Yarn for Your First Sweater: How to Choose It and How Much You Need
Which yarn should you knit your first sweater in? How to choose weight, fibre and colour, and roughly how much yarn a sweater in size M/L takes.
The short answer: choose a smooth wool yarn in DK or worsted weight, in a light or mid-tone colour, and follow a pattern written for that yarn. A sweater in size M/L takes about 1,100 to 1,550 metres of yarn, depending on the weight. Buy it all from the same dye lot.
What makes a yarn good for a first sweater
- Wool. Wool yarn is springy and forgiving: uneven stitches even out in the wash, and the garment keeps its shape.
- A smooth surface. In a smooth yarn you can see every stitch, so it is easy to count rows and to see if something has gone wrong. Mohair, bouclé and novelty yarns can wait until the next sweater.
- Medium-weight yarn. DK or worsted, on needles between about 4 and 5.5 mm, is much quicker to knit than thin yarn, but the sweater does not turn out heavy and clunky. Chunky yarn is even quicker if you want a loose, warm sweater.
- A light or mid-tone colour. The stitches show much more clearly than in black or dark navy.
How much yarn you need
This is our yarn calculator’s estimate for a sweater in size M/L. The pattern you follow gives the exact amount, and the calculator works out figures for other sizes and projects.
| Weight | Needles, approx. | Yarn for a sweater in M/L |
|---|---|---|
| DK | 3.75 to 4.5 mm | 1,250 to 1,550 m |
| Worsted | 4.5 to 5.5 mm | 1,100 to 1,350 m |
| Chunky | 5.5 to 8 mm | 800 to 1,000 m |
To work out how many balls that is, divide by the length of one ball, which is printed on the ball band, and buy all the balls at once so they come from the same dye lot.
Our suggestions
All of these are smooth wool yarns that we stock in the shop.
- Novita 7 Sisters: wool and merino, 200 m per 100 g, 4 mm needles. A sweater in M/L needs about 6 to 7 balls.
- Svensk Ull 3-tr from Järbo: 100 % Swedish wool, about 180 m per 100 g, 4 mm needles. About 7 to 8 balls for a sweater in M/L.
- Peer Gynt from Sandnes Garn: Norwegian wool, about 91 m per 50 g, 3.5 to 4 mm needles. About 14 to 18 balls for a sweater in M/L.
- Alpakka Ull from Sandnes Garn: alpaca and wool, warm and light, in DK.
- Double Sunday from Sandnes Garn: soft merino wool in DK.
- Chunky merino from Wool Couture: thick merino for anyone who wants to finish fast.
There is more about the yarns in our guides to Novita, Sandnes Garn and Järbo.
Before you cast on
- Knit a swatch in the yarn and on the needles you plan to use, and compare it with the pattern’s gauge. Here is how to measure your gauge, and the gauge calculator turns it into stitch counts.
- Substituting the pattern’s yarn? Choose a yarn of the same weight. Compare them in the yarn weight chart.
- Buy one extra ball. It is better than running out of yarn one sleeve from the finish.
Frequently asked questions
Which yarn is best for a first sweater?
A smooth wool yarn in DK or worsted weight, in a light or mid-tone colour. It is elastic, knits up at a comfortable pace and shows the stitches clearly, so mistakes are easy to spot and fix.
How much yarn does a sweater take?
According to our yarn calculator, a sweater in size M/L takes about 1,250 to 1,550 metres of DK yarn or 1,100 to 1,350 metres of worsted yarn. The pattern you follow gives the exact amount.
Why should you avoid mohair and bouclé for your first sweater?
The fuzzy or curly surface makes the stitches hard to see, and the yarn is hard to rip back. Save them for when you have knitted a few garments.
Should I buy all the yarn at once?
Yes. Balls from different dye lots can differ slightly in colour, so buy all the balls at once, and preferably one extra.