Knitting @lemmy.world Knitwear @lemmy.world 1y ago

Is a boat neck sweater a suitable first project if you've only ever knitted scarves before?

Any tips on a more suitable first project welcome, or any patterns.

I've found a pattern that seems simple once I learn how to read the pattern itself, ha

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Interesting to see such a specific question, because my first proper project (after learning different stitches by making myself a random sampler rectangle) was in fact a boat neck sweater! Specifically $5 in Paris by Anna Maliszewski (Ravelry link / designer site)

Really if you're ok with doing basic shaping like increases and decreases then something like this is fairly simple to follow. But I'd add an important caveat:

Despite this project going fine the first time round, I had to entirely frog it and remake the whole thing. Why? Because I literally just followed the pattern. I didn't know anything about how to adjust a pattern to fit MY body, and I have really wide hips with a short waist so it turns out that's important for me to know. Sometimes you can get lucky and find a sweater pattern designed for a body shape like your own, but a lot of the time you will need to be making adjustments here and there.

So I think it's that side of things rather than how complicated the patterns actually are, that can be a big problem for newbies. If that makes sense?

Even the second time round this didn't turn out to be super flattering anyway, but I did learn a lot and it was made from cheap yarn so no regrets. I guess the question is, are you the type to appreciate the learning experience or the type to freak out if it doesn't go perfectly right?
- I've literally only knitted a few simple scarves so maybe a sweater is a bit too big a leap
  
  @Knitwear It could be a great learning experience if you are open to some steps forward and backwards along the way. I went directly to socks which are smaller but also complex in their own way. So it’s all up to what you feel like doing!
  
  For reference, the green rectangle is all I'd knitted before attempting the jumper (can't find a photo of it on its own!) so if you've done a whole project you're ahead of where I was.
  
  It's completely up to you and what you feel ready for. Absolutely wasn't my intention to put you off, it's just good to have realistic expectations about where your skills are at. And if you decide a whole jumper isn't for you yet, that's totally fine, but if you decide it is we will totally be here to cheer you on.
  
  Maybe you can share the pattern you're looking at and we can advise on suitability from there?
  
  I've found a few patterns but I don't know what I'm looking at so I haven't saved them.
  
  I think a decent order might be:
  
  make a scarf/a square trying out a few different stitches
  
  try increasing/decreasing
  
  then try a sweater and learn from mistakes?
  
  Sounds like a good plan to me! You could maybe look at a cowl rather than a scarf since they're shorter projects, a very quick and cursory Ravelry search turned up this one that's designed to be a sampler of different stitches: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/the-sampler-cowl
  
  I'm sure there are plenty of similar sampler-style scarf patterns too, though 🙂
  
  I appreciate this!
- You did such an incredible job!

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