Some designers are a “cut above” in style AND pattern writing abilities. Aneta Bleyer is one of them. In addition to the impeccable pattern instructions, Aneta also provides links to wonderful video tutorials for many of the stitches and techniques used in her patterns. I guarantee that you’ll learn new things when knitting her fantastic designs.

Here’s a link to a photo of this beautiful, unisex design on Instagram. I’m knitting this one for my teenage nephew. Aneta did not design this specifically for men. However, there is more than enough room in the shoulders and arms for even well endowed men. Plenty of armhole depth too.

During February of 2023, I made this short sleeve version of the Sway Line.

The pattern suggests waiting to tack down the neckband at the end of the knitting. I highly recommend waiting until you can try on the sweater body to see how loose (or tight) the neckband needs to be. I did the 3-needle bindoff (neckline hem) using a size 6 US needle.

Although it’s not evident in my photos, the sleeves have a half-twisted-rib panel on both the outside and inside. There are also half-twisted rib panels on either side of the pullover. All of these details make this design a standout.

This 100% cotton yarn does not shrink as much as non-mercerized due to the fact that it’s very tightly spun. I have laundered other sweaters made of this yarn and found that they did not shrink in width and only shrank about an inch in length - even when put into a warm dryer. I was surprised that this pullover did shrink more than I expected, but it turned out to be a great advantage in correcting my row gauge.

My gauge:

When I match stitch gauge (as I did in this pattern), I’m usually off in row gauge. For this pattern, row gauge is very important. I would say it’s more important than stitch gauge. If you don’t pay attention to the row gauge in this pattern, your armhole depth may be too long. The alternative would be to choose a yarn where the length of the garment will shrink a lot when thrown into a warm dryer. I often knit with cotton yarn, so after shrinking in a warm dryer, my row gauge usually is fairly close. I choose my initial pattern size based on how much I know the yarn will shrink both in width and length. Garments made of cotton yarn (that I use) come out of the dryer wrinkle free and looking gorgeous. This mercerized yarn doesn’t shrink quite as much as the non-mercerized, but I did get fairly close to row gauge after the shrinking process.

If your yarn is not going to shrink, choose a larger size, if necessary (for circumference fit and to compensate for going down a needle size or two), but make sure your row gauge is fairly close to the 33 rows per 4” after blocking. Looking at Aneta’s sample photos, it does look like this pullover has a longer than average armhole depth for a more relaxed fit.

Needles used:

Size 2 US - Neckband, sleeve and lower ribbing
(Size 1 US just for the ribbing bind-off - JSSBO)
Size 4 US - Body and sleeves
(Probably should have used size 3 US for a tighter fabric.)
Size 6 US - Just for the neckband 3-needle bind-off on the inside

Weight of finished sweater: 17 oz (482 grams)

Finished Measurements after shrinking in a warm dryer:

Chest Circumference - 45” (shrank 2.75”)
Note: Chest circumference is very difficult to measure due to the side panels’ half twisted ribbing. Hard to believe it shrank this much because most garments don’t shink much in width. Easily stretches to the original measurement and beyond. Tristyn’s chest measurement is 38”, so there’s more than enough positive ease.

Hip circumference at lower ribbing - 38” (shrank 2”)

Armhole Depth - 10.5” (shank 1.5”)

Side length from underarm, including ribbing - 14.25” (shrank .75”)

Width of lower ribbing - 2.5” (shrank .25”)

Sleeve length from underarm, including ribbing - 17.5” (shrank 1”)

Width of sleeve ribbing - 2” (shrank .25”)

Upper arm circumference - 15” (no shrinkage?)

Lowever arm circumference above cuff - 10” (no shrinkage?)

Cuff ribbing circumference - 6.5” (shrank .5”)

Back length, not including neckband - 23.75” (shrank 3.25”)

Front length, not including neckband - 22.75” (shrank 3.25”)

I got COVID-19 for the first time during the weeks when I was knitting this sweater. Therefore, it took me longer than usual. Just happy that I had six vaccinations to back me up before catching the virus.

Tutorial: make 2 stitches (M2L and M2R) within twist-rib pattern

Tutorial: SSK through the back loop 1:08

Tutorial: Folded Collar

Tutorial: Double Twist Loop Cast On

Tutorial: Shadow Wrap

Test Knit Forum on Instagram