A few years ago, I came across an article suggesting some kinder replacements for common sayings that are, when you think about them, pretty violent. Things like killing two birds with one stone, or there being more than one way to skin a cat. The article proposed vegetable-based alternatives (“more than one way to peel a potato” is the one that stuck in my head). At the time I think I had a chuckle and moved on, but it obviously stuck with me, and I occasionally find myself almost drawing on one of those well-worn phrases then deciding that actually, it’s not quite fit for my purposes.
Anyway, why am I waffling on about cats and potatoes on a knitting blog? Well, I’ve had a revelation. Most of the sayings and idioms we regularly use bear little relation to our daily activities. (I mean, I’m going to go ahead and assume you don’t make a habit of skinning cats.) So why not make them knitting-related instead? My first suggestion for inclusion in the knitter’s handy book of sayings? There’s more than one way to knit a sweater. Benefits? It’s catchy, and it’s also true (I’m not trying to point fingers or start a fight, but I’m not actually sure there is more than one way to peel a potato.)
And on that note, we’ve got a video tutorial for you today focussed on knitting top-down sweaters. Every sweater construction method has its own plusses and minuses.
With a pieced sweater, you get to work on smaller, discrete bits of knitting.
With a bottom-up sweater, you can cast on your first sleeve as a swatch and minimise your time wrestling with a huge nearly finished sweater WIP.
And with a top-down sweater, once you divide the body and sleeves, you can try it on and check your work, always an exciting and hopefully reassuring moment.
In today’s video tutorial, Jen shows you how to separate the sleeves and body on the Simple Swoncho by Karida Collins from MDK Field Guide No. 18: Beginnings. The video takes you not only through the dividing moment, but also what to do when you return to the sleeves and how to close up any pesky underarm gaps. You can watch below, or, if you’re reading on our email service, this link will take you to the YouTube tutorial: Splitting Body & Sleeves
This is a fantastic first top-down sweater project … the easeful fit makes it forgiving for newbies, but also just a joy to wear, no matter your knitting experience level. It’d be terrifically cozy knitted up in our Something To Knit With Aran, which you can grab for an absolute steal at the moment. The mini-swoncho in the video and images was made using the Lawn shade.
So there you have it: a tutorial to guide you through the action bits of a top-down sweater. And your challenge today, should you choose to accept it, is to use the phrase “there’s more than one way to knit a sweater” in casual conversation. Bonus points if you say it to a non-knitter. Let’s make this a thing!