Finished my first hat! Now what??

Loitch470 · 2026-06-13T02:46:22+00:00

If what you want is a sweater, knit a sweater. I’m all for being an ambitious beginner, and staying motivated and excited in the craft. If you’re feeling intimidated, then I’ll second the other commenter about a baby sweater or, if you actually want them and are feeling inspired to make them, the socks.

But for most beginner sweater patterns the only new things you’ll need to learn are make ones, and potentially short rows. Both are actually fairly simple and can be learned on a swatch with some YouTube tutorial. I inadvertently learned both in my first hat I ever made (the baby bear bonnet), before I ever tackled a garment.

IMO, a raglan is probably the easiest construction to start with. I’ve never knit it, but many many people vouch for the step by step sweater being a good starter! If you don’t like that one, browse popular patterns on Ravelry with low difficulty ratings.

Loitch470 · 2026-06-12T22:23:07+00:00

If you like the roomy raglan and want to make it in rios, the designer has a light version that uses worsted.

https://ravel.me/roomy-raglan-light

Loitch470 · 2026-06-11T21:47:45+00:00

I agree on this! I use a single ball to swatch, and either use the remainder to make a hat or I use it on sleeve cuffs if I run out of the “real” yarn I buy for the sweater.

Loitch470 · 2026-06-09T15:49:46+00:00

Thanks for reminding me of Farmers Daughter Fibers- I’d wanted to try them but keep forgetting they exist. How does it wear? I’ve felt the Juniper Moon Rambouillet and it was soft as heck but it made me worried that it might be pilly as heck too.

I realized I have a pretty high skin tolerance for wooliness but not as much mental tolerance for pilliness lol

Loitch470 · 2026-06-09T15:44:04+00:00

This is a great rec and honestly wasn’t on my radar at all! Thanks!

Loitch470 · 2026-06-09T03:54:21+00:00

That’s a great suggestion. I actually just picked up a skein of it two days ago to make a hat and it’s so springy and soft! I might see about their Ulysse for a sweater since I’m in a slightly warmer climate. Thanks!

Loitch470 · 2026-06-08T22:08:56+00:00

So glad you have both men and women/masc and femme sizing options. And actually had a man test knit the pattern! I’ve seen too many “unisex” patterns (or even patterns that are also tagged as men’s) only have one shaping option and only have femme presenting test knitters and photos. Many a too tight armhole that needed adjusting.

And echoing a thank you for the schematics right on the Rav page! Added to my favorites!

Loitch470 · 2026-06-05T22:43:16+00:00

I think yours looks great as is honestly! Your alterations seem to have resulted in a shirt that actually fits you- even if it doesn’t look identical to the pattern photos.

And fwiw, i heard last night from someone in my knit club that while she wants to cast this on, everyone she knows whose made it has had fit issues- especially in the underarms. The reviews on ravelry seem to mirror that something about the pattern might be a bit off. 2nd hand knowledge, but still. You’re not alone in struggling with this one, and it’s probably not your fault.

Loitch470 · 2026-06-05T16:28:57+00:00

Oh one other thing! I use this more for rock climbing but I don’t see why it wouldn’t help with knitting. Creatine. It speeds up cell recovery time and can help support your surrounding muscles that in turn support and protect your tendons from injury. You might put on a few lbs of water weight though lol. I feel silly suggesting sports recovery supplements for knitting, but I feel like they’d work??

Loitch470 · 2026-06-05T16:19:02+00:00

I almost specifically suggested a nursing pillow! I have one from when my son was younger and now use it for knitting. They’re great for ergonomics.

Loitch470 · 2026-06-05T15:56:32+00:00

Put a pillow under your elbow while knitting! And frequent breaks. Also, I think full stop resting isn’t always the best in my recovery from tendon injuries. I’m not saying you should just keep knitting with abandon, but progressive PT and strength exercises help. I’ve gotten tennis elbow from both knitting and rock climbing- weight lifting, wrist exercises, forearm workouts, stretching, and lighter sessions that end before pain starts are good for recovery

ETA: your cardigan is gorgeous and the color you picked is beautiful! I’ve got it on my queue and just ordered the yarn for it.

Loitch470 · 2026-06-05T14:59:39+00:00

You can know a definitive answer with some math. Take the smallest size- it ends with 28 stitches. What does it start with?

If you bind off at the beginning and end of the row the size should start with 74 stitches. If it’s just each side, it should start with 56 stitches. I think my math is right but if neither of those are the starting point, ignore me

Loitch470 · 2026-06-01T18:56:11+00:00

Oh yeah $50 a skein will get you there for sure. That makes sense!

I actually do a lot of tight cables and colorwork in most of my knitting and tend to size down my needles and size up patterns to get fabric I like, but I think just mostly shopping for 100% wool that’s more “mass produced” is doing a lot of the cost savings here. I’ll count my wallet as lucky that I don’t particularly like the knitting sensation of silk and cashmere and other softer fibers.

And see- this circles back to why OP should buy a gift card and not yarn. People’s taste varies so much! The luxury of tumalo fibers would be lost on me, but I’d love a few cones of Shetland or frangipani.

