the beach. And then she'd start the next one and finish that one and then she'd start a third project which she'd finish knitting (but not the sewing up bit) in the car on the way home. We knew she'd gone through the door into Dementia-land when she picked up a partially done project, looked blankly at us and said, 'How do I do this?' Cherish your time with your mum and your knitting, kiddo.
When you sat in your chair making the skein into a ball, I got flashbacks to my childhood watching my mom do this, and you look quite a bit like her when she was young. That was a lovely little moment for me since she died 3 yrs ago. I restarted knitting and really got into it after her passing and actually redid some of her half finished projects. It connects me so much with her 🥰
I don't know if you've looked at Ravelry but it's like Goodreads for knitters. Lots of free and paid patterns, lots of options for filtering projects based on the type of yarn you have, your skill level, etc. You've inspired me to pick up the infinity scarf project I started during the winter :)
Yes! And it makes it easier to find small/independent designers. I don't know much about We Are Knitters but their advertising annoys me for some reason. It somehow feels like "big box" knitting and I would be interested to know what they pay their designers.
@@maggiebookworm You have a good hunch about We Are Knitters! There was some controversy last year (I think?) because they made and sold knitting kits with Zara - essentially how they'd started off as being about slow fashion etc, and then partnered with one of the fastest fashion brands for the $$$$. The knitting community on Instagram (the small part of it I see, anyway) all spoke out against that decision, and from what I've seen they haven't collaborated with them again since then!
Brilliant sweater and video! Some quick tips from a more experienced knitter- a top down in the round sweater (knit all as one piece, no sewing needed) is typically easier than a pieced sweater (although for some reason no one ever tells this to beginners). If its stockinette stitch that means youll only have to do knit stitches, which are preferred by most people to purl stitches, plus you can try it on as you knit it and adjust the length as you please. I would really recommend ravelry to find patterns- petite knit and jessie maed designs are both known as really good designers who write their patterns clearly and are size inclusive! Its slightly tricky, but you can crop the sweater to your preferred length without extra knitting- youll have to unseam the sides to the length you want, then cut a few rows above the rib (placing in a safety line of thread to catch all your stitches before you cut), and cut at the length you want the stockinette portion of the sweater to end (with safety line in these stirxhes as well). Then you can graft the two portions (rib and rest of sweater) together (with a sewn grafting stitch, very simmilar to a kitchener stitch), repeat for the other side, and then sew the side seams together. I would highly recommend practicing on a swatch first though!!! Knitty natty did this with her alpenglow sweater, i believe she has a video showing the whole process! Youre a fantastic knitter though and for a first sweater this was amazing (and the colour analysis people were wrong, purple looks great on you)
I just wanted to suggest top-down-in-the-round sweaters as well. They're so easy to knit and the length is super easy to adjust. My first sweater was a flax light by Tin Can Knits and I also knit the DRK Everyday Sweater by Andrea Mowry. Both of them are very beginner-friendly I think.
Gorgeous and congrats on knitting your first sweater! I just wanted to offer a tip since you talk a lot about re-wearability and sustainability in clothes: This yarn is what we call a “single” because it’s not plied with anything. Singles will pill much faster than a plied yarn, so you’ll need to take excellent care of it to make it last a long time. (Singles are lovely and so very tempting though. My first sweaters were knit from singles also)
I was just thinking this! Single-ply yarn tends to deteriorate much quicker and be really heavy. It tends to be pushed as a beginner-friendly yarn but it really isn't the best in the long run.
I reknitted a Jumper I was gifted with a fluffy single yarn and it is super soft and nice to wear BUT after wearing it for little over a year a not even washing it ONCE the pilling is so out of control 😱 it honestly looks pretty bad but I put a lot of work in, so I will just continue shaving the pilling and wear it but its sad 😢
It always makes me mad that big companies who "value sustainability" pushes single ply bulky merino to new knitters. It's gonna look like a pilly mess in about 5 wears. I made the same mistake years ago (with purple yarn!!!!!) and I was so sad to have spent so much money and time on that.
If you want any unsolicited knitting advice for someone who's been knitting for a few years, here goes: 1. When you get another yarn than the one in the pattern, check gauge and yardage (I think it's called, I knit in Swedish 😂) and knit a swatch to make sure everything matches up. You can adjust needle size and amount of yarn to make it work. 2. I much prefer knitting sweaters top down on circular needles, so you knit it all in one piece. I also prefer cropped sweaters, and if you do it like that, you can try it on as you go any it's easier to adjust the length to your liking. Also it's just more fun, imo 😂 I'm sure lots of people make patterns like this, but I really like PetiteKnit, who's a Danish pattern designer (she has patterns in English though). They're SUPER clear and detailed and great for beginners. And congratulations on your first sweater! It looks amazing, way nicer than the first one I made 😂
I finished knitting a purple cardigan that took me TEN MONTHS recently andit was one of the most exhilirating experiences I've ever had. I adored the editing on this video and I knitted socks while I watched!
haha aw that is so FITTING! Huge congrats on finishing your cardigan - I adore how non-rushed and non-competitive knitting is - we can take our sweet time and it comes out looking the same, if not better! x
Leena! We met at the WPF festival and you commented on my yarn/skein tattoo. As a HUGE knitter, I'm here to tell you you did an amazing job! The "mistakes" & "miscalculations" you made are quite common, even among veteran knitters, so well done! 💕
I've always found I like knitting "top down" style sweaters because you can try the garment on as you knit. It makes getting the exact length you want a bit easier. The style you did here is know as a "bottom up" style sweaters. The same nomenclature is used for socks, tanks, etc. Also, blocking tends to elongate your work a bit--as does just general wear and care, so that's something to keep in mind when you choose your length.
Knitting with your mum on the train was sweet, and the music, so meditative. I never knew my grandmother but my childhood was filled with things she knitted for me, and she was my inspiration to learn to knit at the age of 7. There is something so amazing about sharing this ancient craft with women across generations. If you can find a local knitting group, I highly recommend it.
The color of the jumper is lovely, and together with the skirt makes me think of one of my favorite ever Ladybird Book illustrations, from The Elves and the Shoemaker.
Knitter with 45 years experience (help! Well, I did learn to knit at 6 but still...) couple of hints and tips - 1. skein is pronounced to rhyme with rain. 2. If you can afford it, always buy an extra ball or skein, so you have extra yarn for mistakes, but also to guarantee you have yarn for repairs down the track. 3. When you wind a ball from a skein, if you can't get someone to hold it out on both hands (which is the easiest way to wind the yarn), get two kitchen chairs back to back, slip the open skein over them, move them apart so it is kept taught, and wind your ball standing up. Far fewer tangles, much easier and faster to wind. 4. As a few others have said, if swapping yarn brands, match for meterage/yardage with the pattern, not weight. And try to keep the yarn thickness as close as possible. You did an amazing job, and I hope you enjoy wearing it. If you find that you don't wear it because of the length, don't be afraid to unpick the body and re-knit it shorter - the extra effort for a garment you will enjoy wearing is worth it.
As mentioned by others, you can sub yarns from other brands to use in the pattern but you must make sure of 2 things. 1. your gauge matches (stitches and rows per 4 inches/10 cm) note that the needle size is not important as long as you match gauge. Make sure you knit a swatch. 2. you have enough length of yarn to complete your project which you can figure out by multiplying the yardage of the original yarn by number of balls required and comparing with our chosen yarn and make sure you get as much or a little more. If you match gauge the yardage required will match. Also another tip to see if you are going to win at "yarn chicken". Weigh your remaining yarn on a kitchen scale. Then knit a row and weigh the remaining yarn again. The difference is how much yarn a row takes. Then you can divide that weight through how much you have left and see if you have enough to complete all the rows you need to do. If you don't have enough you will know sooner and buy more or you can plan to end your project earlier in a nicer fashion, such as making sleeves or the body shorter.
That is such a nice colour, I understand why you like it! And KUDOS to you for embarking on such a complex project so early on in your knitting journey, it looks great 😊 Well done!
I'm 40 and have been A Knitter (capital-k) for nine years (but I have been an avid crafter since forever - I still have a tiny thumb-sized doll I sewed when I was 6). My most recent finish was a jumper with a cabled circular yoke - 3400-ish cables, and around 400 000 stitches (4-ply yarn, 2.75mm needles, in a 50" bust size) so I feel justified in giving you just a couple of notes: 1) you're the one looking at it all day, both when making and wearing. YOU have to like the colour. 2) there's no knitting police. If you want to change something, try something, modify something, DO IT! YOU have to like the result. (That might mean one day you'll want to do some surgery and chop off the bottom and refinish the hem - go for it!) 3) experimenting and finding your own solutions to problems is VITAL to growing in confidence to both make changes and to know what you like to make and wear. The two biggest factors that influence my making (both knitting and sewing) are making the things that I enjoy and like wearing, and knowing the provenance (which is a massive separate thought). Congratulations! 😄 It's a massive achievement, and I hope you love wearing it for a long time.
