Now Available: Benchmark Hat pattern - perfect for swatching and trying out color combinations for your sweater. It uses the same gauge and stitch pattern!

Make this easy fitting drop-shoulder pullover for yourself or someone in your circle of friends and family. Benchmark is sure to be a new favorite! Styled to be worn with positive ease, it’s possible that anyone can enjoy more than one size, either closer fitting or extra roomy for a cool casual vibe.

Plied Yarns North Ave is a wooly bouncy yarn that comes in so many fantastic 2 ply colors, so you can choose two shades for whatever look your heart desires. The fabric will be light and warm and so delightful for layering. The uncomplicated seed stitch and mini mosaic stripes give playful texture between simple stockinette sections.

North Ave skeins per size: Main Color/Contrast Color 5/2, 5/2, 5/2, 6/2, 7/3, 7/3, 7/3, 8/3
approximate yards: 900/295, 960/315, 1024/355, 1175/395, 1325/438, 1405/486, 1488/541, 1578/600

Note about yarn substitutions: North Ave 2 ply is wooly and substantial for a fingering weight, and it is delightfully light and bouncy. It works up beautifully in this 20 stitches per 4” gauge. If substituting yarns, choose similar non superwash fingering and sport weights; or a superwash sport or DK that achieves gauge. Neighborhood Fiber Company Studio DK is a great choice too. This super soft super wash merino takes the stitch texture well and results in a heavier weight sweater.

This is an easy to intermediate level project. It’s seamless! Begin by casting on at the bottom hem and knit the body in the round. Then separate front and back at the underarm and knit each part back and forth, shaping shoulders with a few short rows. Join shoulders with tidy three needle bind off and pick up stitches for neck ribbing. Knit sleeves in the round from armholes to cuffs. Customizing this sweater is easy too. Project Notes provided in pattern for tips on modifying body and sleeve lengths.

Choosing a finished size that is 4-10” larger than your bust/chest measurement is recommended. The body is unshaped and it drops over the shoulder, so you need at least 4” to wear this comfortably. Click through the photos to see various amounts of positive ease on my family members (sizes and amounts of ease for each sample are provided in Spoutknits Benchmark Projects).

What’s behind the name? Benchmark is my very first garment design, after many years of being an avid sweater knitter and publishing several accessories patterns. It’s a marker by which to measure my growth.

Special thanks to my family for being the inspiration for this sweater and for modeling and providing photography! Like all Spout designs, I want to make knitwear that anyone would enjoy wearing, and that fits easily into everyday life. Benchmark is a new family fave.