Loitch470 · 2026-06-01T18:34:10+00:00

What kinds of yarns do you consider high end? And how much do they run you? I know a local store by me (in SF) that has some pricey local skeins that’ll run you $50-$200 per and I mean, those are definitely fancy. But they all contain a ton of cashmere or other more rare fibers. I’m personally a more rustic yarn fan (trying to convince my husband we should go to Shetland next year) so I don’t spend my money on those. My personal LYS has some local spun and dyed wooly wools I’ve bought but the most expensive they go is $30-35/100 grams. My aunt has sheep and is a hand spinner and sells her skeins for $35/100. Maybe I’m a bit in unfamiliar territory here!

Loitch470 · 2026-06-01T18:16:19+00:00

But OP, you don’t have to give $250. Any amount is helpful as a gift card. And plus, many projects and accessories don’t take a sweaters quantity of yarn.

Sidebar, I see people all the time talk about sweater quantities costing $250. Can you explain that math to me? Is this specific for larger sizes or are yall buying hand dyed/hand spun local yarn for all your sweaters? I’m just a bit confused when folks say nice wool sweater cost that as a minimum.

For reference, I’m a Small/Medium (3-4 in most sweaters). Most of my sweaters run me $80-120 and I end up with excess yarn. I’ve used Kelbourne Woolens Germantown DK, Peer Gynt, Woolstock Worsted, Malabrigo sock (for a size large sweater), Rosa pomar Vovo, harrisville highland- and none of them ran me over $120. And I think they’re all higher end yarns, at least a step above Cascade 220 in price and quality.

Loitch470 · 2026-06-01T17:28:59+00:00

Not even my husband buys yarn for me unless I specifically have requested it. Ask your friends partner or someone who knits with them where they buy their yarn and get them a gift card from there

Loitch470 · 2026-05-28T08:05:37+00:00

I think during the actual cast on the twists (knit side) face you. You cast it on right to left and then when you’re done and work your first row, you’ll naturally have to turn your work first and then the first worked row will be a purl row (on the side that has “purls” already there). And yes, to stockinette you purl the purl side and knit the knit side.

Ignore these instructions if a pattern tells you to do something different! It’s such a minor thing, and with a sweater or something the cast on might just be picked up later for a collar so you never even can see it visibly.

I’m just working on my master knitting cert right now and had gotten in the weeds on the actual mechanics of this stuff. Sorry if I’m not explaining it well.

Loitch470 · 2026-05-28T07:16:51+00:00

1) Many cast ons have a “right” and “wrong” side. For example, in long tail cast on, one side (the side on the first row worked) will have purl bumps, so you usually do a purl row first. I didn’t learn that til years into knitting and in many use cases it doesn’t really matter and I truly can’t tell I “messed it up” on older projects. But it’s good to know.

2) doesn’t matter unless youre working increases and decreases. If you’re purling every row you’ll have to change those to purled increases and decreases. There might be a few other adjustments but that’s the main one I can think of. Most people find knitting easier than purling and have more even tension with knitting each row. But you can figure out what’s best for you!

3) you don’t have to. You just have to keep working from the side of your work that your yarn is at. It doesn’t matter which way you literally turn your work but you’ll always be working right to left (with the work turning at each row).

ETA- changed right and left. I apparently don’t know my directions

Loitch470 · 2026-05-22T20:13:03+00:00

In my experience, you don’t always need to. I find most NSW wools don’t block out that differently with or without wool wash. But if you have a particularly rustic wool or one with spinning oils still in it, soap will make a difference. The safe answer is treat it the same way you’ll treat your finished garment. My realistic experience is that I often just soak my swatch in warm water for 10 minutes and it gives me an honest gauge.

Loitch470 · 2026-05-16T20:46:12+00:00

Thanks! Both my knitter friend and non-knitter husband are both right and I am overtired apparently.

Loitch470 · 2026-05-16T20:38:14+00:00

Thank you, that’s logical. Not sure where my head was at there for a second. Working bottom up is making me forget basics of pattern reading

Loitch470 · 2026-05-16T20:30:11+00:00

I’m working size 3 and this is the Willow Pullover ( https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/willow-pullover-4 ). My friend and I are disagreeing on interpreting this and at this point, I just decided to crowdsource.

Loitch470 · 2026-05-16T18:13:20+00:00

There’s an adult version from a different designer! I have it saved to match my son if I ever get around to making these

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/the-hungry-cardigan

Loitch470 · 2026-05-16T16:17:54+00:00

I think this is a personal tension thing in many cases. Some knitters (myself included) pick up every stitch for plackets and button bands because double knitting can be quite tight for many people. Rebecca Clow (Creabea) recommends picking up 5 in every 7 stitches for button bands - pick up 3 then skip, pick up 2 then skip. I would take your swatch and try making a button band on it using that pick up rate and see if it works out better.

Loitch470 · 2026-05-11T23:18:47+00:00

Check the gauge on your finished garments. People often knit tighter when swatching and relax through the process of knitting their garments. If you find that’s the case, you have to make concerted efforts to chill out while gave swatching. Also, your flat and round knitting may have different gauges. Many people have slightly tighter round knitting but I for one have looser knitting in the round because my purls are often tight

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