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I want to talk a little bit about choosing the correct sweater size when you're ready
to get started knitting something.
And there are a few steps to this, a little bit of work you might have to do to be really
accurate.
So I want to talk about putting all of these things together.
The first thing you want to do is get a really accurate measurement, of you or the person
you're knitting it for.
From here on out, we're going to pretend that you're making a sweater for yourself.
And most sweater sizes are based on bust or chest sizes.
I will give you a link in the video description below that will show you exactly how to measure,
to get that right.
Exactly where on the body you need to measure to get that measurement.
Once you have that measurement, keep that!
You also might want to look through your own closet to find a sweater or a tshirt or really
anything that fits in a way that you really like.
You have found a pattern you like, and you have this other sweater that you already own
and you really like the fit of it, you can make the sweater in the size that this finished
sweater already is.
All you need to do is set that sweater out, measure at the fullest part of the chest or
bust and double it, and that will be the chest measurement for the sweater size that you
want to knit.
Now, let's talk about the patterns.
Because this is the part that really confuses a lot of people.
Patterns will say, for example, small medium large.
32 inches, 36 inches, 40 inches.
And the question I get a lot in emails, people will ask me, how do I know if that is the
actual sweater size, or the size of the person you're making the sweater for?
And you have to do a little research to figure that out if the pattern doesn't make it clear.
Patterns that make it clear say, small medium large.
32 inches, 36 inches, 40 inches.
And then it will say, actual finished sweater size.
And it will give you the actual number of inches around for the finished sweater size.
Which means the first measurements are for the person.
You want to take, if you are a 40 inch chest or bust.
And the pattern says 40 inches.
That's your actual measurement.
And the finished sweater might actually be 42 inches.
In that case, the sweater has two inches of positive ease.
Meaning, it's a pretty casual, nice fit.
Actual measurement, and the finished size measurement.
If you have those two written out in the pattern, no further research is necessary.
But if it's not written out in the pattern, the next way you might get luck is if there
are schematic drawings.
You can see what the full chest measurement there.
But if you don't get that either, the next thing you do is you have to actually look
through the pattern.
And read through the pattern to find what the stitch count is at the fullest part of
the chest or bust.
If it's a sweater knit in the round, it's just one number.
If it's a sweater that's knit in pieces, you're going to have to add up the front and the
back, or the back and the two fronts, whatever, to get the full number of stitches around
the chest.
Then take that number, the number of stitches, and divide it by the gauge.
And the stitches per inch, for gauge, might be 5 stitches per inch.
You will have then the number of inches around the finished sweater.
You might want to keep this in mind and watch this again before you actually start knitting
the sweater.
But this is the idea.
If it doesn't give you the number, you can figure out it, by taking the stitch count
divided by the gauge.
Now.
That's how you're going to get that number.
One thing you'll want to take into consideration is for, if you're making a sweater for someone
who is bigger below the waist than above the waist.
Since sweater patterns usually go on chest or bust sizes, it doesn't -- they don't usually
take into consideration someone who perhaps has bigger hips than bust.
Or for a man, someone who has a bigger belly than chest.
For women's sweaters, if there is shaping in the sweater, meaning that it decreases
at the waist and goes back out at the hips,
You have to look into the pattern and take all of that into consideration.
But for a straight sweater, or a men's sweater, you really want the biggest part of the body,
that the sweater's going to cover, between the armpits and the bottom of the sweater.
And if that's hips or belly, you want to take that measurement and run with the pattern
from that size, instead of the chest size.
You can fit a sweater perfectly from the waist up, but then if it's fitting too tightly below
that, at the hip, it's not going to be a favorite sweater.
Okay, the last bit of advice I have is Ravelry.
Ravelry.com.
And most, I think most knitters know about Ravelry already.
It's free, and it's a great resource.
And one of my favorite ways of using Raverly is if I want to make a sweater, I can search
for that pattern on Ravelry, and see other projects that are already finished.
And if it's a popular sweater pattern, there can be thousands of other people who have
made this and posted it to Ravelry.
And luckily, people usually post a photo of the person wearing the sweater.
And you can scroll through these photos, and find someone who has a body type similar to
yours.
You can see what the sweater looks like on them, and there won't be any surprises when
the sweater is finished.
It's just about as good as trying it on yourself!
If you can match yourself up with someone who is similar to you.
I've used this and looking at the actual sweater on actual bodies, it's made me excited about
knitting sweaters.
It's also shied me away from knitting sweaters, when I thought the sweater was cute, but when
I saw the sweater on someone who is built like me, I wasn't as happy with it.
Anyway, those are my pointers, how I suggest to choose a sweater size before you start
knitting.
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