I never thought I would be this thrilled about knitting. I thought I might a little bit. But this is fascinating, cause it involves a forbidden colour, Scotland, seeing the sea from the train and finishing a project. all of those things that I love and give me a satisfying feeling. Thank you for your videos, Leena. I feel like I have a friend who has properly learnt how to do something useful and that cheers me up a lot.
as someone also in some sort of crafting coming of age (redescovering crafts but also being curious to learn new things) this was such a delight! i'm not yet in my thirties (going steady at 28 for now) but there is something so amazing about seeing something you did yourself come to life! whether that be sewing or gardening or learning how to cook.
Honestly, you should be so proud! I tried to crochet some house socks for my partner 4years ago, and after redoing one so many times the yarn wore out, I now have one and a half socks.might have to be a 80th birthday gift haha!
This whole video was just cozy.The scene of you and your mum knitting together on the train was so cute, you knitting at home with your partner was so cozy. I love it.
Oh this was such a joy to watch! Im now 52, been knitting since I was 5 years old. I was calling out to you about doing a tension square. But, you know what? You knit a fabulous garment that you will love and cuddle for years to come. Brava!
I'm sure everyone has already jumped in to tell you this, but a wool winder is definitely a worthy purchase as a knitter or crocheter. It makes the skein into a ball for you and all you have to do is crank the handle. Saves soooo much time, and actually if you don't want to buy one, some yarn stores have one that customers can use for free!
That color is totally in the deep autumn palette - I’ve heard it called “rhubarb”. Glorious - a beautiful knit! I’m inspired to try to make something that isn’t s scarf.
The color is amazing. Love it. Also, it’s my belief that the most important “skill” you need for knitting (or really anything in life) is a willingness to try. You have that in spades.
I love the way that you knit together (hee hee hoo!) the punk vibes of activism with finding the small, content joys of living. I very much believe that we need to be in touch with both to be part of making a better world!
I'm truly amazed that you managed to knit this beautiful jumper (with all its pitfalls) after only "learning to knit" in December 2022👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻. I think you'll inspire & encourage a lot of novice Knitters with this honest and funny video. Thank you for sharing your creative 🧶journey with us. 👋🏻from 🇳🇱.
It turned out lovely! I’m so impressed with how quickly you jumped from “I can knit a hat” to “I have made a sweater”. I worked on a baby sweater while watching 😊
I am an avid quilter and crochet-er, this makes my heart so happy! I started crocheting when I was 7 and quilting when I was 8, and then wrote my geography thesis on the patterns in quilt and crochet used across Canada, I am thrilled you set out to do this! BTW, that feeling when you finally have a complete project never goes away! It's wonderful! Seeing this and reading the comments genuinely makes my heart so full, there is something so beautiful about making something with such detail and care!
Watching you do this makes me think of my nan saying she used to unravel her old jumpers and re-knit them to create new styles, and I'm just realising what a MASSIVE undertaking that must have been
I just love how you keep trying new things and bring us with you- mistakes and all. It means so much to see you do these things and has given me so much more confidence to try new and bigger things.
Knitting a test gauge is key to making great fitting pieces and making sure you use the correct amount of yarn. We all knit with different tension depending on our hand strength, grip and even stress. It may be helpful to learn about this as you make more pieces! This sweater is amazing and YES you are a prodigy! 🧶
Amazing jumper and I’m in awe how quickly you picked up knitting! Even taught me a thing about fusing yarns together to join. I normally tie the strands at the back. For the yarn and patterns - you can use any yarn and pattern. My top tips would be to check total yardage needed and then the wool you want to use’s yardage and divide. Over time you’ll learn if you have tight or loose tension. You can also look the pattern up on ravelry then go into projects and see who used which wool. Finally check the needle size of the wool vs what you want to use, you might need to change needle size to get gauge. Oh the fun! Final tip is you can get a wool winder so you continue need to ball it yourself. Happy knitting,
Omg the colour is amazing and i love the sleeves! I'm so glad you got extra skeins because a hat would be perfection. Re: length, I feel like you could front tuck it into skirts or pants (esp with a belt) to make it look cropped!
Yeah you're right, I could definitely get creative with tucking and belts. Glad you like it - I thought the puff sleeve would be hard to do but it was actually a piece of piss so now I want to do it on EVERYTHING I ever knit. x
@@leenanorms just jumping in (late 😂) to mention that if you belt the bottom of the sweater where you want it to sit on your waist, then drape drape the excess fabric over the top it will look like a crop sweater. It may get quite warm over your tummy with three layers, though 😅
Gorgeous sweater, and I’m so glad you made it in a colour you love - you’ll wear it a LOT more! Don’t sweat the small mistakes. They’re what give the sweater personality and separate the hand-knits from commercial machine-knits. 😃
I'm so excited you're making knitting content!! I couldn't wait to watch this video :) I've been knitting since I was a kid (in my 20s now) and I think I know what may have gone wrong with the yarn purchasing and also what you found to be a mistake in the pattern, if you're interested! - Patterns tell you how much yarn to buy in both weight (grams) and length (meters). The length is what matters in terms of having enough yarn to finish the garment. If you bought in terms of weight, you may be getting a thicker but shorter yarn, thus making you need more yarn and the sweater coming out so heavy! If you pay attention to the length instead, you'll have enough yarn (and if you match both the weight and length it'll come out to the pattern's intended thickness) - It seems like you picked up stitches along the top side edge of the front and back to make the sleeves. Depending which direction you started from, you would either then do a knit or purl row first. For example, if you have the outside of the sweater facing up and you pick up stitches from left to right, you would start with a purl row, but if you pick them up from right to left, you would start with a knit row. You most likely picked up stitches the opposite way from what the pattern intended (or maybe had the wrong side of the garment facing up as you did it?). Hopefully I explained that well enough, it's hard to in text! Can't wait to see what you make next! :)
Ah thank you! The first point about length makes SO MUCH SENSE, why didn't I think of that?! I'll be definitely watching out for that in future. The second point also makes sense, but I did like tripple check the pattern and it said right side up, start with a pearl stitch - so I get the mechanics but I still stand by my statement that they were wrong ;) Thanks so much for the thoughtful reply and I can't wait to knit my next thing whilst CONSIDERING LENGTH NOT WEIGHT! Really glad you liked it xxx (I know i've replied to this on patreon but dropping here so anyone else who is curious can see)
I heard the lofty goal a minute in! and I cant wait!! this is exactly how I taught myself to knit! My very first garment was a lumpy fair isle jumper, with the most uneven tension ever in colours I would never wear. But i love it dearly
Omg!!!!! You totally rock!! This came out amazing, and I love the color on you! You are much braver than I am, I'm learning how to crochet, and I'm too chicken to make a sweater yet, but I've made 3 blankets so far. I just turned 55, and I'm loving all of the new things I'm trying. I taught myself embroidery 2 years ago, and I'm doing resin pouring and now crochet. This sweater is gorgeous!!! ❤ Never stop learning!!
Overpacking yarn is much better than underpacking yarn, I know this from experience. Also, if you have a ready to wear knit item that you really love you can duplicate it yourself by looking at its construction. You can calculate its gauge by measuring it, you can turn it inside out and look at the seams, you can count where the increases and decreases are and compare it to stitch dictionaries to figure out the lace or cables etc. - if you have a garment, you have the pattern for that garment. (The same for sewn clothes, you can trace out those pattern pieces to recreate something you love. Especially good to do for clothes that aren’t mendable but you love the fit.) Great knitting, congratulations!
I've never really considered knitting before but after watching you make this sweater, I'm kind of interested in learning. Your project came out beautifully!
As a knitting instructor I can confirm that the fact that you knit a cardigan AND a jumper only months after learning how to knit is INCREDIBLE! I appreciate how you show how many hours it took, showed how much progress you made on a six hour train ride, the fact that this project involved numerous sessions in different locations and that it took a significant amount of yarn to finish. You enthusiasm throughout the project and the fact that you didn't have to frog (at least that you showed us) is mind boggling. Give yourself a big pat on the back and don't believe everything color theorists say. That shade of purple is lovely on you.
lol you jumping around whisper screaming wtf about a thing you made is SO REAL. I am making my first outfit on a sewing machine and keep doing that with every piece I assemble
Beautiful finished sweater! Love the colour and your tension is wonderful! Here's a bit of knitting advice for future prrojects: - Stay away from chunky yarn projects. Wool and the Gang popularised them because they are quick and look fashionable, but the yarn bills so quickly and they tend to be very heavy.! Worsted weight is much better! - Try petiteknit, Jacqueline Cieslak, Jessie Maed Designs, and Ozetta patterns. Very classic and mostly very straight forward and easy to follow. Cieslak and Maed are brilliant with size inclusive and customisable patterns. - Forget about number of skeins, focus only on yardage. - Embrace frogging. No matter how experienced as a knitter you are, frogging (unravelling knits) is an essential part of the process to get the garment you want. - Start with raglan top-down garments. They are very beginner friendly. Good luck!
