Ever since I started getting serious about my knitting, I wanted to knit a sweater! It seemed like such a daunting task and project though – until now!
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Here’s what you’ll need to get started:
- Painting Bricks Sweater Pattern by Stephen West
- Knitting Needles (I love my ChiaoGoo Interchangeable Set)
- Stitch Marker
- Scissors
- Tapestry Needle
The Pattern:
I found the Painting Bricks Sweater pattern by Stephen West and just fell in love with it! Even though I’ve only ever knit one sweater before, I decided to take the plunge and knit one for myself!
One of the main things I learned about taking on a large project like this – is just to take it one step at a time! If the pattern uses a technique you are not yet familiar with – you can look it up when you get to it. For example: I would say, “I don’t know how to do the twisted rib yet”, so I would look it up and work on the collar. The next part of the pattern is short rows and I would say, “I don’t know how to do short rows yet”, so I would look it up and continue in the pattern! I did this for every step that I didn’t know how to do until I knit the entire sweater!!
Overall, this pattern is easy to follow and the instructions are very well written. I do wish it gave a little bit more guidance for the sleeves for us newbies – but even I figured it out!
Stitch Pattern:
The pattern is an 8 row repeat and you can really customize and get creative with your color choices (which I’ll talk about more when I talk about the yarn). It’s a series of knits, purls, and slips – so pretty easy that anyone can do it! I loved the knit pattern because it really keeps you engaged and it’s easy to add in one color a night or more if it’s the weekend!
Size:
I chose to knit the size Medium after taking my measurements and accounting for positive ease. I am still working on getting my pre-baby body back, so I appreciate that this pattern is pretty forgiving in size. You can customize how long you knit the body and I chose to knit mine a bit longer so it doesn’t show any parts of my body even when I lift my arms up.
The fit is absolutely perfect though! I think it will continue to fit me and feel great even when I do lose some additional weight!
Sleeves:
Like I said, the sleeves were mostly fine, but I did find it a little annoying that the instructions just said “follow the brick pattern” instead of telling me where to put my slips on the sleeves. It felt like the ball was dropped a little bit. By that time in the pattern, you pretty much have it down, but when you’re decreasing on sleeves, the pattern is moving and that can make it a little bit more challenging.
I’m pretty sure my slips are in different spots on each arm, but it is actually not noticeable and they still look great! There are a few bricks under the arms that don’t have slips altogether because I just couldn’t figure that part out fast enough, but it’s in a hidden spot and I just matched it on the other sleeve!
Since the pattern doesn’t tell you which cast off method to use on the sleeves, I decided to try a sewn bind off so it keeps its shape, but it’s still stretchy! I used the tutorial by Krista of Explore with Knitsy or @KnitsyKnits on Instagram and it worked like a charm!
Summary:
Overall, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this pattern as a first time sweater (this was technically my second sweater…Here’s my first), however, I think it’s totally doable if you’re optimistic like me and don’t get worried about knitting something with new-to-you techniques!
The Yarn:
The yarn I chose to use is all on the Swish DK base from Breaking Yarn. The main color I used is Gray Matter and my contrasting colors are: Pink Teddy Bear, Hazmat Suit, Crystal Meth, Walter White, and Marie Schrader.
I originally was only going to have 4 contrasting colors, but when I put a poll on Instagram asking about which 4th color to add (Walter White or Marie Schrader), the vote was overwhelmingly Walter White. I still wanted to add Marie Schrader too since I am obsessed with that purple (clearly) – I decided to just add them both.
I used a little over 3 skeins of the Gray Matter for the main color and I used about 55 grams of each contrasting color for the Medium size! So, I have plenty to make another project!! What should I make with my leftovers?
The yarn is so squishy and soft, yet durable and machine washable! I would totally recommend this yarn for your sweater project! I loved how the colors played together, without just looking like a rainbow!
The Reveal:
