My Beginner Raglan Pattern Review & My First KAL
Chantal (Knitatude) came out with this pattern right around the time I was testing the Droplets Sweater for her. So that meant it wouldn’t be making its way onto my needles at that time. If you read my post on Why I Test you know that having deadlines so I can finish a project is one of the reasons I enjoy test knitting. A KAL also gives this motivation, with a little less stress. This one was scheduled for 2 weeks, because it’s a pretty quick knit! Big yarn and big needles mean less time. I started a little late since I was finishing up my test knit of the Marea Cardigan.
It didn’t matter too much that I started late and was working on other projects at the same time, I still managed to finish within a day of the theoretical end of the KAL!
At every stage of this knit, it’s incredibly photogenic, you can tell because everyone takes similar pictures at the same points (see my previous KAL posts here and here). And it’s pretty economical, just 4 or 5 balls of Lion Brand Thick & Quick (affiliate link). I really love this colour, it’s called fig and is absolutely gorgeous!
The point of this sweater is ultimate coziness. Mission accomplished! It’s the perfect weight for a fall sweater, cozy at lots of cooler temperatures, and you get a little bit of ventilation from the eyelet detailing of the raglan increases.
This is a pretty easy pattern. I often recommend one of Chantal’s other patterns as a first sweater, but this one could easily take its place! It’s just knitting and purling with a couple other techniques you can easily learn. AND it doesn’t have one of my most hated things in knitting – picking up a bunch of stitches and having to hit that right number. And in classic Chantal style, no seaming.
So if you haven’t made a sweater before but know your knit & purl stitches, or if you have made a sweater before and you want an instant gratification project, give this one a go! It’s now a kit on the Lion Brand website (affiliate link) in 3 colours. Or of course you could make it with some other yarn and just get the pattern, which also seems like a good idea because using hand-dyed yarn has made some pretty amazing My Beginner Raglans. This one by Lindsay of Hello Stella is my favourite.
