A Sweater Knitter

Are you a sweater knitter?  I don’t yet personally count myself one, although I have knit and designed a number of popular garments!  My friend Rosie is definitely a sweater knitter.  I joined her for a trip to the park, and she brought along 12 of her favourite sweaters.

For all the project details, check her out on Ravelry – she’s Rokay.  Thanks again Rosie for modelling your lovely work, and sharing your story!

What makes a sweater knitter? 

I’m not sure of the correct definition, but when you meet one you’ll know!  Rosie learned to knit just 2.5 years ago, and already has made 16 sweaters for herself!  She’s also done several for her husband, friends, and little family members too.  This works out to a sweater every month or two… definitely far exceeding my own knitting output!

Why sweaters (or rather jumpers here in the UK)?

Rosie told me that even before she began knitting, she had a love affair with sweaters.  They were the items that she loved to shop for, and was drawn to browse in thrift stores.  Her gran is an accomplished machine knitter, so she’d grown up in custom-made sweaters.  Born in the warmer South, she finds Edinburgh winters ‘bitterly cold’, and stacks of sweaters are an obvious remedy!  She’s recently cut her hair short, which she admits was in no small part inspired by the desire to show off the exquisite yokes she loves to knit, so they wouldn’t be hidden by the fall of long hair!  That’s dedication folks!

Yokes Yokes and more Yokes!

As you can see, Rosie tends to knit yoke sweaters, because she loves having the mindless knitting time of body and sleeves, then enjoys the details at the yoke toward the end of the garment.  She’s also found that circular yokes are more flattering on her than raglan-style shaping.  Because she’s quite a product knitter, she wants to get that sweater off the needle and into the wardrobe!  So simple yoke patterns are ideal.  She often adjusts patterns for gauge and for her shorter body and longer arms, and adds more curvy waist shaping, as she is rather petite.  These simple seamless sweaters are ideal for adjustments like this which make for a perfect fit.

But it’s not ALL yokes!  Rosie does branch out, and has a number of sweaters all set out to knit… but finds that she doesn’t often cast on the more complex projects, preferring to work on projects she knows she’ll be able to wear within a month or so!

And if those exquisite sweaters weren’t quite enough to inspire… here are a few more!

Aftur – Védís Jónsdóttir – http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/aftur

Owls by Kate Davies – http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/owls-2

Flossie – Martin Storey – http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/flossie-3

132-3 A Taste of Fall – Drops Design – http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/132-3-a-taste-of-fall

Hestapeysa – Jóhanna Hjaltadóttir – http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/hestapeysa-icelandic-sweater-with-horses

Il Grande Favorito – Isabell Kraemer – http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/il-grande-favorito

Have you been inspired by Tin Can Knits ‘Year of the Sweater’?

If you haven’t already heard about our sweater-knitting-push for this year, you still might want to join in!

We plan to each complete 12 sweaters, some will be for us, some will be for little people we have or know.  It doesn’t matter if we started them last year (or, ahem, a few years ago), this is the year they will be finished!  Along the way we’ll be sharing our favourite sweater-knitting tips and techniques, as well as adding some new tutorials to our already extensive list (check them out here).

So join us won’t you?  Let’s knit along!  Tag your KAL projects with #tck12sweater2015 and check out our Rav thread here for a little knitterly support.

There are some amazing prizes to be had…

1. A sweater’s worth of yarn from Rainbow Heirloom.

2. A signed copy of our book Road Trip.

3. The complete Tin Can Knits ebook library.

Some of the Tin Can Knits designs that Rosie has knit!