Knitting Wool Sweaters

There is an image that may come to mind when you hear about people knitting or learning to knit, of an old granny knitting wool sweaters beside the fire. Nowadays, nothing could be further from the truth there are many fashion designers who concentrate totally on wool products, making wool jackets, wool suits and beautiful wool fabric for other uses.

Hand knitted wool sweaters

Sometimes the items will be hand knitted by an outsourced team of knitters other times the products are knitted by machine but whatever means is used you are guaranteed good quality and value when you are using a natural wool yarn. Hand knitted wool sweaters are very labor intensive and this is reflected in the price you pay for pure wool products because the are not cheap to buy.

Wool

Wool is a superior medium in many ways it allows the wearer to regulate their body heat when wearing it next to the skin. It has water repellent properties when used with the natural lanolin content intact, it can be lightweight or heavier depending on the quality and type of the wool used. It may be used as wool felt to provide even more protection from the elements and create other wonderful items like a winter weight wool overcoat. It is a very versatile medium which may have been neglected over the years but is now seeing a huge revival as people start to truly understand its nature.

Starting to knit

If you are a complete novice at knitting then it would be best if you can find someone you know that can knit to give you a short lesson. My mom taught me to knit and her mom taught her before that, so go ask your mom or your granny and keep the ball rolling. If you are not lucky enough to have someone near to you that can help, then look out for classes in your local wool store or school or college. Get yourself a pattern, a pair of needles and a ball of new wool and sit down somewhere comfortable when you have an hour or two to spare.

The slip knot

The first step in any knitting project is to cast on enough stitches to knit your piece. Make a slip knot by making a loop of wool around your thumb crossing over the two strands, with the loose end of the wool hanging down in your hand. Take hold of the other attached end of wool and make a second loop, (taking the first loop off your thumb) feed the second loop through the first loop and pull the loose end tight. This is the first stitch so put it on your needle, if you are right handed than hold this needle in your left hand and the other needle in your right hand. You will need to practice, but after a while it will become second nature and you will be able to produce lovely woolen garments whilst you watch TV. Your fingers will be so attuned to knitting that you will not need to keep watching what you knit.

Put the other needle through the first stitch, from the front, underneath the first needle and at right angles to it. Wind the attached wool (do not use the loose end) around the underneath needle from the back. Keeping everything loose enough to move, slide the back needle with its loop of wool under and through the loop on the first needle pull up the loop of wool and slide it onto the first needle, repeat until you have enough stitches on your needle.

Starting to knit is the same as casting on except that when the loop on the right hand needle is pulled through the loop on the left, the loop on the right hand needle stays where it is and the loop on the left slides off the end of the left needle. So put the RH needle through the first stitch on the LH needle, wind the wool around from the back. Gently slide the RH needle under the LH and up through the loop on the LH needle. Keep the stitch on the RH needle and slide the stitch off the end of the LH needle. This is repeated on all the stitches until no stitches remain on the left needle, they are all on the right. At this stage swap the right hand needle to the left hand and repeat all over again. Start with a wool scarf and later move on to a wool sweater.

Now you are knitting and soon will be knitting wool sweaters for the whole family.