Women's Knitting Patterns

A wardrobe you can knit

This is the widest of the garment collections, which makes it more useful as a place to browse by shape than by category. The designs run from close-fitting vintage twinsets to the current generation of oversized boxy jumpers, with dresses, skirts, tops, wraps, shawls and hats between them. Levels run from first-garment patterns with minimal shaping to fine-gauge fitted knits with waist darts and set-in sleeves. What every pattern shares is a schedule of finished measurements, which is the number that matters far more than any size label.

Choosing by shape rather than by picture

• Boxy and oversized: straightforward knitting, generous ease, forgiving of tension errors.
• Fitted with waist shaping: more calculation, more flattering, and worth swatching carefully for.
• A-line and swing shapes: increases worked evenly down the body, comfortable and easy to wear.
• Cropped: quick to knit and easy to size, since less length means less to go wrong.
• Shawls and wraps: no fitting at all, which makes them the best route into lace and colourwork.

Ease, bust and shoulders

The most common fit complaint is a jumper that fits at the bust but hangs off the shoulders. If your upper chest is noticeably narrower than your full bust, choose the size by upper chest measurement and add short-row bust shaping or a couple of extra stitches at the side seams. Everything else is easier to adjust. Body length, sleeve length and neckline depth can all be changed on almost any pattern without recalculating anything, provided you buy enough yarn for the extra.

Yarn weight and how long it will take

Weight determines both the look and the timescale. Four ply gives the most elegant line and the largest stitch count; DK is the everyday compromise; aran and chunky produce fast, warm garments with bolder texture. A fine-gauge fitted cardigan can be twice the stitches of the same shape in DK. Choose the weight for the wardrobe gap you are filling, not just for the photograph, and check that the yarn's drape suits the shape: cotton grows in a fitted knit, alpaca sags in a structured one, wool does most things well.

Swatching properly

Knit at least 15cm square in the stated stitch pattern, wash it, dry it exactly as you will treat the garment and measure across the middle rather than at the edges. Half a stitch out over 10cm becomes about five centimetres across the chest. If your stitch tension is right but your row tension is not, work to lengths in centimetres rather than to row counts. Buy to the metreage in the pattern for your size, keep to one dye lot, and add a ball if you plan to lengthen anything.

Finishing and care

Block before seaming; it flattens curling edges and makes matching seams far easier. Mattress stitch worked in the project yarn gives a nearly invisible vertical seam. Wash hand-knits in lukewarm water with a wool-safe detergent unless the yarn is superwash, roll in a towel and dry flat, never on a hanger. Fold for storage, keep moths at bay with cedar or lavender, and save a length of each yarn for repairs.

Women's knitting pattern questions

Which size should I knit? The one whose finished chest measurement matches a garment you already wear and like.

What is a good first garment? A boxy drop-shoulder jumper or a simple top-down cardigan in DK or aran.

How do I adjust the length? Work more or fewer rows before the armhole shaping, and buy extra yarn to cover it.

Can I substitute a different yarn? Yes, if you match tension and consider drape. Compare metres per 100g rather than the weight name alone.

Where do I find free designs? See the free knitting patterns collection, or browse all knitting patterns.