Aros Sweater Pattern Review

Last week I talked about the yarn I used for this project (Viking Garn Alpaca Bris) and why I chose it for a pattern like this. Now that the sweater’s finished, I can honestly say I love how it turned out.

The Aros Sweater is written with a closer fit than most PetiteKnit patterns, but I was aiming for something a little more relaxed and oversized. Using a blown alpaca yarn at a slightly larger gauge gave me that softer, cozier silhouette without changing too much of the actual pattern. I kept the stripes and shaping mostly as written—the yarn did the heavy lifting to make it feel like mine.

One of the things that drew me to the pattern was the saddle shoulder construction. I hadn’t done a sweater with this kind of shaping before, and even though the lines got a little blurred after blocking the fuzzy alpaca yarn, they still create a subtle, flattering structure that makes the whole thing look a little more put together than your average raglan. It was also really satisfying to knit—watching the shoulders take shape as you go feels kind of magical.

The pattern is worked top-down with raglan increases, so there are no seams, which is always a plus. PetiteKnit also shows how to weave in your ends as you go when changing stripe colors. I think it’s meant to help cut down on end-weaving later—since there are a lot of stripes—but it also gives each color change a little anchor. I still did it for that reason, but I went back and wove in the ends normally too, just to be safe.

Before I even started knitting, I used swatch photos in Procreate to sample and arrange the colors, testing out different stripe orders. Having that visual plan helped the whole thing feel more cohesive, and it kept me motivated while knitting—I was always excited to get to the next color.

The finished fit is exactly what I was hoping for—just the right amount of oversized without feeling shapeless. It’s cozy but still put together, and it really does look and feel like a high-end sweater. I wouldn’t change a thing.

For context, I like sweaters with about 11–13” of positive ease—that’s what feels comfortable and oversized to me. My bust measures 33”, and the pattern is written with about 2” positive ease, so even sizing up to a Medium at the regular gauge would’ve resulted in a 39” finished bust—not quite oversized enough. By combining that size up with a looser gauge, I ended up with a finished bust of around 44”, which is the roomy, relaxed fit I wanted. If you prefer an oversized sweater like I do, I definitely recommend focusing on the finished circumference you want rather than just picking a size based on the pattern’s suggested measurements.

The sweater took me about two weeks to knit, which feels pretty typical for me. I did run into a little hiccup when I accidentally snapped the Italian bind-off on the body (my fault for tugging at it), which caused some dropped stitches. I had to carefully perform surgery on it while trying not to cry—definitely stressful, and it slowed me down, but I saved it in the end.  

As expected, the pattern itself was clear and easy to follow. PetiteKnit’s instructions are always solid, and this one was no exception. The accompanying video tutorials aren’t in English, but the visuals are still really helpful, especially for newer techniques.

Here’s how it turned out: