Why Doesn't My Sweater Fit Me?

Working in a knitting store, I come into contact with lots of knitters. There are a few great knitters who make their own patterns and can create whatever they want when it comes to knitting. There are intermediate knitters who can follow a pattern and often can figure out when they have made a mistake, but really can't think outside the pattern, so to speak. And then there are the knitters who knit to pass the time, usually making scarves or very simple projects, unwilling or uninterested in investing the time to learn other techniques. This post is a plea to the beginning and intermediate knitters. Read on if you blindly follow a pattern totally ignoring all preliminary warnings that the garment you are making doesn't look like it is quite going to fit you .

Part of the reason we started this blog was that in the long term, we wanted to be able to help knitters learn to adapt patterns to fit their bodies. There are a handful of knitters who can already do that, but for those who can't, please take the following advice.

So, the question posed is "Why doesn't my sweater fit me?"

This is a very good question and there are two common answers.

The first part of the answer is......you didn't take time to check your gauge. Gauge is a very simple and often overlooked part of the knitting process because people want to rush through their project and get to the end result. But, the downside of rushing and not checking your gauge is that the outcome is an ill fitting garment. If the gauge says you should be getting 4 stitches to the inch and you are getting 5, your sweater is going to be snug and too short. If the gauge says 4 stitches to the inch, and you are getting 3, it's going to be a baggy mess. Check it. If you aren't getting the gauge the pattern calls for, try switching your needle size or if it's a basic pattern, do some simple yarn math-we will cover that in a future session. But do it, or your project is going to be a hot crafty mess.

Reason 2: You have totally ignored your body measurements in favor of doing EXACTLY what the pattern says. For example, if the pattern tells you to cast on and knit for 15 inches, then bind off at the armhole, that's great. Unless you have a long or short torso, and then you will either look like you are wearing an ill fitting tunic or like Kelly Kapowski (for those of you who don't know who that is, she was on the 80's television show and had a penchant for floral prints and midriff baring tops). You need to measure yourself and decide if the length of the sweater works for you, and if it doesn't, lengthen or shorten it to fit your body. In a basic sweater, that is not difficult. In a more complicated sweater, go to your local knit shop and ask for help. Someone there can help you. The same goes for sleeves-long an loose; not cute, short and tight; even worse. Measure your body-why put all that time into knitting something that looks like it belongs to someone else.