Just found this video! Honestly it’s the best ever! Knitting can be way structured and making a sweater OMG stressful This was so much fun to watch such a great personality. I was knitting while watching the video but I had to stop just to watch your expressions. Thanks. I’m so much more relaxed with this project I’m working on. Love from the states!
Leena, I loved everything about this - making the sweater, the color, the notes, the mistakes, the corrections, the filming!!! Thank you so much for putting the work and I can't wait to see you rocking this marvelous creation in the drab of winter. 💜
Don't go by number of skeins, go by the meters you need! Also it is VERY important that the weight (thickness) is the same. Those are the aran, DK, sport... names. They give a rough idea of the thickness. Before you start a project, you need to knit a swatch and count how many rows and stitches there are in 10x10 cm and try to match as closely as possible to the pattern. This is SUPER important because a few stitches off make a huge difference in the result size (and yarn usage of course). This depends on that particular yarn, needle size and also your personal knitting (how loose or tight your stitches are). Always measure the swatch after washing it. Some yarns grow A LOT after the first wash. When I buy yarn, I make sure I order at least half a ball more (counting in meters) than the pattern asks for. Your jumper looks fantastic btw! Very neat stitches!
It can be hard to adjust and maintain your tension to get the right number of rows and stitches into your 10cmx10cm swatch. It's easier to change to a size smaller needles if you have too few rows/stitches, or a size larger needles if you have too many rows/stitches, and try again until you have a 10cmx10cm swatch with the right number of rows/stitches, or very close to.
I have never knitted but I definitely do crochet and my first cardigan project (because I really REALLY liked the mustard yellow one that my coworker wore and HAD TO HAVE IT) took me 1.5 years to complete and I am still so dang proud of it even if it has a lot of glaring imperfections!
haha aw that's lovely! I love that knitting projects don't expire or go bad - they're just there sitting there waiting for you, whenever you're ready. x
I think all knitters have at some point realised they haven’t got enough yarn for a project. A few tips: - Check the length of yarn needed for the pattern rather than the weight as different yarns weigh different amounts - Order a bit more than you think you’ll need if it’s borderline between balls or skeins - Also if possible check the dye lot on new balls as sometimes the colour will vary a bit between dye lots
Gage swatch, gage swatch, gage swatch! I make this mistake all the time and forget to do it,, but you can use it to estimate sizes and wool usage, and do the maths to be able to use different brands with different patterns. Luckily I'm currently knitting for multiple pregnant friends so sizing has gone all out the window, I figure whatever size I make a baby will end up growing into (and like seasons matter but babies are all different sizes anyways so who know what size they'll be at any given time!). Also always planning for extra wool is a good idea, if only because it's not always possible to find more skeins from the same dye batch, and leftovers can make matching accessories, be sold or traded (someone else might be looking for that dye batch) or made into things like a sea glass sweater (pattern on ravelry)!
Knitting tips: it is better to loosely wind skeins into balls because having it too tight can damage the yarn, especially if it is left in the ball for a long time because of having a break from the project. I normally wind over a couple of my fingers, remove and repeat, to keep the yarn unstressed. Also I now always offer an extra skein or two depending on the size to account for the gauge swatch and potential tragedies. It also means you have some extra yarn you can store for mending that project, and there are lots of free patterns that are intended to use up leftover yarn so it won’t go to waste. Plus if there isn’t a lot of that dye lot and you can’t order more it can just destroy the look of your finished product (I learned this from experience) Plus, you can overdye yarn, so if in a few years you no longer love the purple you can dye it a different colour or try and strip the dye out first and dye it.
Great effort! Reminds me of my own first jumper, which these days is hidden away but I can't get rid of it :D Two tips: 1) at a rough estimate a jumper will use 2/3 of yarn in the body and 1/3 in the sleeves 2) look up techniques for weaving in ends
As a novice knitter, and your kindred in wanting create your own clothing, I truly appreciate this video. And you are such an upbeat adorable personality, I am now happily subscribed. Cheers to you and all our fellow knitters! 🧶🌺
We all lose the game of yarn chicken sooner or later 😂 But this is super impressive! The only sweater I've ever knit is a baby sweater for a cousin of mine, and I've been knitting for the better part of 18 years by now! And I admire your dedication bringing it on a train with you, those bigger projects can be unwieldy. Like some people have said, you can indeed use any brand of yarn for any pattern from any designer/company, though it is good to get in the habit of checking the yards/meters in a skein per weight, even if they're marked as the same thickness or given a similar name; I've seen fingering/superfine yarn go anywhere from 357 to 463 yards in a 100g skein. This is also part of why people push the importance of making a gauge swatch, especially for things that need to fit a certain part of the body, and **especially** for larger projects like sweaters. And very good call making a note of your modifications! It also might be a good idea to search the pattern online to see if there is a published errata for that part of the pattern. And please do keep using the brightest colors you can find! Goodness knows we could use more bright pops of color in our lives.
Well done! I'm not a novice but have yet to make a sweater. Making myself some socks right now. Some patterns are just wrong or have minor mistakes. Also, if you want, you can unpick from the bottom and reknit the ribbing at a higher height or using the extra yarn you bought to increase the length.
If you're going to be yarnswapping (and in my decade of knitting I've basically never used a pattern-recommended yarn so I'm an expert), you want to double check the wraps per inch or wpi on a yarn database like ravelry, make sure they're the same, and then buy the pattern-suggested amount of LENGTH (yardage/meterage), NOT WEIGHT. The density of the yarn (called grist) can differ even between yarns of the same size and fiber content, but the yardage you need is just based on the pattern & thickness of the yarn (wpi, not grist). Also, you always always always buy extra. Even if it's the suggested yarn. Don't tempt the fates. Anyways, I love love love your sweater. Such a fun color! Love your ambition!
If you want less heavy or less hot knits, the best things to look out for are low grist yarns (less weight per yardage, often thinner and/or woolen-spun yarns) and potentially blends of wool with linen, silk, or cotton. Alpaca, on the other hand, is heavy. Pure plant fiber yarns really hurt my hands, though, so keep that in mind!
God it's gorgeous. Love that color! I suggest always knitting a guage swatch to see how much yarn / needle size you need . The yarn you bought probably has different guage (different stitches per inch) than the one they suggested. Or you may knit tighter than the average person, which would result in your yarn not going as far as you need. The solution to being a tight knitter is to size up a needle, do another Guage swatch and see if your stitches per inch match the ones needed for the pattern. Also, always use the weight of yarn the pattern suggests unless you want to do the math to convert the pattern to a different weight of yarn.
Love this! Beautiful jumper. I've recently started my first 'grown up ' knitting project (following the pattern in spirit but not religiously) to knit a cardigan and I'm really enjoying being able to tweak the garment to how I want it to look!
Hi Leena, assuming your gauge was correct, the “one brands pattern and another brands wool” issue is possibly down to subtle differences in the meterage. When I’m buying yarn for a pattern, I always go off the meterage rather than the weight/number of skeins recommended, and I’d always buy 1 extra just in case (you can always make a hat or collect your odds and ends into a scrappy project later if you don’t use the extra one). Eg, the pattern you want to knit says it uses 6 skeins of yarn X, which comes in 50g, 150m skeins. The yarn that you want to knit with also comes in 50g skeins, but because of differences in the thickness/fibre content, your preferred yarn is only 140m per 50g skein, you’d need 7 skeins to get your required meterage, and I’d buy 8 just for a safety net. The jumper is lovely on you, so glad you’re enjoying knitting 😊
The beautiful thing about learning skills like this is that it's not at all out of the question for you to go back and shorten or lengthen this if you wanted to! It take a bit of confidence to go for it, but you can pick up your stitches along each side and then frog back to that point, then knit your rib or knit it longer before the ribbing. You can make your clothes for you and even if you've 'finished' a project it can still evolve
If you're up for learning a slightly-after-beginner technique: I prefer to knit my sweaters/jumpers _ribbing last._ So I start with a provisional cast on for the torso, knit up to the shoulders, do the sleeves, neckline, etc. And finally I pick up the provisional cast on and knit the ribbing for the band. This lets me frog "from the bottom up" if I run out of yarn, and it lets me add a few extra rows if I think the sweater's going to turn out too short. Because basic stockinette is vertically symmetrical (if you show a piece of knitting upside down versus right side up, there's no way to tell unless you also have live stitches - varying knits and purls, or adding in-row colorwork messes this up, but horizontal stripes don't), you can just pick up the stitches and knit ribbing, as if you had always been knitting top down. I started doing this after I had to re-knit a sleeve like 5 times because it was too long or too short. Now that's never a problem for me.
Beautiful jumper and even lovelier colour! For your next jumper, you could consider picking a "top down" pattern, where you knit starting at the neck and work your way down the body, and that allows you to try on as you go and have better control over the length.
