Sweater knitting is a favorite pastime of many a knitter!
Do you do a regular audit of your hand-knit sweaters? For me, this is a long-overdue task that I’m tackling today. Whether you audit your hand-knit sweaters annually, bi-annually, or perhaps seasonally, it’s a smart exercise for every sweater knitter to take a look at on a regular basis. You can learn so much. And it’s a really fun kind of exercise!
A sweater audit is when you pull out all of your hand-knit sweaters, try them on, and analyze what is and isn’t working. Things to consider might include the following:
- Perhaps the most obvious is which sweaters fit me well.
- Which sweaters do I find myself most often gravitating toward?
- Sweaters made from which weight of yarn do you most often find yourself wearing?
- Which styles do I wear most often? Top-down pullovers? Bottom-up pullovers? Cardigans? Long sleeve? Short sleeve?
- Do I have any gaps in my hand-knit sweater wardrobe I’d like to fill in the next 6-12 months?
- Are any of my sweaters showing wear that might need some repair or replacement?
So why would you want to do a sweater audit?
First, it helps you define what you’re actually wearing. Since we all know whipping up a sweater takes both time and money, it’s important to think through what you’re actually wearing and why. This helps you to spend your time and money wisely in the future.
Second, analyzing the fit of your current sweaters helps you identify which patterns might also fit you well. Once you become familiar with which knitwear designers’ patterns fit you well, you’ll be more confident knitting more sweaters from those same designers in the future. Typically knitwear designers follow a similar fit from sweater pattern to sweater pattern even if they branch out into designing different styles. For example, I know that Isabell Kraemer’s patterns fit my body very well so I’m planning to add at least one more of her sweaters to my knitting plans.
Third, doing a sweater audit helps you identify the gaps in your wardrobe. Knowing which sweaters you wish you had is just as important as knowing which ones you grab often. For example, I know I have a severe lack of cardigans. There are many days I wish I had a lightweight cardigan to toss over my tops, especially during the many transitional weather days we have around here.
This said I do believe a big part of the joy of knitting is casting on whatever project brings life and love into your life!
So while I believe doing a sweater audit has great value, I also believe in balance. Leave room in your knitting plans to cast on recklessly from time to time. Because let’s also be sure to keep knitting the super fun hobby we know and love for it to be!
To summarize, I highly recommend doing a sweater audit annually if you’re a fairly avid sweater knitter. It helps give your knitting direction, and helps prevent waste, plus, it’s pretty fun to lay them all out and admire your hard or just plain fun work!
To give you an example, I recorded a video of how I did my own sweater audit this year. I hope it inspires you to do your own annual audit. And if you already do a regular sweater audit, I’d love to hear what things you’ve discovered about your own sweater knitting in the comments below.
After your sweater audit, if you find you’ll be needing some yarn to fill a sweater gap, I’d love to offer you a 20% discount on your yarn purchase by signing up at: bit.ly/fiberfriends
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Mindy Kingery
When I'm not dyeing, designing or dreaming of yarn, you can find me painting, digging in my garden, hiking with my family or working on one of my many, many WIPs.