How to measure
Six numbers — three we need, three we can draft
We knit in inches, to the North American measuring standard a pattern cutter here would use — not to a brand's own size chart. Chest, body length and sleeve are the three we cannot invent. Waist, upper arm and across-shoulder we can draft from the block — but if you have a tape and two spare minutes, give us all six and the pattern stops being an estimate.
- Across shoulder back, shoulder point to shoulder point
- Across the back, from one shoulder point to the other, tape flat and level. The shoulder point is the bone at the outer end of the shoulder where the arm begins — not the edge of the deltoid, and not the seam of a shirt you happen to be wearing. This is the across-shoulder figure on any North American spec sheet, and it is what sets the armhole depth.
- Chest or bust — one number, one tape position
-
Around the fullest part of the chest, tape under the arms and level all the way
round, arms down, breathing normally. Keep the tape parallel to the floor: a tape that
dips at the back adds an inch without anyone noticing.
Measuring a sweater you already own instead? Lay it flat, measure straight across 1 inch (2.5 cm) below the armhole seam, and double it. That number is the garment chest and it already includes ease — subtract 3.5 in (8.9 cm) to get the body chest we ask for. Enter the garment figure and the sweater arrives one size too big. - Body length from HPS
- From the high point of the shoulder (HPS) — where the shoulder seam meets the neck — straight down the front to the bottom of the hem. Not from the collar and not from the back of the neck: those two each add 1–1.5 in and the sweater arrives long. HPS is the reference point used on every North American tech pack, which is why we ask for it rather than “where do you like it to end”.
- Sleeve shoulder point to wrist bone
- From the shoulder point, along the outside of a slightly bent arm, to the wrist bone. Keep the arm relaxed — measuring a straight, stiff arm shortens the sleeve by about an inch.
- Waist on the body — and the hem on the finished sweater
- Around the narrowest part of the torso, roughly level with the navel, breathing out normally — do not pull it in, and do not measure over a belt. On the finished sweater the same dimension appears as the hem width: lay it flat at the rib, measure straight across and double it. The rib pulls the hem in slightly, so the hem reads 1–2 cm under the chest figure on a straight body — that is the rib doing its job, not a sizing error.
- Upper arm and the cuff opening
- Around the fullest part of the upper arm, about two fingers below the armpit, arm hanging relaxed — not flexed. This decides whether a sleeve feels tight across the biceps, which is the fit complaint we hear most often and the easiest one to avoid. On the sweater the sleeve ends at the cuff opening, measured across at the rib and doubled: a tapered sleeve narrows to it, a straight sleeve keeps its width and gathers only at the rib.
The one thing worth understanding: ease. A sweater is not skin-tight, so the finished chest is bigger than your body chest — that difference is the ease. We add 3.5 in (8.9 cm) to your chest and 1.4 in to your upper arm, every time, on every style. Body chest and garment chest are two different numbers on purpose, and the second one is what we knit to — nothing is cut until you approve the garment numbers we plan to knit.
The pattern
Two base blocks, one formula
A pattern here is not a size chart with a number circled. It is a women's block or a men's block, a set of linear rules that turn your chest into every other point on the garment, and a per-yarn allowance that converts the finished measurement into the one programmed into the machine. Both layers are published below, so the numbers we email you can be checked rather than trusted.
Why two blocks and not one
A single pattern with the shoulder slope, armhole depth and rib depth nudged is still a men's block wearing a women's measurement. The differences that actually matter are in how each point grows: shoulder width climbs faster on the men's block, the armhole is deeper, the neck is wider, the waist is suppressed less, and the sleeve head is set in flatter. The two blocks below share no coefficient.
| Body point | Women's block | Men's block |
|---|---|---|
| Shoulder width | 0.400 × chest + 5.4 | 0.355 × chest + 9.2 |
| Armhole depth, from HPS | 0.235 × chest + 1.5 | 0.245 × chest + 3.0 |
| Neck width | 0.160 × chest + 3.0 | 0.160 × chest + 4.0 |
| Upper-arm base | 0.335 × chest + 1.6 | 0.335 × chest + 1.0 |
| Waist when none is given | Chest − 12 cm | Chest − 8 cm |
| Shoulder slope | 20° | 16° |
| Sleeve-head pitch | 12° | 8° |
| Front neck drop | 7.5 cm | 9 cm |
| Hem rib / cuff rib | 6 cm / 6 cm | 7 cm / 6.5 cm |
What is fixed, and what you still control
Every sweater here is knitted to one construction, so the same set of body numbers always produces the same pattern. What changes between two sweaters is the body they are drafted for, the yarn, the colour and the collar — not a menu of silhouettes.
| Element | Value | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Shoulder construction | Set-in, with a real shoulder seam | The shoulder line stays on the shoulder point, so armhole depth follows your across-shoulder measurement rather than a drop allowance |
| Sleeve shape | Tapered to the cuff | Cuff opening is 62% of the finished upper-arm circumference, floored at 18 cm so a heavy yarn cannot close it to a tourniquet, then widened up to 1.4 cm in a yarn that recovers less |
| Body length | Exactly the number you give | Measured from HPS to hem. No cropped or long offset is applied on top of your figure |
| Ease over the chest | +8.9 cm (+3.5 in) | Added to your body chest to give the finished chest. Ease also feeds the armhole, the shoulder and the upper arm, not just the chest |
| Open to you | Six body numbers, block, yarn, colour, collar | The five things that genuinely change from one person and one order to the next |
Two numbers are never asked for because they follow from the rest. Hem width is the midpoint of the finished chest and the finished waist, pulled in by up to 2 cm depending on the yarn's elastic recovery. Cuff opening is 62% of the finished upper-arm circumference, floored at 18 cm, then widened by up to 0.35 cm in a yarn that recovers less.
What each yarn shrinks back by
Knitted fabric relaxes when it leaves the machine and shrinks on its first cold wash, and the two effects differ by fibre: cashmere keeps relaxing for days, cotton barely relaxes but takes up water and felts. That is why the same body numbers do not produce the same finished chest in cotton as in merino, and why the cuff is cut wider in M4.
| Yarn | Gauge | Width relaxation | Length relaxation | Off-machine allowance | Elastic recovery | Finished weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M1 · 100% merino | 12 gg | 3.0% | 1.5% | +0.5 cm | 92% | 240 g/m² |
| M2 · merino + 30% cashmere | 12 gg | 3.5% | 2.0% | +0.6 cm | 90% | 260 g/m² |
| M3 · 100% Grade-A cashmere | 14 gg | 4.5% | 2.5% | +0.9 cm | 88% | 215 g/m² |
| M4 · organic cotton + 30% wool | 10 gg | 5.5% | 4.0% | +1.2 cm | 82% | 300 g/m² |
Finished size versus machine size
The finished measurement is the promise and the machine figure is derived from it, never the other way round. The allowance is added first, then the relaxation is inverted: machine = (finished + off-machine allowance) ÷ (1 − width relaxation). A garment promised at 104.9 cm across the chest therefore goes on the machine at 108.7 cm in merino and 112.3 cm in cotton.
| Yarn | Finished chest | Machine width | Finished body length | Machine length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| M1 merino | 104.9 cm | 108.7 cm | 64.0 cm | 65.2 cm |
| M2 merino + cashmere | 104.9 cm | 109.3 cm | 64.0 cm | 65.6 cm |
| M3 cashmere | 104.9 cm | 110.8 cm | 64.0 cm | 66.1 cm |
| M4 cotton + wool | 104.9 cm | 112.3 cm | 64.0 cm | 67.3 cm |
This is also the honest answer to “why does the same size fit differently in different yarns?”. It should not: the finished measurement is held constant across the four yarns, and only the machine figure moves. If a cotton sweater arrives 3 cm wider than a merino one at the same numbers, that is a fault and it is remade at our cost.
One pattern, kept: the Fit ID
Every set of body numbers produces an eight-character code in the form MM-XXXX-XXXX, derived from the block and the six measurements. It deliberately leaves out yarn, colour and collar, which is the whole point: those are the things people change, and the pattern is the thing they should not have to re-establish. Change one measurement and a new code is produced, with the old one still valid.
The code is short enough to keep on a card. A longer restore code carries the actual numbers, so a pattern can be reopened on a phone that has never seen the order. Two things a Fit ID is not: it is not a size, and it is not transferable — two people with the same chest and the same style still differ in shoulder width and arm length, which is exactly what the block exists to capture.
Questions about fit
Where exactly is the chest measured on a sweater I already own?
Lay it flat and closed, measure straight across 2.5 cm (1 in) below the armhole seam, then double it. That figure is the garment chest, so it already contains the ease — subtract 8.9 cm (3.5 in) to get the body chest this pattern is drafted from. Enter the flat figure unchanged and the finished sweater arrives about one size too big.
My chest and waist are far apart. Does the block assume an average?
Only when you do not give a waist. With no waist supplied, the women's block assumes chest minus 12 cm and the men's chest minus 8 cm. Supply your real waist and that assumption is dropped; the hem then follows the midpoint of the finished chest and your finished waist.
Can I order a dropped shoulder or an oversized fit?
Not through the builder — every sweater in the shop is knitted set-in, with a tapered sleeve and 3.5 in of ease over the chest. A dropped shoulder, a wide sleeve or a deliberately oversized body can be quoted by hand: send the shape you want to hello@mochimaster.com and a person replies with a sketch and a price. Nothing on this page is blocked, it is simply not a menu item.
Why does the same chest give a different machine size in cotton?
Because cotton relaxes less off the machine but shrinks more on the first wash: 5.5% width relaxation and a 1.2 cm off-machine allowance in M4 against 3.0% and 0.5 cm in M1. The finished size stays the same; the number programmed into the machine moves from 108.7 cm to 112.3 cm.
Is a Fit ID the same as a size?
No. A size is a range shared by thousands of bodies; a Fit ID is one pattern for one person, built from six numbers and four choices. It cannot be reused for someone else, and it is not a label to compare between people.
Size reference
If you only know “I usually wear a medium”
We do not knit to S/M/L — we knit to your numbers. But almost everyone arrives with a letter or a US size in their head, so here is what those mean in inches, and what we would knit if you chose true to size. Use it to check yourself, not to order by.
Women
Body bust is measured on the body, not on a garment. US numeric sizes as sold in North America.
| US | Body bust | Height | Weight | We knit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0–2 XS | 31–32 in 79–81 cm | 4'11"–5'2" | 99–115 lb | 35 in |
| 4–6 S | 33–34 in 84–86 cm | 5'1"–5'4" | 110–128 lb | 37.5 in |
| 8–10 M | 35–36 in 89–91 cm | 5'3"–5'6" | 121–143 lb | 39.5 in |
| 12–14 L | 37–39 in 94–99 cm | 5'4"–5'8" | 137–163 lb | 41.5 in |
| 16–18 XL | 40–42 in 102–107 cm | 5'5"–5'9" | 154–187 lb | 44.5 in |
| 20–22 2XL | 43–45 in 109–114 cm | 5'5"–5'10" | 181–220 lb | 47.5 in |
| 24–26 3XL | 46–49 in 117–124 cm | 5'5"–5'11" | 209–254 lb | 51 in |
Men
Same garment, different block — every style is unisex. Chest sizes as marked on US jackets.
| Chest size | Body chest | Height | Weight | We knit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 32–34 XS | 33–34 in 84–86 cm | 5'3"–5'6" | 115–132 lb | 37.5 in |
| 35–37 S | 35–37 in 89–94 cm | 5'5"–5'8" | 128–150 lb | 39.5 in |
| 38–40 M | 38–40 in 97–102 cm | 5'7"–5'10" | 146–172 lb | 42.5 in |
| 41–43 L | 41–43 in 104–109 cm | 5'8"–6'0" | 165–198 lb | 45.5 in |
| 44–46 XL | 44–46 in 112–117 cm | 5'9"–6'1" | 187–220 lb | 48.5 in |
| 47–49 2XL | 47–49 in 119–124 cm | 5'9"–6'2" | 209–247 lb | 51.5 in |
| 50–53 3XL | 50–53 in 127–135 cm | 5'9"–6'3" | 238–282 lb | 55 in |
How to choose the ease
Close to the body (+1.5 in) — reads sharp under a jacket, shows the shoulder line. True to size (+3.5 in) — the default; a sweater you can wear over a shirt. Relaxed (+6 in) — drops off the shoulder slightly, meant for layering.
Between two sizes?
Go up, then tell us you want it close — we take the extra out of the ease rather than the chest. Going down and asking for room is the one change we cannot make after knitting.
Under 16, or a very tall frame
Give us the age and we switch to the junior block (different shoulder slope and sleeve pitch). Tall and slim: we add length at the body and the sleeve, not at the chest.
Why this avoids a return
Before anything is knitted we email you the six numbers we plan to use, in inches. If one of them looks wrong, you correct it then — not after the parcel arrives. And the first fit adjustment within 30 days is free.
How exact the numbers are
Hand-finished knitwear is not machined to the millimetre. The finished garment sits within ±2 cm (0.8 in) of the numbers you approved — that is normal knitwear tolerance, not a fault. The window runs wider across the chest than down the body, because knitted fabric pulls in sideways more than it stretches lengthwise. The first cold wash settles the stitch and can move a length by a few millimetres. Outside the ±2 cm window it is remade at our cost.
Colour on a screen
Every screen shows yarn a little differently, and natural fibres take dye in batches — two lots of the same shade can sit a shade or two apart. One sweater is always knitted from a single lot, so a garment never mixes two batches. If a shade has to be exact — a match to something you own, a gift — say so before we knit and we photograph the actual cone in daylight and send it to you. Nothing is cut until you have seen it.
If you own a sweater that fits
Lay it flat, button or close it, and measure it the same way we do — across the chest just below the armhole, seam to seam, then double it. That one number is more reliable than any body measurement, because it already includes the ease you like. Send it with your order and we will match it. Mark it as a garment measurement, though: if you type a flat-measured figure into the body chest field we would add 3.5 in (8.9 cm) of ease on top of it and knit you a sweater one size too big.
Still unsure? Send us the numbers you have and a person will check them with you before the first stitch.