I realllllllly want to quarantine knit myself a sweater, but I’m so overwhelmed by the factors that go in to making a sweater! I can solidly knit and purl, but I’m mostly a crocheter. I think I want to make the Felix Sweater from March Mayhem 2020, but I don’t know if it will be too hard for me. I don’t know what yarn to pick! I think I want to invest in that good good, but I’m a little strapped for cash. What needles should I use? There are so many decisions! If you have any advice for a nervous novice, I’m all ears!
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Someone told me last week to just “dive in” on any project that I’m afraid to tackle, and that’s what I’m doing–I’m knitting my first cardigan! I just ordered the yarn yesterday (Quince and Co–I love their yarn and it’s high quality). Their basic yarns are reasonably priced for their high quality, and it’s mostly American wool, so there’s that, if that’s important to you. For my color choice, I chose a medium gray, because as it’s a cardigan I wanted something that would go with a lot of other things. For a sweater, I’d be much more likely to say pick a color that you just love! (Not that I don’t love the gray, I do!)
As far as needles–do you mean what type of needle? Or what size of needle.
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Oh my goodness! Please send cardigan progress updates! I’ll definitly check out Quince and Co Yarn. The pattern for the Felix Sweater on Ravelry has three different needle recommendations for size, so I don’t know which ones I need. A US 10 or 8?
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Oh, there will be cardigan updates. I might set up a thread, if I’m allowed to do that here.
OK …hmmmm. I’m stumped on the needles here. Is it related to the yarn you pick? I know for my cardigan the amount of yarn changed, but not the needle size. I’m stumped!
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I’m glad it’s not just me! I think it definitly has to do with yarn substitutions, but it doesn’t even give one to start with, there’s just three listed. I think I’m going to order the size 8’s to check the gauge and go from there, I’m also going to need some double pointed ones and potentially a second set of circular needles for the yoke part ??? I’m definitly getting excited!
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Yay!!! I’m so excited to see this project!
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Hi there! I just wanted to chime in on needles (and a bit about yarn)…
First, for your Felix pattern, you’ll need three needle sizes for your project – it calls for US8 and US 10 and US 5 for a special type of cast on. Now, these are just the needles the designer used to get gauge. As you might have heard before, everyone’s gauge can be different! so you’ll need to SWATCH. Order at least one extra skein of yarn for swatching. You’ll thank yourself:)
If you can, invest in a set of interchangeable needles. There are so many out there to fit almost any price range. That’s the easiest way to have whatever needles you need because, after all, YOU may not get the designer’s gauge with a specific needle size. She calls for a US10, but you may need a 9 or a 10.5…
Swatching to get gauge can be frustrating…You just want to get to the project! But you really need to do it if you want a sweater that fits. I’ll repeat what I’ve read from other fine knitters: look at it as playing with yarn:)
That said: if you want to start with a pattern that is generously/deliberately oversized to satisfy your instant sweater making gratification, might I suggest Ranunculus by Midori Hirose. I finished this as a “first” pullover sweater in January and I love it!!
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Yes, second on swatching! I ordered a whole extra skein just to be safe for swatching purposes.
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Thank you so much for the advice! I found some really affordable interchangeable needles that came with all the sizes I needed!
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I definitly accounted for swatching, I ended up getting some beautiful Goosey Fibers yarn.
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Oh my goodness, I should not have clicked that link. They have a Harry Potter yarn line!!!
Its so stunning 
It is AMAZING. Obviously since my Crookshanks knits, I must get the Crookshanks yarn immediately.
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What did you choose from Goosey Fibers? It looks like wonderful stuff!!
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There were so many really amazing options, I really loved all of the Winnie the Pooh collection but I ended up choosing the Letter of Marque color from the “To the Sea!” collection.
I added a link to the pic!
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Oh my goodness I love it. I think that’ll be great for a sweater!
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Thanks 
I tend to wear a lot of cropped sweaters with neutral collared shirts underneath and I thought it would be perfect for that!
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Gorgeous!!
Since you’ve chosen a hand dyed yarn, do you know about color pooling? If you don’t, let me know and I’ll explain a little more… It could mean the difference between loving and hating your new sweater color.
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I do not know about color pooling!!!
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It’s ok! You’ll often find color pooling with hand dyed yarn. Pooling is when you’re knitting and you’ll have a big blotch of one color here and another blotch of color there and some mixing of colors.
Here is an example: Color Pooling
If you don’t like that look, you’ll want to alternate your skeins of yarn as you work so you get a more even color dispersion .
Here’s a good video tutorial on how to do that: Knitting Help: Alternating Skeins
Hope this helps 
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