Over the years we have received many questions about sweaters.  At SwonderfulSweaters we strive to please the many true sweater lovers we hear from so often. This guide provides some useful information we have collected regarding sweaters over th years.  While the guide is not comprehensive we invite your comments and suggestions to improve and expand this information.  Please feel free to contact us if have any missing or new information and thanks for your interest in our products.  Please be sure to respond to the survey at the end of this guide.

The sweater is defined as a relatively heavy garment intended to cover the torso and arms of the body.  The sweater is considered an intermediate clothing layer worn over a lighter weight garment such as a shirt, blouse, t-shirt, or other top. Today the sweater may also be worn alone as a sole garment, or as an outer layer in milder climates.  Sweaters are commonly made of wool (typically sheep's wool) but can be made of cotton or other synthetic fibers.  Some refer to any knitted or fuzzy upper torso garment as a sweater.

Take our sweater survey at the end of this document.

Types of sweaters

• Pullovers
• Crewnecks - a round closely fitting opening for the neck
  
• V-Necks - the neck has a v-shaped opening for the head
  
• Turtlenecks -  a high round collar which usually folds over itself and covers the neck
  
• Cowlnecks - a large loose covering for the head or shoulders
  
• Polo -
  
• Cardigans
• Crewnecks
• V-necks
• Shawl necks
• Button down/up/front
• Zip front
  

Gauges of sweaters

• 1-4 gauge - thick gauge
  
• 5-7 gauge - medium gauge
  
• 8-13 gauge - fine gauge
  

Names for sweaters

• Fisherman's sweater
• Aran sweaters
• Cardigan sweater
• Lopi sweater
• Nordic sweater
• Shetland wool sweater

Care of sweaters

• Storage
• Prior to storing your sweaters be sure to wash them per the label instructions
  
• Once clean they should be placed in a sealed container such as a sweater bag, cedar chest or sweater dedicated closet
  
• They should be protected from artificial light and moisture either individually or as a group
• Do not hang them in your regular closet
• Prior to wearing, hang outside (on a soft thick hanger) for a few hours to remove wrinkles and retain it shape

• Cleaning  
• Use lukewarm water (30°C/86°F) and mild soap or detergent.
• Soak the sweater in the suds for about 10 minutes, do not rub or wring. Rinse thoroughly in lukewarm water.
• Wrap in towels and squeeze out as much water as possible. If necessary, spin for a few seconds to remove excess moisture.
• Smooth the sweater out on a dry towel and pull gently into shape.
• The purest will tell you only to hang your sweaters outside on a clear day and they will clean themselves!

Types of wools used in sweaters

Alpaca wool: Specialty hair fibers from the alpaca.  Typically softer, finer and more lustrous and warmer than sheep's wool.   Not as popular as sheep's wool.

Angora: Angora comes from the Angora rabbit. Angora is a luxurious and long fiber which is extremely soft.  Angora is commonly mixed with other wools due to its high cost but remain a popular single fiber in high end sweaters.

Cashmere: Named after a goat in the Kashmir region of Northern India. Cashmere is a luxurious very fine and fragile fiber.  Cashmere is expensive and sometimes difficult to care for.

Icelandic wool:  Icelandic sheep are one of the world's oldest breeds.  They have a unique type of wool which has been formed as a result of surviving many centuries of harsh Iceland winters.   Their wool is unique and characterized by a soft insulating inner layer and a longer, water resistant outer layer.  Natural oils are preserved in the processing of Icelandic wools.   Icelandic wools present a relatively lightweight warm wool with nearly unmatched warming qualities.

Lambs wool: Wool obtain from lambs very early in their life.  Lambs wool is softer than the wool of older sheep.

Merino wool: Very fine wool from Merino sheep.  This is a soft and very fine wool with increasing popularity in sweaters.

Mohair: Fibers from the angora goat.  Mohair is very soft, smooth, and luxurious.  Sweaters made of mohair are very fuzzy and soft.

