Let’s say you find a pattern for a sweater that you love.
But, it’s for a cropped sweater and you prefer a waist length sweater. What to do?The first option is to keep looking for that exact sweater in a waist length version. Good luck! The obvious answer is: Make the body of the sweater longer!
Ok, now you still like the sweater, but it shows ¾ length sleeves and you like ‘em long. Same thing, right?
Now you are thinking!
The simplest way to add length is to just add more rows to the knitting and keep measuring. If you want to be exact, measure your row gauge to find out how many more rows you will have to knit to get the length you want. My favorite way to get a sweater to fit properly is to measure an existing sweater that you already own and like the fit. It can be any top as long as it is about the same thickness as what your hand knit sweater will turn out to be. For instance, if you are making a bulky knit sweater, don’t measure a thin T-shirt; measure a sweatshirt.
The pattern states to decrease or increase each end. You know (at least you ought to know… for I have often told you so), that you should never decrease or increase on the first or last stitch. So, technically speaking, you will still decrease or increase AT each end, just not ON each end. Get it? One or two stitches IN from the edge to make the edges neat. No, patterns usually don’t tell you this, but you’ve got me, right? Also, patterns rarely tell you how to decrease. This is where a little research and/or knowledge is important to know which decreases and increases will work best.
One thing that many knitting patterns instruct you to do is shoulder shaping. Unless the wearer has very sloped shoulders, I don’t shape them. Since this is a knitted sweater and not a cotton blouse, the shoulder seams of the sweater will naturally rest on your shoulders without shaping. You can work most sweaters straight to the shoulder, leave the stitches “live” (don’t bind off), and instead of sewing the shoulders together, you can do a three needle bind off. This means you are knitting the shoulders together and binding them off at the same time.
Another way to customize the fit is to add or subtract stitches for shaping. Hip, waist and bust shaping can all be altered by adding some stitches for extra width or decreasing to bring an edge in. Waist shaping by decreasing at the sides and then increasing them back out is a flattering silhouette for almost all figure types.
Maybe the pattern has stripes. Now, you might like stripes in certain areas, but certainly not in the same places the designer has put them! There is no rule that says you have to place the stripes exactly where they are on the pattern. Guess what, there is no rule that says you have to stripe the sweater at all! The same thing goes with lace. You like lace. The sweater has lace. But you don’t want the lace there! Put it where it will look best on YOU. You can change the entire look of the sweater by using a different stitch pattern. Maybe you fancy some little purl dots all over the garment, or you want to make the trim with a different ribbing. Of course, if you are changing the overall stitch pattern, make sure that you check the gauge!
You don’t have to be an advanced knitter in order to make the pattern “your own”. As you gain experience reading different patterns, you will become comfortable changing things up. Don’t be a slave to the pattern! Think about what you like about the pattern and what you don’t. Take out the things you don’t want and add the things you do! The freedom is amazing. You will LOVE it!