I find your attitude towards colour as a knitter who also hates the greige trend very refreshing! Well done on the jumper, long may you it keep you warm.
I also made my first sweater after three months but it was definitely very beginner friendly and my hands were HELD by the designer. So kudos for making a bottom up seamed sweater of all things as your first sweater!!! I could never.
I am so inspired by you! Ive been knitting for a year and a half. I started eith scarf and baby blankets and have moved on to socks, working my way to seamless sweaters. Im workinf on a tank i will sew together kind of like what you did. But i see i could have just skipped to sweater! I also wanted to start podcast or vlog but tbought it would be lame since im a beginner, but you proved me wtong! Thanks for being here!
When I made my first crochet cardigan, I made it of granny squares to control the weight of the piece I was making. But of course that is a style that does not necessarily work with everyone. I am still to tackle a jumper even though I've been crocheting for 20 years (at least). Good on ya.
"how good would it be to have a matching hat" is why I always order an extra skein (or two)! and let me be the first to welcome to the world of incorrectly seasonal knitting projects, it's fun but always too warm/cold 😂 If you have any knitting experts in your IRL community, you should ask them about Blocking. you can probably figure it out on your own if you knit this sweater!! but you may be able to find someone with the tools to loan that way 😊It would probably help with the "lumpy" cardigan and minimizing how visible the splice in your yarn is on this one! it's not something I always do on sweaters but it can definitely take a piece from "good" to "great" because it helps even out all the stitches and make things more uniform.
I felt this entire video in my knitter's soul. When you ordered just one extra skein the first time I audibly yelled "nooooooooooooo" and scared my cat 😂. I have done that before and it hurts!
Congratulations on your first sweater! A tip regarding the lost game of yarn chicken: yarn quantity is given in both weight and meterage/yardage per unit of yarn and meterage is the one that matters the most. It's possible that the yarn you used is slightly heavier and therefore had less meterage per skein, meaning you'd need more skeins than recommended and that your sweater ended up heavier!
This color looks amazing on you!!! I think because is a "warm" purple and not super bright. I suppose you can dress with dark and rich warm-neutral color with some touch of cool bright and dark colors. Even black looks good on you! Color analysis is a guideline, don't be stopped from that! I'll wait for your new beautiful jumper!
My favorite color ~ you did brilliant 👏 🏆 I am a newbie , have about 3 hrs in now. I am proud to say I've nailed the knit stich on using several style knitting needles. Can't wait to get where you are` well done!
Love the knitting moments with your mum! I'm just learning how to knit and my mum got back into knitting after a decade long break or so and I can't wait to sit next to her in the sun, knit and chat away when I see her in a few weeks for the first time in half a year (we live in different countries). Your sweater turned out great! Congrats!
I am now very inspired to start a sweater project! I've been knitting since being a teenager and am now 31. Somehow I still shy away from bigger pieces though. This video was so fun to watch, I just really enjoy your quirky lovely personality!
I love seeing your joy of finding a craft for yourself and realizing you can can actually do it and do it well! The jumper is gorgeous and the colour is fabulous!!! 🥰 The coming of craft moment in your 30s made me smile a bit because it means I am living my 27 year old crafty grandma lifestyle already :P I started crocheting at the age of 7 after we learned it in school it's the one textile craft the taught us in elementary school and i was hooked (haha hooked get it ? :P) i started sewing when i was like 11 i think and did some knitting in my late teens early twenties. Even though i didn't find it to difficult, probably because i already had knowledge about yarn tension and constructing of garments from my other hobbies, i don't like knitting for itself. I just do it for the goal of a very specific knitted garment that i really want. I also got a double bed knitting machine at some point which is know part of a shared maker space at my university ^^ But i recently started weaving and then constructed and build myself a 12 shaft table loom out of wood and 3d printed parts. And weaving is like my new favourite thing in the world it's so much fun the pattern possibilities with 12 shafts is just mind blowing and i really love that my loom allows me to weave thin detailed fabric
You can still crop it Leena! Cut out the seams, then use your long cabled needles to pick up all the stitches around the waist a little shorter than where you want it, then undo the ribbing bind off at the bottom and ‘frog’ it back to where your needles are. Then just reknit the ribbing and reseam! ✨
Your knitting content has been fascinating to me because I have been knitting since 2008 and have still not begun my first sweater/jumper, yet you have made your first sweater 6 months into your journey. At this point, I have the yarn that I got help at my local yarn store with picking for a pullover sweater/jumper pattern that I have had in my library long enough for it to have 5 pattern updates over the years! I guess I've been favoring more complex designs for neck wear because I am currently working on a brioche stitch mobius cowl. It's called Briobius on Ravelry if you'd like to take a look. Some things I wanted to say: your tension is EXCELLENT. Also, I think that matching a pattern to that brand's yarn can be a good way to start off since they have done the work to show you more exactly what amount of yarn you need, but substituting yarn is a skill you can learn very easily (I do not know your status of comprehension about gauge, though). No need to settle for Wool and the Gang's drab palette if you feel it will limit your creative energy and passion for the project. I do a lot of yarn substitutions for patterns I pick because I am desperately trying to stash-bust, thus maybe why I am limiting myself to patterns where gauge isn't super important. You are doing a great job!!!!!!
❤🎉👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 silly titbit: ripping out a largish part of a knit is called frogging. You just had to frog snog out the sleeve. ☺️
haha yeah it's very fitting with my name - it's almost like, deep down, I subconsciously knew this was my destiny ;)
And its called frogging because you have to "ribbit" (aka rip it) out 😂. A truly excellent pun
Honestly, I do recommend knitting a swatch of your gauge. So knitting a square of fabric and counting how many stitches per 10cm to match what the pattern intends.
Also as someone else mentioned a single ply yarn is much less sustainable as it will pill much fast than a plied yarn or a blown yarn.
UA-cam is full of knitting podcasts for recommendatons of patterns and yarns.
Also, wool and the gang are not a company whose patterns I would be going with. There are SO many fabulous independent designers of ravelry that have thousands of completed projects that you can look at. Ravelry is a knitters best friend unless the formatting doesn't work for you.
Fellow novice knitter here! I've been working on a knitted patchwork blanket for well over a year and it's taking me bloody ages! I'm very, very impressed with how many things you've made within your first six months, and how good they look! This sweater? Could have bought it from a store for all I'd know. The craftsmanship is just impeccable, as is the choice of the delicious forbidden purple. You should be very proud!
haha aw thank you - as long as you don't get too close, it looks pretty seamless. Cheering you on for the patchwork blanket, I'd love to do a patchwork bedspread at some point!
You can use any yarn to knit any pattern! You just have to do a bit of maths first. Skeins of yarn are not made equal in their yardage even when they're the same weight. The recommended number of skeins in the pattern will be based on the recommended yarn within the pattern.
Multiply the number of recommended skeins by the yardage in one skein of the recommended yarn to get the total required yardage. Then, choose your substitute yarn (ideally, the same weight of yarn, though you can use combinations, e.g. mohair + fingering as a substitute for a DK). Divide the required yardage by the yardage-per-skein of your chosen yarn, and that tells you roughly how many skeins you will need.
exactly!! it's also possible that you're knitting a lot tighter than the pattern wants you to, meaning it takes more yarn to knit the same amount of fabric. for this reason, patterns give you the 'gauge' you need, or how many rows and stitches are in a 10cm x 10cm square. so it's a good idea to make a swatch before starting a pattern so that it will fit, but also so you're not using up more yarn!
also good to check to make sure the yarn you choose is a similar construction (not sure if this is the right word) to the yarn in pattern- single ply yarn vs. 4 ply vs chainette vs boucle vs whatever else is out there! sometimes it won’t make a huge difference, but sometimes it will! some yarns have more air in them so the weight/meterage will differ, even if it appears to be the same size or weight (dk, worsted, chunky, etc.) of yarn
Knitting is engineering, architecture, and computer science! 👏🏼🕺❣️
I rarely knit with the recommended yarn! Knit gauge swatches, and think about yarn structure, and you can go wild. I’d recommend reading Clara Parkes’ Knitter’s Book of Yarn or something similar to get really comfortable
@@emmajones3170I was also going to come in here and recommend gauge swatches (which feels like reminding someone to eat their vegetables haha) But it really does help, and saves all that time of ripping out and redoing if it fits wrong
I'm forever amazed by people who can decide to do something and than just go and do it
Yep - same!
I do love the planning and acquiring stuff phase...and then I tend to lose interest 😅
@@raraavis7782this is why I want to post to inspire people themselves
I love seeing you expand your knitting!
Some tips:
1. Most patterns (also) show yardage instead of number of balls you need, although the patterns of a yarn company will probably try to push you towards using their yarn. Then you can look up the yardage of the skeins, and with a skein of yarn from a different brand in the same weight you'll have to meet the yardage instead of the number of balls. Apparently the yarn you used had the same yardage in 7.2 skeins as the Wool and the Gang skeins have in 6 skeins. And that's fine, as long as you know up front.
