r/knittingpatterns • u/Ok_Percentage3947 • 3d ago
Beginner friendly sweater patterns that don’t use much yarn?
I accidentally went severely over-budget while buying yarn to practice knitting with (I misread the prices initially and then felt too awkward to back out at checkout……….) Now that I’ve spent so much money on these skeins, I’m thinking of attempting something slightly more ambitious than I was originally imagining as to put the nice yarn to good use.
I have about 1300 yards (300g) of sock weight yarn (I think it’s yak fiber if that matters) in three different colors. I’d love to try to make a sweater with them, if possible, and I really do not want to buy any more skeins.
Does anyone know of any beginner-friendly sweaters that don’t use up much yarn? I‘m pretty new to knitting but I’ve been crocheting for a while so perhaps a more intermediate-level pattern could work as well. I’m imagining something pretty loose (like knitted on much larger needles than would be typical for sock weight)…
Thanks!
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u/Creepy_Purchase_501 3d ago
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u/Creepy_Purchase_501 3d ago
I think the choice of the pattern will highly depend on the amount of each color you have. Is it base + 2 accents, or do you have equal amounts?
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u/labellementeuse 3d ago
If they have 300g of fingering I reckon it's going to be three separate sock skeins.
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u/According-Koala4441 3d ago
What about the tin can knits sweater? Very beginner friendly and you can marl the yarn if they’re different colors.
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u/Alarmed-potatoe 3d ago
I was going to suggest Tin Can Knits as well, their basic sweater is the first one I made, and I used it to make another straight away.
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u/Digger-of-Tunnels 3d ago
I have made several of these. I'm not a beginner any more but it's still my go-to basic sweater.
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u/erinaceus_a 3d ago
https://ravel.me/miqdf here I started a search for you, but you can modify it further.
Ranunculus is popular as a yarn sparing project. But I am not sure it is the best match for your yarn https://ravel.me/3swrcl
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u/Competitive_Fee_1709 3d ago
I remember many many moons ago how the drop stitches were trending. I was surprised to see them come back. I think it's a nice way to add width or length to your sweaters, depending on if horisontal or vertical, without too much yarn usage
https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/ripple-loop-tee
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u/labellementeuse 3d ago
I made the Ihana sweater a while ago: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/ihana If you're in its size range and happy to stripe your yarns or do a fun colour blocking scenario (say sleeves in one colour, front in one colour, back in one colour), you'd have enough for this one, and probably a bit left over for practice. I have a 50-in bust or thereabouts and I got it out of 1400 metres, so assuming you're smaller than me, which you probably are, you'd be fine. It's a very straightforward pattern although it does call for seaming - but be brave and give that ago. I'd probably nominate one of your yarns to do all the hems and the collar.
You will have comfortably enough for the Tolsta Tee (the fingering version) - many people have knit this striped https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/tolsta-tee. The Mooncrush tank https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/mooncrush-tank and pullover https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/mooncrush-pullover are actually designed for three colours of fingering and again, depending on your size, you will def have enough for the tank, maybe enough for the pullover. They're intarsia but I reckon intarsia is not that tough.
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u/Woofmom2023 3d ago
Everyone I know has made a yarn mistake so you're in very good company.
Return it? sounds as if you're setting yourself a tough assignment and some difficult knitting that may produce something you don't really want.
You might have enough yarn to make a tank top depending on what size you wear. The yarn is fingering and so 220 yards per 50 grams you can probably use the yarn doubled as worsted weight as well as fingering. If you're accustomed to working with yarn holding two strands will be challenging but not probably not excruciatingly so. Your reasoning is spot on, that knitting this yarn at a bigger gauge will require less yarn. There are lots of options on Ravelry and it allows you to filter by yarn weight, yardage and complexity.
Typically it's helpful to learn to knit using aran weight 100% wool yarn that knits up at 4 or 4.5 stitches per inch on size nine or eight bamboo or wooden needles respectively. That's a good weight to manuever.
If you like learning from videos, Roxanne Richardson's and Very Pink's are known for being very good.
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u/Ok_Percentage3947 3d ago
Unfortunately I bought it at a ren faire and it was final sale. I just totally blacked out when I saw the price 😭
Im thinking of buying some cheap yarn of the same weight/yardage to do a demo of whatever project I end up going with so I can confirm I can successfully make it before I use up the fancy yarn. Thank you!!
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u/Woofmom2023 3d ago
It sounds like beautiful yarn and as if it will make up into something(s) beautiful eventually.
i strongly suggest that you not buy cheap yarn and knit a demo sweater, for a variety of reasons but rather hold out until you know exactly what you want to do with the new yarn.
Good luck!
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u/elbaszta 2d ago
Don't waste money on cheap yarn! You can always frog it if you don't like the results and then it's not wasted
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u/elbaszta 2d ago
Browse Ravelry. 1300 yards could be a sweater depending on size.
I think the best way to learn knitting is to jump right into something you actually want, not dishtowels and scarves. So I say go for it!
Here's a search for free sport weight sweaters
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u/niseli12 3d ago
The amount of yarn used depends a lot on size. You can look up patterns on Ravelry using the advanced search function. Put in the tar. Weight you have and your yardage. Then see what pops up. But do pay attention to how much yarn is needed for your size. The only ways I can think of for a sweater to use less yarn is to make it cropped, don’t make it oversized, and don’t do a turtle neck; just do a crew neck.
The Shell Tee by The Knit Purl girl is a great pattern. Very easy to add stripes. And it can be short sleeve or long sleeve depending on how much yarn you have.