Hi there! Welcome to the next episode of my knitting podcast! In this episode, I dive deep into my wardrobe to show you my top 10 hand-knit sweaters. I'll start from those that I almost never wear and will finish with those that I basically live in.
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Here is my Top 10 favourite hand knit sweaters ranked from 10 to 1:
- 10 - Anna's Cardigan My Size by PetiteKnit (0:21)
- 9 - Black Wolf Sweater by Linka Neumann (2:19)
- 8 - Stockholm Slipover by PetiteKnit (5:07)
- 7 - Ranunculus by Midori Hirose (7:28)
- 6 - Olga Sweater by PetiteKnit (9:36)
- 5 - Mellomtrøya by DropleDesign (10:42)
- 4 - Marius Sweater by Sandnes Garn (12:33)
- 3 - Birch Pullover by Andrea Mowry (14:16)
- 2 - Moa Sweater by Linka Neumann (15:44)
- 1 - The Traveler Hoodie by Andrea Mowry (19:18)
Patterns and other things that I've mentioned
- Anna's Cardigan - My Size by PetiteKnit, knit in Tinde from Hillesvåg
- Black Wolf sweater by Linka Neumann, from her Wilderness Knits book
- Stockholm Slipover by PetiteKnit, knit in one strand of Nutiden from Höner och Eir
- Ranunculus by Midori Hirose, knit in 100% cashmere
- Olga Sweater by PetiteKnit
- Mellomtrøya by Anne Thunem (DropleDesign), knit in 100% wool DK weight yarn from Hillesvåg
- Marius sweater, the pattern is from Sandnes Garn
- Birch Pullover by Andrea Mowry
- Moa sweater by Linka Neumann and Moa Hundseid, knit in Trio from Navia, Plötulopi from Ístex, and a Norwegian yarn
- The Traveler hoodie by Andrea Mowry
How I ranked them
The rule is simple: how often I actually wear the sweater. Not how much I enjoyed knitting it, and not how good the pattern is. Spoiler: there is not a single bad pattern in this list. But some of these sweaters I basically live in, and some almost never leave the wardrobe. The reasons why are the interesting part!
10. Anna's Cardigan My Size by PetiteKnit
Not actually a sweater but a cardigan. It is a great pattern, I loved making it, and I had no problems with it. The yarn is amazing too: Tinde from Hillesvåg, a quite small yarn producer here in Norway. 100% Norwegian wool.
So why the last place? The color. It looks great on video, and I love it when other people wear this color. But I don't feel like myself in it. So I only wear this cardigan at home, which is a shame, because it could get so much more use.
The main reason why we make our own garments is that we want something that is 100% us. Unfortunately, this one is not me. Maybe I just need to give it away to somebody who will give it more love. I talked more about this cardigan in my knitting mistakes episode.
9. Black Wolf Sweater by Linka Neumann
An amazing sweater. I got the pattern from the Wilderness Knits book, and I can only recommend it. The photos are stunning, and the instructions are good. I mean, Norwegian good: you don't get as detailed instructions as in many modern patterns, but they are clear enough, and I didn't have any problems.
So why am I not wearing it? I made a bigger size, and it was deliberate. Here in Norway, people often wear only a sweater in the winter, with no jacket on top. They just layer enough under it. I wanted to be as cool as them, so I made the sweater bigger to layer up inside.
Well, I don't wear it like that. I wear it as just a sweater in the fall, or as a layering piece in the evening when I'm hiking. And it is about two sizes bigger than it should be. The width is okay, I don't mind a bit of oversize. But the sleeves are way too long, and the body is a bit too long as well.
My plan is to unravel it. It is knit from the bottom up, so I will need to unravel the whole yoke, remove some length in the sleeves and the body, and knit it again.
Great sweater, great pattern. Just make sure you make your size!
8. Stockholm Slipover by PetiteKnit
Technically not a sweater either, but everything I put on top of a t-shirt counts as a sweater for this video. The pattern is great and the garment is very nice.
I made it with one strand of Nutiden, so it is very, very lightweight. I'm a big fan of this yarn. The color has a lot of depth: light tones, dark tones, a little bit of blue, maybe some yellows and pinks.
I made this slipover to layer over my traditional Ukrainian embroidered shirt. It is quite cold here in Norway, so I needed something warm on top. But the sleeves of that shirt are very heavily embroidered, and I wanted them to stay visible. A vest was the perfect answer.
So I basically only wear the slipover with that shirt. And there is a lot happening in that shirt, so it is not for every day. That's why this vest is worn maybe twice a year. You can see both the shirt and the slipover in Episode 4.
7. Ranunculus by Midori Hirose
A great and very popular pattern. This is my second Ranunculus, and it is quite a modified version.
My gauge is much more dense than in the pattern: almost twice as many stitches in 10 cm (4 inches). First, I'm not using the suggested yarn. Second, I wanted the fabric to be dense, so you can't see through it, it is a bit warmer, and not as much wind goes through.
I made it with 100% cashmere, and maybe this is one of the reasons why I don't wear it as often as I could. It is very, very warm. I need to plan my whole day ahead to be sure that I will not be too warm in it. And since the sweater is not bulky, I also need to think about what I'm wearing under it. Quite a tricky one! But I like it, and it will definitely get more wear from me.
6. Olga Sweater by PetiteKnit
Another very popular pattern. I guess many people have made more than one, but this is my first. I discovered it not so long ago.
I started it in the spring and finished it sometime in the summer, so it is one of my newest sweaters. Maybe this is one of the reasons why it is not higher in the ranking. The other one is the colors. I love bright colors, but a colorful sweater is more difficult to pair with the rest of the outfit, so I need to be a bit more mindful what I wear it with.
Is it worth the hype? I talked about that in Episode 7.
5. Mellomtrøya by DropleDesign
This is my hiking and cross-country skiing sweater, in a very nice deep green. I made it with yarn from Hillesvåg again: 100% wool, DK weight. It is warm enough but not too warm, so it is just perfect for hiking.
It is a very easy raglan sweater, nothing fancy. I added a braid to it. It is not a part of the design, I just wanted a slightly more fancy element. But basically it is a simple raglan, which is great. What else would you need from a sweater that you wear on hikes? It has its purpose.
It is not higher in the ranking because, obviously, I don't go hiking every day. And I wouldn't wear it in the summer, maybe only later in the day, sitting next to a fire. Anyway, it is one of my favorites.
4. Marius Sweater by Sandnes Garn
The Marius sweater is considered to be a very traditional Norwegian sweater, even though the design is actually not that old. Many, many people here in Norway have one, and so do I.
I don't wear it every day, but it is still one of my favorite sweaters that I've made. I normally wear it to sport events, for example biathlon, when I want to show my support for the Norwegian team. And also on skiing days, or on trips to cabins, when I need to be cozier than usual.
There are many variations of this pattern. If you search for Marius, you will find basically every piece of garment and accessory made with it: socks, hats, dresses, whatever you can think of. In my case, I have a sweater and a headband.
3. Birch Pullover by Andrea Mowry
A very classic-looking raglan sweater in half fisherman's rib. It is pretty oversized, and it is very easy to wear. That's why it is in third place.
I wear it basically with everything. I think it is the combination of all things together: the construction, the stitch and the color. The color fits everything. On the days when I'm not sure what to wear, I just grab this one, and I know that it will serve its purpose.
2. Moa Sweater by Linka Neumann
This was the first sweater that I had to steek. You knit the body in the round like a big tube. Then you reinforce it and cut it open for the sleeves, and also at the front, so there is more space for your neck.
It was a bit scary, but it turned out well. The first several times I wore it, I kept checking that no yarn was sticking out and that my reinforcement actually works. But no, everything holds together well.
One note about the instructions. This is the same designer as my number 9, and her patterns are not beginner-friendly, I should say. It is expected that you already know some stuff. For example, the pattern doesn't tell you much about how to reinforce the steek. It just says to use your sewing machine, and then cut. Well, I didn't own a sewing machine back then, so I reinforced it with a crochet hook instead. It went well, but I think more information there would be very useful.
Other than that, it is great. I love the colors. It is very bright, and it gives me a lot of happiness. It also gives me a lot of memories. Most of the yarn (the white, green, red and yellow) I bought when I was traveling to the Faroe Islands. The light blue is Plötulopi from Ístex, an Icelandic yarn, and the other blue is Norwegian. So I picked the yarn in different Nordic countries, and it gives the sweater this Nordic feeling.
I also showed this sweater in Episode 5.
1. The Traveler Hoodie by Andrea Mowry
One of those sweaters that I wear basically with everything and anytime.
First of all, the color. I'm a big fan of green, and this is a deep green, with red stripes that show off the green even more. I love it.
What's more, the construction. Before this one, I don't think I had made a lot of drop shoulder sweaters. Moa and Olga have drop shoulders too, but those are some of my newest sweaters. I think I will make even more, because drop shoulder sweaters usually have a lot of positive ease. You just throw it on, and no matter what you have under it, it just fits.
The stitch pattern is nice as well. But I should let you know: if you are not a fan of purling, double check this pattern before you start, because half of it is purling. And even though the hoodie is quite cropped, there is a lot of knitting in it because of all that positive ease.
One small thing: the sleeves grow. I just roll them up, but possibly I need to unravel them and make them shorter. It doesn't bother me too much.
And the hood! Everything together gives me a lot of coziness. I talked a lot more about this hoodie in Episode 6.
What makes me actually wear a sweater
Looking at the list from top to bottom, none of the sweaters at the bottom is there because of a bad pattern. They are there because of a color I don't feel like myself in, a size that is too big, or a very specific purpose.
And the top three have one thing in common: they are easy to wear. A bit of positive ease, a color I love, and I can throw them on with anything. Something to keep in mind when you pick your next sweater pattern!
Have you made some of these sweaters? How high are they in your ranking? Or maybe you have your own ranking of your most worn and least worn sweaters. Please share it in the comments. I will be happy to see it, and maybe I will get some inspiration for my future projects.