2. You now used single ply yarn, it is rather bulky and almost looks like roving (unspun wool). While it is pushed as beginner yarn, many people actually find it harder to knit than somewhat thinner yarn. Added to that it pills very quickly, which means that you'd be able to enjoy your jumper much longer if it had been knitted in less bulky yarn with more plies. Yarn weights and properties might be a very interesting rabbit hole to dive into, especially when clothing durability is important to you.
Also its more annoying to get the needles. I got a billion narrow needles from my grandma but the big ones I had to buy 😠
@@EnaGoba Absolutely. (I do now have the bigger sized needles in my set of interchangables, but they're the needles I've never used)
Watching your video of you knitting on the train sitting next to your mum and her knitting..just gave me all the feels. My mum (from Yorkshire) was a wizard knitter (she could knit Faire Isle colorwork, do the NY Times crossword puzzles, and read a book at the same time. She was amazing). I never saw her knit on a train (because we are garbage here in the states in terms of passenger rail service) but I have vivid memories of our being in the car going on vacations and my mum having planned her entire knitting campaign for the vacation - the car trips took about 10 hours one way and she'd knock out most of the body of a cardi knit in the round and then finish it the next day at the beach. And then she'd start the next one and finish that one and then she'd start a third project which she'd finish knitting (but not the sewing up bit) in the car on the way home. We knew she'd gone through the door into Dementia-land when she picked up a partially done project, looked blankly at us and said, 'How do I do this?' Cherish your time with your mum and your knitting, kiddo.
When you sat in your chair making the skein into a ball, I got flashbacks to my childhood watching my mom do this, and you look quite a bit like her when she was young. That was a lovely little moment for me since she died 3 yrs ago. I restarted knitting and really got into it after her passing and actually redid some of her half finished projects. It connects me so much with her 🥰
❤❤❤
I don't know if you've looked at Ravelry but it's like Goodreads for knitters. Lots of free and paid patterns, lots of options for filtering projects based on the type of yarn you have, your skill level, etc. You've inspired me to pick up the infinity scarf project I started during the winter :)
Yes! And it makes it easier to find small/independent designers. I don't know much about We Are Knitters but their advertising annoys me for some reason. It somehow feels like "big box" knitting and I would be interested to know what they pay their designers.
@@maggiebookworm You have a good hunch about We Are Knitters! There was some controversy last year (I think?) because they made and sold knitting kits with Zara - essentially how they'd started off as being about slow fashion etc, and then partnered with one of the fastest fashion brands for the $$$$. The knitting community on Instagram (the small part of it I see, anyway) all spoke out against that decision, and from what I've seen they haven't collaborated with them again since then!
Brilliant sweater and video! Some quick tips from a more experienced knitter- a top down in the round sweater (knit all as one piece, no sewing needed) is typically easier than a pieced sweater (although for some reason no one ever tells this to beginners). If its stockinette stitch that means youll only have to do knit stitches, which are preferred by most people to purl stitches, plus you can try it on as you knit it and adjust the length as you please. I would really recommend ravelry to find patterns- petite knit and jessie maed designs are both known as really good designers who write their patterns clearly and are size inclusive! Its slightly tricky, but you can crop the sweater to your preferred length without extra knitting- youll have to unseam the sides to the length you want, then cut a few rows above the rib (placing in a safety line of thread to catch all your stitches before you cut), and cut at the length you want the stockinette portion of the sweater to end (with safety line in these stirxhes as well). Then you can graft the two portions (rib and rest of sweater) together (with a sewn grafting stitch, very simmilar to a kitchener stitch), repeat for the other side, and then sew the side seams together. I would highly recommend practicing on a swatch first though!!! Knitty natty did this with her alpenglow sweater, i believe she has a video showing the whole process! Youre a fantastic knitter though and for a first sweater this was amazing (and the colour analysis people were wrong, purple looks great on you)
I just wanted to suggest top-down-in-the-round sweaters as well. They're so easy to knit and the length is super easy to adjust. My first sweater was a flax light by Tin Can Knits and I also knit the DRK Everyday Sweater by Andrea Mowry. Both of them are very beginner-friendly I think.
Gorgeous and congrats on knitting your first sweater! I just wanted to offer a tip since you talk a lot about re-wearability and sustainability in clothes: This yarn is what we call a “single” because it’s not plied with anything. Singles will pill much faster than a plied yarn, so you’ll need to take excellent care of it to make it last a long time. (Singles are lovely and so very tempting though. My first sweaters were knit from singles also)
I was just thinking this! Single-ply yarn tends to deteriorate much quicker and be really heavy. It tends to be pushed as a beginner-friendly yarn but it really isn't the best in the long run.
I reknitted a Jumper I was gifted with a fluffy single yarn and it is super soft and nice to wear BUT after wearing it for little over a year a not even washing it ONCE the pilling is so out of control 😱 it honestly looks pretty bad but I put a lot of work in, so I will just continue shaving the pilling and wear it but its sad 😢
It always makes me mad that big companies who "value sustainability" pushes single ply bulky merino to new knitters. It's gonna look like a pilly mess in about 5 wears. I made the same mistake years ago (with purple yarn!!!!!) and I was so sad to have spent so much money and time on that.
@@cloknits Yess SAME I knit a vest with bulky yarn and it looked really bad very early on.
@@roanpriaza 😭
If you want any unsolicited knitting advice for someone who's been knitting for a few years, here goes:
1. When you get another yarn than the one in the pattern, check gauge and yardage (I think it's called, I knit in Swedish 😂) and knit a swatch to make sure everything matches up. You can adjust needle size and amount of yarn to make it work.
2. I much prefer knitting sweaters top down on circular needles, so you knit it all in one piece. I also prefer cropped sweaters, and if you do it like that, you can try it on as you go any it's easier to adjust the length to your liking. Also it's just more fun, imo 😂 I'm sure lots of people make patterns like this, but I really like PetiteKnit, who's a Danish pattern designer (she has patterns in English though). They're SUPER clear and detailed and great for beginners.
And congratulations on your first sweater! It looks amazing, way nicer than the first one I made 😂
I finished knitting a purple cardigan that took me TEN MONTHS recently andit was one of the most exhilirating experiences I've ever had. I adored the editing on this video and I knitted socks while I watched!
haha aw that is so FITTING! Huge congrats on finishing your cardigan - I adore how non-rushed and non-competitive knitting is - we can take our sweet time and it comes out looking the same, if not better! x
You sitting next to your mum both happily knitting was so cute. ❤
Leena! We met at the WPF festival and you commented on my yarn/skein tattoo. As a HUGE knitter, I'm here to tell you you did an amazing job! The "mistakes" & "miscalculations" you made are quite common, even among veteran knitters, so well done! 💕
I've always found I like knitting "top down" style sweaters because you can try the garment on as you knit. It makes getting the exact length you want a bit easier. The style you did here is know as a "bottom up" style sweaters. The same nomenclature is used for socks, tanks, etc.
Also, blocking tends to elongate your work a bit--as does just general wear and care, so that's something to keep in mind when you choose your length.
Knitting with your mum on the train was sweet, and the music, so meditative. I never knew my grandmother but my childhood was filled with things she knitted for me, and she was my inspiration to learn to knit at the age of 7. There is something so amazing about sharing this ancient craft with women across generations. If you can find a local knitting group, I highly recommend it.
The color of the jumper is lovely, and together with the skirt makes me think of one of my favorite ever Ladybird Book illustrations, from The Elves and the Shoemaker.
Knitter with 45 years experience (help! Well, I did learn to knit at 6 but still...) couple of hints and tips - 1. skein is pronounced to rhyme with rain. 2. If you can afford it, always buy an extra ball or skein, so you have extra yarn for mistakes, but also to guarantee you have yarn for repairs down the track. 3. When you wind a ball from a skein, if you can't get someone to hold it out on both hands (which is the easiest way to wind the yarn), get two kitchen chairs back to back, slip the open skein over them, move them apart so it is kept taught, and wind your ball standing up. Far fewer tangles, much easier and faster to wind. 4. As a few others have said, if swapping yarn brands, match for meterage/yardage with the pattern, not weight. And try to keep the yarn thickness as close as possible.
You did an amazing job, and I hope you enjoy wearing it. If you find that you don't wear it because of the length, don't be afraid to unpick the body and re-knit it shorter - the extra effort for a garment you will enjoy wearing is worth it.
As mentioned by others, you can sub yarns from other brands to use in the pattern but you must make sure of 2 things.
1. your gauge matches (stitches and rows per 4 inches/10 cm) note that the needle size is not important as long as you match gauge. Make sure you knit a swatch.
2. you have enough length of yarn to complete your project which you can figure out by multiplying the yardage of the original yarn by number of balls required and comparing with our chosen yarn and make sure you get as much or a little more. If you match gauge the yardage required will match.
