{"id":10847,"date":"2023-10-27T16:41:52","date_gmt":"2023-10-27T20:41:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/knitfitco.com\/website\/correct-your-fit-with-front-and-back-sizing-2\/"},"modified":"2024-02-20T17:38:02","modified_gmt":"2024-02-20T22:38:02","slug":"knitting-the-unshaped-sweater-simply-a-great-fit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/knitfitco.com\/website\/knitting-the-unshaped-sweater-simply-a-great-fit\/","title":{"rendered":"Knitting the Unshaped Sweater: Simply a Great Fit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The key to knitting the unshaped sweater is finding a pattern that offers your size AND your proportions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imagine you’re looking for a relaxed top, for any reason\u2014maybe your style preferences veer towards looser fits and boxy<\/a> silhouettes, or you’re going for comfort above all else. The common solution is to pick the most basic, boxy design you can. Later, you’ve finished a quick swatch, you’re flying through stockinette. Then a few rows in, it hits you. A successful swatch means the FO will fit your bust. What about other body widths and lengths?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or worse, maybe your pattern doesn’t even offer your bust size. Now let’s talk about getting that cozy, unshaped fit, and having it actually fit<\/em>–without any modifications or math!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To complement the skills we’re building in this post, also read The Ultimate Guide to Personalized Shaping for Your Knitting Patterns;<\/a> a key skill-building article for improving accuracy of fit through shaping options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Before we jump into sharing skills and strategies for knitting the unshaped sweater, let’s build a solid foundation by looking at the surprising reasons why<\/em> these issues of fit occur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Simplifying Knitting Has Led to Unrealistic Size Ranges<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Knitters didn’t always use patterns. Not even as recently as the 1890s and early 1900s, when Ireland welcomed the birth of the legendary Aran fisherman sweater. Instead, those Irish fisherman’s wives determined the sizing for their project based on the wearer’s body. While laborious to be sure, this could only have improved accuracy. It’s also an example of custom sizing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As hand-knitting patterns have became a commodity, a table of average body sizes has been the basis for developing sizes. These tables of body sizes are not accurate averages for our current population, and debate surrounds the reasons for this. The reasons are important to explore. But even if these sizes did reflect accurate averages, that wouldn’t mean your sweater would fit. The fact is that our proportions are unique. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Choosing a size based on bust size relies on faith that all of your other body measurements relate numerically to your bust size with the same exact proportions as the “average person.” Meanwhile this “average person” represents a composite of body measurements. You may have the same bust size as this average but a different shoulder width, torso length, or waist circumference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Perhaps the old way resulted in more accurate sizing–but wow does it sounds like a lot of work! Fortunately, we now have unshaped custom-sized patterns we can generate for our unique sizes, proportions, and lengths, and it requires no math.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The development of custom-sized, unshaped patterns<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Across many years as a local yarn shop owner, KnitFit\u2122 App<\/a> founder Jane Nickerson saw customers daily who wanted custom-sized patterns. However, while they wanted a good fit, they didn’t always want custom shaping. Sometimes they wanted a relaxed, boxy look. Jane realized they wanted a pattern based on their real body measurements without following curves. As a result, Jane helped them generate unshaped, custom-sized patterns, and the result was well-fitting sweaters with straight vertical side seams. The circumference fits the widest part of the torso and remains constant circumference from top to bottom. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each of Jane’s customers had specific goals with regards to custom-sized patterns. This desire to mix and match shaping and fit features stuck as she went on to develop the KnitFit\u2122 app. Multiple shaping options<\/a> were developed, one being No Shaping<\/em>, resulting in the classic unshaped sweater. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Understanding the Unshaped Custom-Sized Garment<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A custom-sized garment with No Shaping will include the following features:<\/p>\n\n\n\n