Last week a KnitBits subscriber wrote in asking if we’d ever think of designing a maternity sweater. To be quite honest, we don’t have any in the works but we had fun coming up with a list of sweaters that we think would work for ladies who are in the family way. Though we’re flying blind here, so please feel free to chime in with your comments!
Left to right, top to bottom: Nuss, Anhinga, Haight, Paron, Peace, Moska, Pucker, Bitok, Cosima, Bantam, Remember, Montparnasse, Juliana, Pike, Hibito.
Any others?
CR
All lovely choices (but don’t forget – not too tight around the ‘chestal’ region as this area tends to, ahem, expand somewhat also. š
Definitely! I tried to pick a lot of tops that don’t have definite closures so you could keep adjusting them as you fluctuate. That’s handy even if you’re not pregnant, eh?
Orleans?
The link to Haight points to the wrong pattern… ack… But now I’ll get lost for hours looking at all the yummy patterns… š
Thanks for the head’s up, I fix now =)
oh wow, this is such a great idea!! I’m not in the family way yet, but it’s on the horizon in a couple years- I love so many of these designs, and they would be perfect! Maybe Ravely needs a new category!
That’s a great idea! I’ll pass it along…
someone on Ravelry had a maternity version of the Bubble pullover. It seemed completely perfect.
I wouldn’t have thought of it as a maternity sweater but helenhue on Ravelry is pregnant in her project photos for Flower Child and it looks awesome on her.
IMHO – Calvert from NGV3 should be included.
When I was pregnant I knitted Calvert.
I saw a pregnant lady in Tilted Duster and that seemed perfect!
have you thought about cable pleats? right under the mid drift, that leaves a drapy finish in the stomach area like a baby doll top only it has instant expansion for the belly. if you stretch it out by the time you are at term…you can re-block it back to the correct size. Knitting stretchs and gives and if made from natural fabric you can re block with no problem. if you make it out of acrylic you may have to soak and wash it a few times to get it back to the right size.
Good point We’re very pro-cable pleat =)
http://www.berroco.com/knitbits/html/KB304.html
What about adding in Loppem? I know it fits pregnant ladies as well as (ahem!) middle aged ones too! š
Hooray! Thanks for making a post about this! I wonder how many sweaters I can make before I’m out of maternity clothes?
I knit a short version of the Tilted Duster and thought it was fabulous. Though, as the first commenter pointed out, my “chestal” region expanded more than anticiapted and I should have knit a larger size!
I haven’t started showing yet, but I would love to see some patterns that could be used during and after pregnancy, maybe with a button-in panel or something like that. I’ve seen one pattern like this on Canadian Living, but I think it looks really frumpy. It would be fun to see some patterns with similar concepts that are actually cute. Who wants to spend all that time knitting something that isn’t going to fit so well during pregnancy, or knitting a pattern specifically for pregnancy that you’ll only wear a small portion of your life?
Years ago when I was having my babies, they are in their 50’s now, one of the knitting companies had a pattern for a maternity sweater that could be converted at the end into a regular cardigan. It was done with inserts in the side seams that were triangular in shape from waist to sleeve. At the end of the pregnancy the seams were opened, the triangle removed at the seam reclosed. Sounded complicated, but it wasn’t at the time when there was nothing for the pregnant woman in any clothes. When my daughters were pregnant, I looked high and low for the pattern to no avail. Maybe your very creative designers can come up with something.
Love your website!!
These are great and I like the looseness you’ve left around the middle, there’s nothing worse than feeling like your tummy is bound. especially during those last “not so comfortable” months. It’s hard to find maternity sweaters that hang correctly over a pregnant belly. Thanks for these ideas, I’ll be linking to this post from http://www.sweaters.com.