Women's Cardigan (Sweaters)

An opening down the front is all that separates this from a pullover, whether it closes with buttons, a zip or nothing at all. That one change turns a sweater into temperature control. Closed it works as a top, open it works as a light jacket, and half undone it vents heat within seconds of a room warming up.

Whatever the opening costs shows up at the button band, the vertical strip of knitting that carries the buttonholes. It absorbs the full stress of opening and closing and hangs under its own weight all day, so a band knitted loosely or left without a woven tape behind it stretches, waves and gapes between buttons inside one season. Gauge settles the rest, since a fine 12-gauge merino goes under a coat at shirt weight while a 5-gauge chunky knit becomes the outer layer and will not close under a fitted jacket. Because you wear it open as often as closed, the shoulder has to fit properly, as there is no closure to disguise a seam sitting halfway down your arm.

Pullovers keep an unbroken front, run warmer and offer no way to vent short of taking them off. Sweater vests remove sleeves instead of opening the front, warming the core and leaving arms free. Zip hoodies do this same job in fleece-backed cloth, washing harder and reading casual wherever they go. A kimono-style jacket also hangs open, though from woven rectangles with no shaping, so it never insulates the way a knit does.

Rooms whose heating you do not control are the case for it, along with commutes that cross cold streets and hot trains. Merino resists odor and recovers overnight, cashmere gives more warmth per ounce and pills sooner, and cotton washes easily while slowly losing shape at the band. Anyone wanting a clean line under a coat should take a fine gauge, since a chunky one doubles the band thickness right down the front.

Grip the cardigan by its top button and let it hang: a band that visibly stretches in your hand will sag on your body. Turn that band over and feel for reinforcement behind the buttons, whether a ribbon tape or a doubled knit. Comb pills off rather than pulling them, because pulling drags fresh yarn out of the surface. Fold it away instead of hanging it, as a hanger pulls the shoulders into points and drags the band out of line at the same time.