beginner's guide to knitting a basic sweater | to beginners - from a beginner :)

Hi everyone! Welcome to my first ever knitting project :) This is a straight-forward and basic pattern for a sweater made out of 4 panels (2 sleeves + identical front and back panels). 

Please keep in mind that I’m a beginner myself and don’t know the exact abbreviations and terminology yet. I’ll update this once I’m more experienced! 

My sweater’s measurements…

Front and back panels:

Length - 20 inches

Width - 21 inches

Sleeves:

Length - 18.5 inches

Width - 12 inches (6 inches when folded in half)

How to make the front and back panels:

- Make a slip knot and cast on until you have the desired width for the sweater (I cast on 64)

- Knit rows of the stockinette stitch until the panel is the desired length (I knit 90 rows, repeat 1 row of knit stitches and 1 row of purl stitches)

- Cast/bind off all the stitches (I recommend leaving a slightly long tail, so you can use it for sewing the sides of the shoulders)

How to make the sleeves:

- Make a slip knot and cast on until you have the desired width (I cast on 42)

- Knit rows of the stockinette stitch until the panel is the desired length (I knit 80 rows, repeat 1 row of knit stitches and 1 row of purl stitches)

- Cast/bind off all the stitches (I recommend leaving a tail as long as your sleeves, so you can use it for sewing both sides of the sleeves together)

- Sew the sides of the sleeve together (see video demonstration!)

Join all the panels together:

I recommend starting from the bottom, but you can join it whichever way makes sense for you. 

- Start sewing the bottom of the front and panels together until you reach the armhole for the sleeve

- Sew the sleeves to the front and back panels going all the way around 

- Repeat on the other side 

- Sew a bit of the shoulders (top of the front and back panels) together (I joined 4.5 inches in both sides)