I had the pleasure of testing this sweater in the month of September and I couldn’t miss reviewing this pattern since it was was one of my most liked pictures in my feed and you asked for pattern reviews as content for the blog so… here we go!
I divided this review into a few sections so it’s easy to follow and I hope to answer the questions you might have before buying the pattern.
LET’S TALK A BIT ABOUT THE PATTERN:
This pattern is designed by Melanie, from The Knit Stitch. It is a knitting pattern with which you will obtain a seamless sweater, perfect for those colder days where you only want to be warm and snugg. It maintains the same leaf pattern that characterizes The Knit Stitch but it’s addapted to a worsted/bulky yarn which makes it kinda quick to knit.
The pattern covers sizes XS to XL and it is available in 7 different languages: German, English, French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch and Danish. You can acquire it for 7,99€ in her website The Knit Stitch, and pay with debit card or paypal.
The level specified in the pattern is advanced, which I think it’s appropiate since it requires attention, working with raglan and circular knitting but… if you have a lot of patience, love challenges and have a bit of experience knitting and purling, I think you would be able to give it a go.
MATERIALS:
As listed in the website (and the pattern of course), for this pattern you will need:
- 6 and 10 mm circular needles, 6 mm double pointed needles. In my case I didn’t use the double pointed needles since my 6mm circular needles were very small and did the same work, using them for the neckline and sleeves.
- E.g. 4 (XS, S) or 5 (M, L, XL) x 100g We Are Knitters The Petite Wool (yup, I will have a review on it soon I hope!) or a similar wool (100g = ~140m)
- Stitch markers – at least 4 (and big ones to fit 10 mm needles!). I like having the first marker in a different color so I know where I started the row.
Since I was a testknitter I used the same yarn as specified in the pattern, I bought 5 skeins for size M and still got 1 skein and a half-ish as leftover. I choose my skeins in shade ocre, which made it look more autumn-ish with the leaf pattern.
HOW IS IT DONE:
Since it is a seamless sweater, is worked on the round, starting from the neckline, separating the stitches in 4 groups: front, sleeve 1, back and sleeve 2. You will work with leaning increases to create the shape, and once you are done with the yoke according to your size, you will separate the sleeves from the body and keep working on each piece separately (3 pieces).
The basic techniques you must know for this pattern are: Knit stitch – purl stitch – yarn over – cast-on – cast-off.
You will also find the following techniques that are explained by The Knit Stitch in the pattern: Knit 2 together – left leaning decrease – central double decrease – left leaning increase – right leaning increase. It is a plus that you already know them but if you don’t, you will find the explanations are easy to follow.
It is very important to check your gauge and try the leaf pattern for the gauge explained in the pattern so you can obtain the desired measurements.
HOW CLEAR WAS IT TO FOLLOW:
One of the things that I like the most of The Knit Stitch’s patterns it’s having everything explained very clearly and how easy they are to follow even if you are a begginer/intermediate knitter.
This pattern was a bit different from the Leaf Top or Leaf Sweater (cotton version) since the instructions are not written down row by row. It is explained with knitting charts for each size, which are pretty easy to follow and adds written instructions when needed.
My recommendations for this type of pattern? I like to keep an erasable pen next to the printed pattern and mark with a dot the rows you’ve already made to always keep track (specially if you are easily distracted like I am). Also, I used to count in some rows the number of stitches that I had in my needles and what the pattern said I should have, since sometimes I decided that I knew the stitches by heart and ended up not doing some yarn overs… yup, I learned the lesson when I had to frog 2 times at least 4 rows!
THE RESULT:
I made my sweater size M and ended up a bit oversize for me but I’m in love with it. It has been my go-to sweater for my colder days outfits, and you can rock it with jeans, with more dressy black trousers.
You will have in your wardrobe a very cozy, soft, no weight and warm sweater (yes, even if it has holes, I was a bit skeptical about the warmth of it but trust me – WORTH IT!)
Would I make another Leaf Sweater Winter Edition?… Drum roll… It’s a big YES. I love the final result, the way the sweater fits me, how the leaf pattern gives the sweater that something special, and of course, kniting a sweater with no seaming afterwards!
Hope this post helped you to get a better insight of the pattern. See you next week!
Xx,
Marta