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10 Best Online Stores For Great Men’s Sweater Knitting Patterns
10 Best Online Stores For Great Men’s Sweater Knitting Patterns
There’s something very satisfying about knitting for the men in your life. It might be for your partner, a relative, a friend, neighbour or someone who deserves the immense amount of effort required to hand knit a sweater. However, where do you find those mens sweater knitting patterns? Where are the really cool designs? There are loads more patterns for women and the men’s patterns are often sidelined or hard to find. Here, I’ll list a few of my favourite sites to find really great sweater patterns. Some are free, some are paid, from beginner to advanced skill level.
Before You Start Your Search
There are a few questions you can ask yourself before you start. This will help you choose the perfect pattern to match your circumstance.
Skills:
How much do you want to challenge yourself? If you go for a pattern that is easy for your skill level, you are more likely to do a very tidy job with less mistakes. If you go for a pattern that is challenging, it’s a great opportunity to stretch yourself to learn new skills and make something truly impressive.
Use:
In what situations can you see this man using the sweater? Is he out in a boat? At the office under air-conditioning? Out in the garden? Visiting friends in the weekend? Think about the environment and where he spends most of his time while you choose your knitting pattern. That way, he can get the most use out of the sweater.
Time:
Is there a deadline to get this man’s sweater completed? Maybe you want to finish in time for his birthday, a date he is going out of town, Christmas or some other reason. Choosing a pattern at a level you can complete in the time given is a good way to keep the stress down. More advanced patterns might mean you will need to unravel some of your work to make corrections which will lengthen the time it takes to complete.
Budget:
How are your finances today? When you are knitting a gift, you might want to splurge on luxury yarns. When the purse strings are tight, you may need to get creative in finding your yarn buying second hand, from estate auctions, at your local knitter’s guild, charity shops or bargain basements. If you have the yarn already, check the label to find what needles are recommended. You can match the weight of the yarn while you are searching.
Type of Yarn:
Do you know what yarn you want to use? Sometimes it is fun to spot a really gorgeous men’s sweater knitting pattern and then choose the yarn to match. Other times, you might fall in love with a yarn and then go looking for a suitable sweater pattern. Pure wool or alpaca is very warm and will last a long time. However, if the man is unlikely to hand wash the sweater, find a wool blend (wool/acrylic, wool/cotton, wool/bamboo for example) or a super wash wool so it can go in the washing machine. Too many times has a jumper, which took a month to knit, been chewed up and spat out by the washing machine …. or dryer. Ugh.
Weight of Yarn:
Finer yarns such as fingering weight – also known as 4ply in Australia or sock weight yarns – make a more lightweight sweater and take longer to knit. Medium weight – also known as DK weight or 8ply – are warmer and take less time. Light Worsted or Aran weight (10-12ply) are heavier. Picture the classic cream coloured men’s sweaters with loads of cables and decoration. That’s an Aran Sweater. Bulky or chunky weight yarns are much quicker to complete and are heavy for super cold weather. This might limit its use unless he lives in a country where the weather is mostly cold. You will find most patterns are written for Fingering weight or DK weight.
Texture:
If you’re making a DK weight sweater or heavier, you can choose more rustic yarns that are a little scratchy. These will sit on top of shirts, turtle necks or long sleeve t-shirts and won’t be in contact with the skin. These types of yarns often last the longest though it’s good to avoid a tall ribbing on the neck so it doesn’t aggravate the skin. Be mindful of yarns that “bloom” or become quite fluffy (I.e. they gain a “halo” over time). Some guys don’t like to look like a teddy bear or might see it as too feminine. Ask your retailer for advice on how a yarn will bloom over time to check on this. (Of course, for those who embrace their feminine side, this type of yarn might be quite the attraction.)
Colours:
Imagine what colours he likes to wear. If you’re going to say “black”, that’s not quite so easy. Black wool is infamous for being difficult to work when you cannot see all the detail. A man I was knitting a gift sweater for liked wearing a lot of black. I chose a deep ocean blue for him to match his eyes. The colour will go with his black clothes and not draw too much attention. It might even encourage him to use a little more colour in his wardrobe.
