Sweater Knit Along at the Stash House!
Join our Stash House Winter Sweater Knit along! Open for all levels of knitting!
A collection of raglan and circle yoke sweaters
Knit Along Q&A
What is a knit along?
A knit along (KAL) is a group of knitters working on the same project at the same time, sharing progress, encouragement and tips/tricks. It is a social group, a learning opportunity, and a way to ward off the winter cold all in one! This is not knitting 101, but if you've made a knit accessory before, you can make a sweater and we are here to help!
What are the components of the Stash House Knit along?
Knit Along Fellowship: every other Wednesday
A fellowship night at the Stash House is like a club meeting - come by for company and knitting support. Elsa or Kendra will be at the Stash Wednesday evenings as part of our winter sweater knit along! Whether you are joining us on a top-down raglan sweater journey or just have general knitting questions, come by for company and knitting support. RSVP optional
free for Stash House members, $10 nonmembers, $5 students
Three Knit Along Workshops
These workshops offer more formal knitting instruction than the fellowship evenings, running on the second Sundays of December, January, and February. Click here for more details and to sign up
free for Stash House members, $35 for nonmembers
Virtual community space in the Fiber Arcade Mighty Network
The Fiber Arcade is a social network for the Stash House. We have a private feed set up for the knit along, and you can register to join! Share photos, questions and tips, while tracking your own knit along progress
free for Stash House members, $10 to join for nonmembers
Two emails a month
Progress checks, tips and tricks, curated links, and inspiration sent directly to your email box twice a month! You will be signed up for these emails by registering for any of the knit along events.
What patterns are you using?
Recommended patterns for this knit along are any top down raglan or circle yoke sweater.
Beginner option/basic sweater to customize: The Flax sweater, a free pattern from Tin Can Knits. This has a good size range (chest 32” -70”) and is extremely customizable! Come to our first sweater workshop for help envisioning how you can personalize your sweater based on this simple raglan base! This pattern lends itself well to colorwork and textured stitches. It also has a lot of online support and existing blog posts, and is available in 3 yarn weights - worsted/aran, DK, and sock/sport
Traditional Icelandic sweaters with a patterned yoke are knitted bottom up, but we can pull inspiration from them to knit top down! Here is a Icelandic sweater pattern knit with lopi (a traditional Icelandic yarn). These are often knit in aran weight lopi, but can be adapted for other bulky yarns - this makes them pretty quick to knit!
If you’re a more advanced knitter, improvise your own top-down sweater! This is a great blog post about improvising your own sweater - we recommend this if you have successfully knit at least one garment and keep a consistent gauge. We’re happy to help you navigate this journey in our workshops and weekly fellowships, but this option is best for a fairly self sufficient knitter, as it does take more math and understanding of sweater shape than following a traditional pattern.
A top down improvised raglan sweater with bobbles and puffed sleeves
Why a top-down sweater? Because they are easy to try on and make adjustments as you go!
What is the timeline?
December: Cast on, knit yoke
January: Split for sleeves, knit body
February: knit sleeves, finish
Can I participate if I’m far away?
YES! Sign up for the knit along (free for members! $10 for non-members) to join our online Fiber Arcade group to share progress and get help! Click here to sign up. If you are already a member, there’s a link to sign up for free on the Member Hub and in the weekly member email. When you sign up you'll also get emails of tips and tricks and updates to follow along as we knit our top-down raglan sweaters. Sign up by December for the full knit along, or join part way through!
You can also tag us on social media with #stashhousekal and @swansonsstashhouse - we love to see what you’re working on!
What materials do I need?
Multiple needles:
long circular needles - smaller needles for the ribbing, larger needles for the body - size depends on your personal knitting gauge and pattern/yarn choice, and you will need a few different lengths depending on which size you are knitting. For the sleeves you will need double pointed needles (DPNs) or you can use a long circular and the
A sweater’s worth of yarn:
This amount will be different for everyone - we can help you figure it out! A general rule of thumb is to buy one more ball of yarn than you think you need - better to have a little left over for repairs than to run out!
Shop our yarn selection here or in store! We have a limited number of curated sweater kits available for making scrappy sweaters - lovingly assembled by Elsa to have 1000-1500 grams of yarns in the same weight/fiber content.
If you are assembling your own scrappy sweater - we recommend matching weight and fiber type to ensure consistent gauge and wear of your sweater. Your yardage needs will depend on sweater size, yarn weight, and style. Some basic recommendations (these are pretty generous estimates):
Small - 400 - 600 grams
Medium - 600 - 800 grams
Large - 800 - 900 grams
XL - 900 - 1100 grams
XXL - 1100 - 1300 grams
XXXL - 1300 - 1500 grams
Keep reading below for how to estimate the weight of yarn you need based on the yardage your pattern asks for.
Read this helpful blog post about yarn weight and thickness for more info!
Other elements like sleeve length and body length will also influence yarn needs. If you are making a cropped sweater, you will use less yarn! Some fibers are also heavier than others - for example, cotton is a dense fiber and tends to weigh more than wool at the same thickness.
Yardage vs weight
Worsted weight yarn usually has a yardage of around 200 yards per 100 grams. We estimate that a 1000g scrappy worsted weight sweater kit will have about 2000 yards of yarn! DK yarn usually has a yardage of around 275 yards per 100 grams, so a 1000 gram scrappy dk weight sweater kit would be approximately equivalent to 2250 - 3000 yards of yarn.
Most patterns recommend yarn amount based on yardage. This is more consistent than estimating total weight of yarn used - but if you are working with scrappy, unlabeled yarn balls it is easier to estimate weight than length of a ball!
If we take the flax sweater in worsted weight as an example, they estimate between 920 yds (32” chest) to 2340 yds (70” chest) for a full length sweater. They increase the estimate by about 100-200 additional yards with each size. For the dk weight (a thinner yarn) pattern, they estimate between 1200 yds to 3080 yds.
If you are estimating for a worsted weight sweater, take the yardage amount and divide by 2. That’s about how many grams you’ll need.
If you are estimating for a dk sweater, take the yardage amount and divide by 2.75.
More detail on the Knit Along workshops:
$35 each workshop. Free for members. Sign up for each workshop individually. Workshops will have two experienced knitting instructors!
Workshop 1 on 12/8/24: demystifying the sweater!
- yarn & pattern selection
- custom sweater design
- sweater sizing
- how to read written patterns and charts
- short rows for shaping a yoke (depending on pattern selection)
- circle yokes vs raglan
- cast on methods for your sweater
- optional - tips for scrappy sweater making! If you want to work with yarn runts or small balls, we'll help you select yarns in fibers that will play well together from our shop
Workshop 2 on 1/12/25: color and texture, splitting for the body
- intro to stranded colorwork in the round
- splitting your yoke for sleeves
- incorporating textures/colorwork into design
- checking in on sweater progress
Workshop 3 on 2/9/24: magic loop, two at a time sleeves, finishing methods
- magic loop/two at a time sleeves
- sleeve shape/design
- cast off methods
- blocking tips
Knitting needles included! We have many kinds available! We will have some yarn available for learning, and you are welcome to bring your own. Workshops do not guarantee that we will have enough yarn in stock to make a full sweater (particularly if you want to make a sweater in one solid color)