Choose Stitch Patterns

• Aran sweaters are all about texture achieved through the combination of cables, bobbles and pattern stitches. To design your own Aran sweater, identify several patterns that you like. Find a detailed stitch dictionary such as Erika Knight's "The Harmony Guides: Cables & Arans: 250 Stitches to Knit." To recreate classic combinations, consider visiting a textile museum to study the samples.
  
  

Arrange the Panels

• The stitch patterns in Aran sweaters are arranged in vertical panels, generally with the widest at the center of the back and front. The smaller patterns are arranged symmetrically on either side. Both the back and the front are the same. The sleeves often have one of the smaller stitch panels along the top, running from shoulder to wrist.
  
  On graph paper, chart the panels as a first step in arranging the panels. Start with the center panel, and arrange the other patterns on either side.
  
  

Knit a Swatch

• Knitting a swatch is perhaps the most important step in designing an Aran sweater. The swatch must include all the stitch patterns you have chosen in the order that they will occur on the sweater. Play with the patterns, rearranging them or choosing others to suit your taste. You can also experiment with needle sizes and practice the techniques.
  
  

Determine Gauge

• The swatch is also important because you use it to determine the stitch gauge of the sweater and so that the finished sweater will fit properly. When you have a swatch that represents the combinations of stitch panels, wash and block it. With a ruler and pins, determine the stitch and row gauge of the swatch.
  
  

Draft a Pattern

• An effective method to size a sweater is with the percentage system, which is based on the premise that each part of the sweater is proportional to other parts, according to "Knit by Numbers," an article on the Knitty website. Use the stitch and row gauge to determine the number of stitches to cast on. You are on your way to knitting a personally designed Aran sweater.