Also another tip to see if you are going to win at "yarn chicken". Weigh your remaining yarn on a kitchen scale. Then knit a row and weigh the remaining yarn again. The difference is how much yarn a row takes. Then you can divide that weight through how much you have left and see if you have enough to complete all the rows you need to do. If you don't have enough you will know sooner and buy more or you can plan to end your project earlier in a nicer fashion, such as making sleeves or the body shorter.
That is such a nice colour, I understand why you like it! And KUDOS to you for embarking on such a complex project so early on in your knitting journey, it looks great 😊 Well done!
Haha thank you! I feel like making something a LITTLE bit harder than I'm ready for is a big motivator - this time I got away with it ;)
I'm 40 and have been A Knitter (capital-k) for nine years (but I have been an avid crafter since forever - I still have a tiny thumb-sized doll I sewed when I was 6). My most recent finish was a jumper with a cabled circular yoke - 3400-ish cables, and around 400 000 stitches (4-ply yarn, 2.75mm needles, in a 50" bust size) so I feel justified in giving you just a couple of notes:
1) you're the one looking at it all day, both when making and wearing. YOU have to like the colour.
2) there's no knitting police. If you want to change something, try something, modify something, DO IT! YOU have to like the result. (That might mean one day you'll want to do some surgery and chop off the bottom and refinish the hem - go for it!)
3) experimenting and finding your own solutions to problems is VITAL to growing in confidence to both make changes and to know what you like to make and wear.
The two biggest factors that influence my making (both knitting and sewing) are making the things that I enjoy and like wearing, and knowing the provenance (which is a massive separate thought).
Congratulations! 😄 It's a massive achievement, and I hope you love wearing it for a long time.
I never thought I would be this thrilled about knitting. I thought I might a little bit. But this is fascinating, cause it involves a forbidden colour, Scotland, seeing the sea from the train and finishing a project. all of those things that I love and give me a satisfying feeling. Thank you for your videos, Leena. I feel like I have a friend who has properly learnt how to do something useful and that cheers me up a lot.
as someone also in some sort of crafting coming of age (redescovering crafts but also being curious to learn new things) this was such a delight! i'm not yet in my thirties (going steady at 28 for now) but there is something so amazing about seeing something you did yourself come to life! whether that be sewing or gardening or learning how to cook.
Honestly, you should be so proud! I tried to crochet some house socks for my partner 4years ago, and after redoing one so many times the yarn wore out, I now have one and a half socks.might have to be a 80th birthday gift haha!
This whole video was just cozy.The scene of you and your mum knitting together on the train was so cute, you knitting at home with your partner was so cozy. I love it.
Oh this was such a joy to watch! Im now 52, been knitting since I was 5 years old. I was calling out to you about doing a tension square. But, you know what? You knit a fabulous garment that you will love and cuddle for years to come. Brava!
I'm sure everyone has already jumped in to tell you this, but a wool winder is definitely a worthy purchase as a knitter or crocheter. It makes the skein into a ball for you and all you have to do is crank the handle. Saves soooo much time, and actually if you don't want to buy one, some yarn stores have one that customers can use for free!
That color is totally in the deep autumn palette - I’ve heard it called “rhubarb”. Glorious - a beautiful knit! I’m inspired to try to make something that isn’t s scarf.
The color is amazing. Love it. Also, it’s my belief that the most important “skill” you need for knitting (or really anything in life) is a willingness to try. You have that in spades.
I love the way that you knit together (hee hee hoo!) the punk vibes of activism with finding the small, content joys of living. I very much believe that we need to be in touch with both to be part of making a better world!
I'm truly amazed that you managed to knit this beautiful jumper (with all its pitfalls) after only "learning to knit" in December 2022👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻.
I think you'll inspire & encourage a lot of novice Knitters with this honest and funny video. Thank you for sharing your creative 🧶journey with us. 👋🏻from 🇳🇱.
It turned out lovely! I’m so impressed with how quickly you jumped from “I can knit a hat” to “I have made a sweater”. I worked on a baby sweater while watching 😊
I am an avid quilter and crochet-er, this makes my heart so happy! I started crocheting when I was 7 and quilting when I was 8, and then wrote my geography thesis on the patterns in quilt and crochet used across Canada, I am thrilled you set out to do this!
BTW, that feeling when you finally have a complete project never goes away! It's wonderful!
Seeing this and reading the comments genuinely makes my heart so full, there is something so beautiful about making something with such detail and care!
Watching you do this makes me think of my nan saying she used to unravel her old jumpers and re-knit them to create new styles, and I'm just realising what a MASSIVE undertaking that must have been
I just love how you keep trying new things and bring us with you- mistakes and all. It means so much to see you do these things and has given me so much more confidence to try new and bigger things.
Watching this in the middle of bitter winter and finding it very cozy to watch you go through your very UK adventures
Knitting a test gauge is key to making great fitting pieces and making sure you use the correct amount of yarn. We all knit with different tension depending on our hand strength, grip and even stress. It may be helpful to learn about this as you make more pieces! This sweater is amazing and YES you are a prodigy! 🧶
Amazing jumper and I’m in awe how quickly you picked up knitting! Even taught me a thing about fusing yarns together to join. I normally tie the strands at the back.
For the yarn and patterns - you can use any yarn and pattern. My top tips would be to check total yardage needed and then the wool you want to use’s yardage and divide. Over time you’ll learn if you have tight or loose tension. You can also look the pattern up on ravelry then go into projects and see who used which wool. Finally check the needle size of the wool vs what you want to use, you might need to change needle size to get gauge. Oh the fun!
Final tip is you can get a wool winder so you continue need to ball it yourself. Happy knitting,
Omg the colour is amazing and i love the sleeves! I'm so glad you got extra skeins because a hat would be perfection. Re: length, I feel like you could front tuck it into skirts or pants (esp with a belt) to make it look cropped!
Yeah you're right, I could definitely get creative with tucking and belts. Glad you like it - I thought the puff sleeve would be hard to do but it was actually a piece of piss so now I want to do it on EVERYTHING I ever knit. x
@@leenanorms puff sleeves are the best
I immediately thought of matching socks/legwarmers
@@leenanorms just jumping in (late 😂) to mention that if you belt the bottom of the sweater where you want it to sit on your waist, then drape drape the excess fabric over the top it will look like a crop sweater. It may get quite warm over your tummy with three layers, though 😅
Gorgeous sweater, and I’m so glad you made it in a colour you love - you’ll wear it a LOT more! Don’t sweat the small mistakes. They’re what give the sweater personality and separate the hand-knits from commercial machine-knits. 😃
I'm so excited you're making knitting content!! I couldn't wait to watch this video :)
I've been knitting since I was a kid (in my 20s now) and I think I know what may have gone wrong with the yarn purchasing and also what you found to be a mistake in the pattern, if you're interested!
- Patterns tell you how much yarn to buy in both weight (grams) and length (meters). The length is what matters in terms of having enough yarn to finish the garment. If you bought in terms of weight, you may be getting a thicker but shorter yarn, thus making you need more yarn and the sweater coming out so heavy! If you pay attention to the length instead, you'll have enough yarn (and if you match both the weight and length it'll come out to the pattern's intended thickness)
- It seems like you picked up stitches along the top side edge of the front and back to make the sleeves. Depending which direction you started from, you would either then do a knit or purl row first. For example, if you have the outside of the sweater facing up and you pick up stitches from left to right, you would start with a purl row, but if you pick them up from right to left, you would start with a knit row. You most likely picked up stitches the opposite way from what the pattern intended (or maybe had the wrong side of the garment facing up as you did it?). Hopefully I explained that well enough, it's hard to in text!
Can't wait to see what you make next! :)
Ah thank you! The first point about length makes SO MUCH SENSE, why didn't I think of that?! I'll be definitely watching out for that in future. The second point also makes sense, but I did like tripple check the pattern and it said right side up, start with a pearl stitch - so I get the mechanics but I still stand by my statement that they were wrong ;) Thanks so much for the thoughtful reply and I can't wait to knit my next thing whilst CONSIDERING LENGTH NOT WEIGHT! Really glad you liked it xxx (I know i've replied to this on patreon but dropping here so anyone else who is curious can see)
I'm also a novice and no ones has explained that weight/lenght thing for me before!! Thank you!
I heard the lofty goal a minute in! and I cant wait!! this is exactly how I taught myself to knit! My very first garment was a lumpy fair isle jumper, with the most uneven tension ever in colours I would never wear. But i love it dearly
Omg!!!!! You totally rock!! This came out amazing, and I love the color on you! You are much braver than I am, I'm learning how to crochet, and I'm too chicken to make a sweater yet, but I've made 3 blankets so far. I just turned 55, and I'm loving all of the new things I'm trying. I taught myself embroidery 2 years ago, and I'm doing resin pouring and now crochet. This sweater is gorgeous!!! ❤ Never stop learning!!
