Are you considering creating your first sweater pattern with Dreamknit's design tool but would like to know more about the patterns first? Then you've come to the right place! Here, we will take a look on how they are structured and their difficulty levels.
A brief overview of our sweater patterns
💫 They are knitted from the top down.
💫 All sweaters are seamless.
💫 We use simple language – no difficult abbreviations.
💫 We provide instructional videos for every step.
💫 You can knit with any yarn you like!
What our patterns are like to knit
Every pattern is written the same way, whether you design it yourself or pick a ready-made one. Your size, your yarn and your gauge go straight into the instructions, so you never have to convert or recalculate anything. The steps come in plain language, in the order you knit them, and every technique has its own video.
Want to see how that feels before you design your own? Try Ada, our free pattern. It's a chunky sweater on 8 mm needles that knits up fast, and it shows you exactly what a Dreamknit pattern looks like from the first cast-on to the last bind-off.
Sweaters with set-in construction
You can choose between two different fits when designing your own - regular or oversized. This determines how the sweater fits your body, with the main differences being where the seam between the body and sleeves hits and how big the sweater is compared to your body.
For sweaters with a gauge less than 17 stitches/10 cm, short rows are added at the shoulders for a better fit.
Regular fit
On sweaters with a regular fit, the seam between the sleeves and the body is placed at the edge of the shoulder, and the start of the sleeves is shaped with short rows for a good fit. We love these sweaters for an everyday look!
Oversized fit
Ahh... Oversized. It's no secret that this is a favorite of ours. With oversized sweaters, you get the "drop shoulder" look where the seam is placed further down on the arm.
Both fits can be combined with all types of sleeves and necklines, and in any yarn!
Sweaters with raglan construction
Raglan sweaters can also be designed with various types of sleeves, necklines, and regular or oversized fit. They are shaped with raglan increases as well as some rows of increases for the neckline in the very beginning.
The v-neck option is not compatible with raglan sweaters yet.
Regular fit vs. oversized fit
Raglan sweaters with a regular fit has a smaller circumference than raglan sweaters with an oversized fit. The oversized patterns include more increases to achieve the correct fit.
Difficulty levels
Every design gets a difficulty level from 1 to 5, and it's your own choices that decide where it lands. A sweater with a round neck and simple rib starts at level 1, while choices like German short rows, twisted rib knit back and forth or an i-cord edge each add a step.
A higher level never means the pattern is harder to follow. All our patterns have thorough explanations in addition to instructional videos, and feedback from our customers says the patterns are easy to follow and fun to knit.
Want the full breakdown? Read what decides the difficulty level of a design.
Examples of sweater patterns
If you want to see more examples of sweater patterns from the design tool, you can click here.
Ready to unleash your creativity?
Click a shape below and create your dream sweater 👇
Head over to the design tool to get started!