Shetland wool: Very fine, lustrous wool from the soft undercoat of Shetland sheep. Shetland sheep are raised on the Shetland Islands off the Northern coast of Scotland.  The term "Shetland wool sweater" has been used loosely by the garment industry to describe similar wool sweaters made from any course type soft wool.  The classic and extremely popular "Shetland wool pullover" is often used to described any wool pullover sweater. 

SWEATER SURVEY

We receive a lot of email regarding our sweaters and recently have received many questions about sweaters in general.  We would love for you to answer the following questions regarding your interests in sweaters. This will help us serve you better in the future and  may just be a fun thing to do, especially for a "true sweater loving" customers that send us so many fun emails.   Feel free to select more than one answer.   You should cut and paste the questions and answers and email them to swoolly1@swonderfulsweaters.com.  Please type in the subject heading "sweater survey". Have fun!

We have included answers we have received as of 12/31/2007 in parenthesis (ex. 5/10 indicates that 5 out 10 people have given that response)

1. What is your major use for sweaters?

    a.  Formal wear  (2/22)
    b. Casual wear (18/22)
    c.  Work related wear (1/22)
    d.  Relaxing wear (20/22)
    e. All of the above (12/22)

2. What is the main reason you wear sweaters?
    a.  To keep warm (20/22)
    b.  They look nice on me (8/22)
    c.  They are comfortable (15/22)
    d.  I don't like jackets (2/22)
    e.  I love the way they feel on me (10/22)

3. I like wearing sweaters:
    a. Over a collared shirt (12/22)
    b. Over a turtleneck (12/22)
    c. Alone (5/22)
    d. Layered over several shirts (1/22)
    e. Layered with other sweaters (3/22)

4. My favorite style of sweater is:
    a.  Cardigan (13/22)
    b.  Pullover (v-neck or crewneck) (19/22)
    c.  Turtleneck (12/22)
    d.  Other (please describe): (shawl neck 1/22, cowl neck 5/22)
    e.  As long as it's a sweater (2/22)

5.  My favorite sweater material is:
    a.  Wool (sheep's) (17/22)
    b.  Mohair (5/22)
    c.  Angora (7/22)
    d.  Alpaca (3/22)
    e.  Synthetic (0/22)
     f.  Cashmere (10/22)
     g.  Other (please describe): (mixed wools 1/22)

6.  Regarding the weight or gauge of your sweaters:
    a.  I like fine knit thinner sweaters  (cashmere, merino wool, lambswool, etc) (10/22)
    b.  I like medium weight sweaters (Shetland wool, Alpaca, sheep's wool, angora) (10/22)
    c.  I like heavy weight thicker sweaters (Icelandic wool, Mohair) (8/22)
    d.  I like monster weight sweaters  (2/22)
    e.  As long as it's a sweater (3/22)

7.  I prefer the following:
    a.  Fuzzy sweaters (9/22, one responded fuzzy but not itchy is good)
    b. Soft sweaters (18/22)
    c.  Itchy sweaters (1/22)
    d.  Smooth/silky type sweaters (8/22)

8.  In a typical week when the weather is appropriate, how many different sweaters do you wear?
    a.  1-5 (5/22)
    b.   6-10 (6/22)
    c.  11-15 (2/22)
    d.  More than 16 (2/22)
    e.  None (1/22, "I love sweaters but don't wear them")

9.  How many sweaters do you own? (1/22 responded 0 sweaters, 6/22 responded 1-10 sweaters,  8/22 responded 11-35 sweaters, 4/22 responded 36-100 sweaters,  1/22 responded 367 sweaters,  1/22 responded 612 sweaters, 2/22 responded 500+, 1/22 responded 1000+)

10. How many sweaters does your spouse own? (3/22 responded 0 sweaters, 1/22 responded 1000+, the rest responded 5-100)

11.  Where do you store your sweaters?  (closet, dresser drawer, sweater trunks, sweater closet, cedar chest, room converted into sweater closet)

12.  How do you clean your sweaters? (18/22 hand wash, 4/22 dry clean, 2/22 hang outside on windy day)

13.  How old are you? (17-61) Are you? Male (15/22)  Female (7/22)    What country do you live in? (20/ USA, 2 Canada)

Thanks.  We will post the answers as soon as we receive a good amount of responses.