Overpacking yarn is much better than underpacking yarn, I know this from experience. Also, if you have a ready to wear knit item that you really love you can duplicate it yourself by looking at its construction. You can calculate its gauge by measuring it, you can turn it inside out and look at the seams, you can count where the increases and decreases are and compare it to stitch dictionaries to figure out the lace or cables etc. - if you have a garment, you have the pattern for that garment. (The same for sewn clothes, you can trace out those pattern pieces to recreate something you love. Especially good to do for clothes that aren’t mendable but you love the fit.)
Great knitting, congratulations!
I've never really considered knitting before but after watching you make this sweater, I'm kind of interested in learning. Your project came out beautifully!
As a knitting instructor I can confirm that the fact that you knit a cardigan AND a jumper only months after learning how to knit is INCREDIBLE! I appreciate how you show how many hours it took, showed how much progress you made on a six hour train ride, the fact that this project involved numerous sessions in different locations and that it took a significant amount of yarn to finish. You enthusiasm throughout the project and the fact that you didn't have to frog (at least that you showed us) is mind boggling. Give yourself a big pat on the back and don't believe everything color theorists say. That shade of purple is lovely on you.
lol you jumping around whisper screaming wtf about a thing you made is SO REAL. I am making my first outfit on a sewing machine and keep doing that with every piece I assemble
Beautiful finished sweater! Love the colour and your tension is wonderful!
Here's a bit of knitting advice for future prrojects:
- Stay away from chunky yarn projects. Wool and the Gang popularised them because they are quick and look fashionable, but the yarn bills so quickly and they tend to be very heavy.! Worsted weight is much better!
- Try petiteknit, Jacqueline Cieslak, Jessie Maed Designs, and Ozetta patterns. Very classic and mostly very straight forward and easy to follow. Cieslak and Maed are brilliant with size inclusive and customisable patterns.
- Forget about number of skeins, focus only on yardage.
- Embrace frogging. No matter how experienced as a knitter you are, frogging (unravelling knits) is an essential part of the process to get the garment you want.
- Start with raglan top-down garments. They are very beginner friendly.
Good luck!
Just found this video! Honestly it’s the best ever!
Knitting can be way structured and making a sweater OMG stressful
This was so much fun to watch such a great personality. I was knitting while watching the video but I had to stop just to watch your expressions. Thanks. I’m so much more relaxed with this project I’m working on.
Love from the states!
Watching the knitting montages was so soothing 😍 you have really inspired me to want to learn to knit!!
Leena, I loved everything about this - making the sweater, the color, the notes, the mistakes, the corrections, the filming!!! Thank you so much for putting the work and I can't wait to see you rocking this marvelous creation in the drab of winter. 💜
Don't go by number of skeins, go by the meters you need! Also it is VERY important that the weight (thickness) is the same. Those are the aran, DK, sport... names. They give a rough idea of the thickness. Before you start a project, you need to knit a swatch and count how many rows and stitches there are in 10x10 cm and try to match as closely as possible to the pattern. This is SUPER important because a few stitches off make a huge difference in the result size (and yarn usage of course). This depends on that particular yarn, needle size and also your personal knitting (how loose or tight your stitches are). Always measure the swatch after washing it. Some yarns grow A LOT after the first wash. When I buy yarn, I make sure I order at least half a ball more (counting in meters) than the pattern asks for. Your jumper looks fantastic btw! Very neat stitches!
It can be hard to adjust and maintain your tension to get the right number of rows and stitches into your 10cmx10cm swatch. It's easier to change to a size smaller needles if you have too few rows/stitches, or a size larger needles if you have too many rows/stitches, and try again until you have a 10cmx10cm swatch with the right number of rows/stitches, or very close to.
I have never knitted but I definitely do crochet and my first cardigan project (because I really REALLY liked the mustard yellow one that my coworker wore and HAD TO HAVE IT) took me 1.5 years to complete and I am still so dang proud of it even if it has a lot of glaring imperfections!
haha aw that's lovely! I love that knitting projects don't expire or go bad - they're just there sitting there waiting for you, whenever you're ready. x
Love the forbiden color on you!
I also really appreciate you showing us all the learning tips
I think all knitters have at some point realised they haven’t got enough yarn for a project. A few tips:
- Check the length of yarn needed for the pattern rather than the weight as different yarns weigh different amounts
- Order a bit more than you think you’ll need if it’s borderline between balls or skeins
- Also if possible check the dye lot on new balls as sometimes the colour will vary a bit between dye lots
The gauge of the yarn and needles can really make a difference if you play around with mixing brands! It looks AMAZING.
Gage swatch, gage swatch, gage swatch! I make this mistake all the time and forget to do it,, but you can use it to estimate sizes and wool usage, and do the maths to be able to use different brands with different patterns. Luckily I'm currently knitting for multiple pregnant friends so sizing has gone all out the window, I figure whatever size I make a baby will end up growing into (and like seasons matter but babies are all different sizes anyways so who know what size they'll be at any given time!). Also always planning for extra wool is a good idea, if only because it's not always possible to find more skeins from the same dye batch, and leftovers can make matching accessories, be sold or traded (someone else might be looking for that dye batch) or made into things like a sea glass sweater (pattern on ravelry)!
This is my favorite knit-with-me video I’ve seen in years
Knitting tips: it is better to loosely wind skeins into balls because having it too tight can damage the yarn, especially if it is left in the ball for a long time because of having a break from the project. I normally wind over a couple of my fingers, remove and repeat, to keep the yarn unstressed.
Also I now always offer an extra skein or two depending on the size to account for the gauge swatch and potential tragedies. It also means you have some extra yarn you can store for mending that project, and there are lots of free patterns that are intended to use up leftover yarn so it won’t go to waste. Plus if there isn’t a lot of that dye lot and you can’t order more it can just destroy the look of your finished product (I learned this from experience)
Plus, you can overdye yarn, so if in a few years you no longer love the purple you can dye it a different colour or try and strip the dye out first and dye it.
Great effort! Reminds me of my own first jumper, which these days is hidden away but I can't get rid of it :D Two tips: 1) at a rough estimate a jumper will use 2/3 of yarn in the body and 1/3 in the sleeves 2) look up techniques for weaving in ends
Love the bit where you fix the error live. Had the same thought when you mentioned it. Reminds of darning fixes.
As a novice knitter, and your kindred in wanting create your own clothing, I truly appreciate this video. And you are such an upbeat adorable personality, I am now happily subscribed. Cheers to you and all our fellow knitters! 🧶🌺
We all lose the game of yarn chicken sooner or later 😂 But this is super impressive! The only sweater I've ever knit is a baby sweater for a cousin of mine, and I've been knitting for the better part of 18 years by now! And I admire your dedication bringing it on a train with you, those bigger projects can be unwieldy.
Like some people have said, you can indeed use any brand of yarn for any pattern from any designer/company, though it is good to get in the habit of checking the yards/meters in a skein per weight, even if they're marked as the same thickness or given a similar name; I've seen fingering/superfine yarn go anywhere from 357 to 463 yards in a 100g skein. This is also part of why people push the importance of making a gauge swatch, especially for things that need to fit a certain part of the body, and **especially** for larger projects like sweaters.
And very good call making a note of your modifications! It also might be a good idea to search the pattern online to see if there is a published errata for that part of the pattern.
And please do keep using the brightest colors you can find! Goodness knows we could use more bright pops of color in our lives.
It is currently 91 degrees outside with like, 90% humidity and I'm just sitting here, missing my sweater collection. Dammit Leena!
haha I know, this could be the most inappropriate time to release this video, but hey ho!
The sight of your mother and you knitting together is so so so sweet
This colour is so lovely on you Leena, more convinced than ever that you're a bright spring, not an autumn!!
Well done! I'm not a novice but have yet to make a sweater. Making myself some socks right now. Some patterns are just wrong or have minor mistakes.
Also, if you want, you can unpick from the bottom and reknit the ribbing at a higher height or using the extra yarn you bought to increase the length.
If you're going to be yarnswapping (and in my decade of knitting I've basically never used a pattern-recommended yarn so I'm an expert), you want to double check the wraps per inch or wpi on a yarn database like ravelry, make sure they're the same, and then buy the pattern-suggested amount of LENGTH (yardage/meterage), NOT WEIGHT. The density of the yarn (called grist) can differ even between yarns of the same size and fiber content, but the yardage you need is just based on the pattern & thickness of the yarn (wpi, not grist).
Also, you always always always buy extra. Even if it's the suggested yarn. Don't tempt the fates.
Anyways, I love love love your sweater. Such a fun color! Love your ambition!
If you want less heavy or less hot knits, the best things to look out for are low grist yarns (less weight per yardage, often thinner and/or woolen-spun yarns) and potentially blends of wool with linen, silk, or cotton. Alpaca, on the other hand, is heavy. Pure plant fiber yarns really hurt my hands, though, so keep that in mind!
God it's gorgeous. Love that color! I suggest always knitting a guage swatch to see how much yarn / needle size you need . The yarn you bought probably has different guage (different stitches per inch) than the one they suggested. Or you may knit tighter than the average person, which would result in your yarn not going as far as you need. The solution to being a tight knitter is to size up a needle, do another Guage swatch and see if your stitches per inch match the ones needed for the pattern. Also, always use the weight of yarn the pattern suggests unless you want to do the math to convert the pattern to a different weight of yarn.
Love this! Beautiful jumper. I've recently started my first 'grown up ' knitting project (following the pattern in spirit but not religiously) to knit a cardigan and I'm really enjoying being able to tweak the garment to how I want it to look!
Hi Leena, assuming your gauge was correct, the “one brands pattern and another brands wool” issue is possibly down to subtle differences in the meterage. When I’m buying yarn for a pattern, I always go off the meterage rather than the weight/number of skeins recommended, and I’d always buy 1 extra just in case (you can always make a hat or collect your odds and ends into a scrappy project later if you don’t use the extra one).
Eg, the pattern you want to knit says it uses 6 skeins of yarn X, which comes in 50g, 150m skeins. The yarn that you want to knit with also comes in 50g skeins, but because of differences in the thickness/fibre content, your preferred yarn is only 140m per 50g skein, you’d need 7 skeins to get your required meterage, and I’d buy 8 just for a safety net.
The jumper is lovely on you, so glad you’re enjoying knitting 😊
The beautiful thing about learning skills like this is that it's not at all out of the question for you to go back and shorten or lengthen this if you wanted to! It take a bit of confidence to go for it, but you can pick up your stitches along each side and then frog back to that point, then knit your rib or knit it longer before the ribbing. You can make your clothes for you and even if you've 'finished' a project it can still evolve
If you're up for learning a slightly-after-beginner technique: I prefer to knit my sweaters/jumpers _ribbing last._ So I start with a provisional cast on for the torso, knit up to the shoulders, do the sleeves, neckline, etc. And finally I pick up the provisional cast on and knit the ribbing for the band. This lets me frog "from the bottom up" if I run out of yarn, and it lets me add a few extra rows if I think the sweater's going to turn out too short. Because basic stockinette is vertically symmetrical (if you show a piece of knitting upside down versus right side up, there's no way to tell unless you also have live stitches - varying knits and purls, or adding in-row colorwork messes this up, but horizontal stripes don't), you can just pick up the stitches and knit ribbing, as if you had always been knitting top down.
I started doing this after I had to re-knit a sleeve like 5 times because it was too long or too short. Now that's never a problem for me.
Beautiful jumper and even lovelier colour! For your next jumper, you could consider picking a "top down" pattern, where you knit starting at the neck and work your way down the body, and that allows you to try on as you go and have better control over the length.
I find your attitude towards colour as a knitter who also hates the greige trend very refreshing! Well done on the jumper, long may you it keep you warm.
What a gorgeous colour! I love it on you. Well done, a jersey is a huge project!!
I also made my first sweater after three months but it was definitely very beginner friendly and my hands were HELD by the designer. So kudos for making a bottom up seamed sweater of all things as your first sweater!!! I could never.
I think this was the inspiration I needed to try again to crochet a cardigan that I have started on and completely pulled apart 3 times.😄
I am so inspired by you! Ive been knitting for a year and a half. I started eith scarf and baby blankets and have moved on to socks, working my way to seamless sweaters. Im workinf on a tank i will sew together kind of like what you did. But i see i could have just skipped to sweater! I also wanted to start podcast or vlog but tbought it would be lame since im a beginner, but you proved me wtong! Thanks for being here!
You're right, since reaching 30 I've changed so much! I'm doing hobbies I never thought I'd do! Knitting is the main one
When I made my first crochet cardigan, I made it of granny squares to control the weight of the piece I was making. But of course that is a style that does not necessarily work with everyone. I am still to tackle a jumper even though I've been crocheting for 20 years (at least). Good on ya.
No colors should be forbidden colors for you leena!! You look amazing and I am so proud of your accomplishment!!!
It looks great on you!! Great work! I am amazed! I sew but have failed even the most basic knitting & crochet projects. ❤❤
"how good would it be to have a matching hat" is why I always order an extra skein (or two)! and let me be the first to welcome to the world of incorrectly seasonal knitting projects, it's fun but always too warm/cold 😂
If you have any knitting experts in your IRL community, you should ask them about Blocking. you can probably figure it out on your own if you knit this sweater!! but you may be able to find someone with the tools to loan that way 😊It would probably help with the "lumpy" cardigan and minimizing how visible the splice in your yarn is on this one! it's not something I always do on sweaters but it can definitely take a piece from "good" to "great" because it helps even out all the stitches and make things more uniform.
I felt this entire video in my knitter's soul. When you ordered just one extra skein the first time I audibly yelled "nooooooooooooo" and scared my cat 😂. I have done that before and it hurts!
You and your mum knitting together was so lovely! Loving your crafty videos!
Loved how cosy this video felt. Perfect for a vid about making a jumper!
Congratulations on your first sweater! A tip regarding the lost game of yarn chicken: yarn quantity is given in both weight and meterage/yardage per unit of yarn and meterage is the one that matters the most. It's possible that the yarn you used is slightly heavier and therefore had less meterage per skein, meaning you'd need more skeins than recommended and that your sweater ended up heavier!
watching this while i finally get started on a knitting project i planned and bought yarn for weeks ago :) love the jumper!!
This color looks amazing on you!!! I think because is a "warm" purple and not super bright. I suppose you can dress with dark and rich warm-neutral color with some touch of cool bright and dark colors. Even black looks good on you! Color analysis is a guideline, don't be stopped from that! I'll wait for your new beautiful jumper!
My favorite color ~ you did brilliant 👏 🏆 I am a newbie , have about 3 hrs in now. I am proud to say I've nailed the knit stich on using several style knitting needles. Can't wait to get where you are` well done!
Also I strongly recommend holst garn and knitting for olive yarns. drops yarn is also great but less traceable
I love your knitting journey! fellow knitter here from Italy...yarn chicken is a real thing!! great jumper congrats, and your videos are so enjoyable!
Love the knitting moments with your mum! I'm just learning how to knit and my mum got back into knitting after a decade long break or so and I can't wait to sit next to her in the sun, knit and chat away when I see her in a few weeks for the first time in half a year (we live in different countries). Your sweater turned out great! Congrats!
I literally just purchased a sweater knitting pattern, jumped on UA-cam and saw you just posted your jumper video. Thanks for the inspiration!!!
I am now very inspired to start a sweater project! I've been knitting since being a teenager and am now 31. Somehow I still shy away from bigger pieces though. This video was so fun to watch, I just really enjoy your quirky lovely personality!
I love seeing your joy of finding a craft for yourself and realizing you can can actually do it and do it well! The jumper is gorgeous and the colour is fabulous!!! 🥰
The coming of craft moment in your 30s made me smile a bit because it means I am living my 27 year old crafty grandma lifestyle already :P
I started crocheting at the age of 7 after we learned it in school it's the one textile craft the taught us in elementary school and i was hooked (haha hooked get it ? :P)
i started sewing when i was like 11 i think and did some knitting in my late teens early twenties. Even though i didn't find it to difficult, probably because i already had knowledge about yarn tension and constructing of garments from my other hobbies, i don't like knitting for itself. I just do it for the goal of a very specific knitted garment that i really want. I also got a double bed knitting machine at some point which is know part of a shared maker space at my university ^^
But i recently started weaving and then constructed and build myself a 12 shaft table loom out of wood and 3d printed parts. And weaving is like my new favourite thing in the world it's so much fun the pattern possibilities with 12 shafts is just mind blowing and i really love that my loom allows me to weave thin detailed fabric
You can still crop it Leena! Cut out the seams, then use your long cabled needles to pick up all the stitches around the waist a little shorter than where you want it, then undo the ribbing bind off at the bottom and ‘frog’ it back to where your needles are. Then just reknit the ribbing and reseam! ✨
Your knitting content has been fascinating to me because I have been knitting since 2008 and have still not begun my first sweater/jumper, yet you have made your first sweater 6 months into your journey. At this point, I have the yarn that I got help at my local yarn store with picking for a pullover sweater/jumper pattern that I have had in my library long enough for it to have 5 pattern updates over the years! I guess I've been favoring more complex designs for neck wear because I am currently working on a brioche stitch mobius cowl. It's called Briobius on Ravelry if you'd like to take a look.
Some things I wanted to say: your tension is EXCELLENT. Also, I think that matching a pattern to that brand's yarn can be a good way to start off since they have done the work to show you more exactly what amount of yarn you need, but substituting yarn is a skill you can learn very easily (I do not know your status of comprehension about gauge, though). No need to settle for Wool and the Gang's drab palette if you feel it will limit your creative energy and passion for the project. I do a lot of yarn substitutions for patterns I pick because I am desperately trying to stash-bust, thus maybe why I am limiting myself to patterns where gauge isn't super important.
You are doing a great job!!!!!!