Ready To Shop The Websites For Mens Sweater Knitting Patterns
So now you have a better idea of what you are looking for, let’s go shopping! When you search these sites, you’ll often be able to choose the weight of yarn which will immediately reduce down the search results making the choice a little easier.
I’ve avoided Ravelry in this selection which is the largest database in the world. It can be overwhelming looking through thousands of patterns. The quality can vary considerably and what lots of people are buying are not necessarily the best patterns. So, instead I’ve chosen to recommend more curated collections.
Bergere of France
To me, this site is hands down, the coolest collection of men’s sweater knitting patterns. They are masculine, strong designs suited to a variety of skill levels. Most of the men I knit for are relatively modest and don’t want to draw attention. These patterns are stylish without being too loud. A high class act.
GarnStudio of Norway
GarnStudio provide a good selection of free basic to intermediate level patterns to match their yarn brand “Drops”. Here is the best place to get knitting patterns for Nordic sweaters. They are the ones like this image, with stripes or intricate patterns around a yoke, usually in 2-3 colours.
Patons of Australia
This company has been been publishing paper patterns for over 100 years so you will find many of their booklets for sale second hand. They are classics! On the website, there are free and paid mens sweater knitting patterns. One click takes you directly to the pdf. Great! You can also find digital and paper book patterns here.
Katia of Barcelona Spain
Katia offer yarns, sewing fabrics and patterns for both. They have lovely photography and models which makes shopping so much more fun! You will be searching for “Jumpers” on this site, which is another name for sweaters.
Sirdar from UK
This collection is small but beautiful! You can buy just the pattern or, like most of these yarn manufacturers, you can also buy the exact yarn around which the knitting pattern was designed. They have a few menswear patterns currently showing in their collection and all at affordable prices. The number of designs is surprisingly small considering they have had in-house designers since 1930. They may be like Patons and not had them all digitised yet.
The blue hoodie image at the top of this page is also from the Sirdar website.
Rowan from UK
The Rowan website is a wee bit frustrating as you can’t choose just Men’s patterns so I’ve made our search link via the male designers to get a higher proportion of Men’s results. Martin Storey is an absolute star knitwear Designer for Rowan. The amount of designs he has created is astounding.
Lang of Switzerland
Their photography is aimed at a young and funky audience. However, there are still some good traditional shapes and stitch patterns there. Choose your country in the top window bar to get the right currency.
Schachenmayr of Germany
Yep, I know, the domain name does not match the yarn brand. However, this is the direct link from the Schachenmayr website. The collection also contains other brands such as Baby Smiles, Catania and Freundin. The search is a little vague so you may also pick up accessories and unisex in the search results.
Berocco of USA
Although I’ve chosen a grandad type image, there are young patterns on the Berocco website as well. It’s a good collection for conservative designs, not quite as adventurous, which may be perfect for the man you are knitting for.
Lovecrafts of UK and USA
Lovecrafts don’t have their own in-house designers and so rely upon external patterns to be submitted to the site. As a result, there is plenty to choose between but they are not edited nor tested by the company . Therefore, the quality is not guaranteed. This design is called “Combat Sweater in Rowan Original Denim”.
Special Mention
I wanted to make a couple of special mentions for Designers of knitted menswear.
Josh Bennett NYC
https://www.joshbennettnyc.com/make-it
Josh Bennett designs are for when you want something really special and unique. The yarns he is using may not be necessary but they certainly enhance the over all effect.
Stephen West from WestKnits
Stephen has a wonderful collection of men’s sweater knitting patterns. He is naturally flamboyant and adventurous with his colours and creative stitch patterns. Prices are very reasonable. These designs are ideal for your extrovert man.
So that should keep you busy for a while. If you see any websites that are better than these for mens sweater knitting patterns, feel free to contact me. I’d love to take a look.
Shop Annabelle Drumm’s Knitting Patterns
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