A knitted anime sweater is a different object from a printed one. On a printed tee or hoodie the artwork is a layer bonded onto finished cloth. On a knitted sweater the artwork is the cloth: the design is knitted in with colored yarn as the fabric is made, so there is no print sitting on the surface to crack, peel or fade at a different rate from the garment around it.
Torazen knits are a 100% cotton knit with a ribbed crewneck, cuffs and hem, pre-washed to minimize shrinkage. Below: what a jacquard knit is, what it changes about the artwork, the knit measurements in centimeters and inches, care, and every knit in the archive by franchise.
What a jacquard knit is
Jacquard is a way of making the pattern part of the fabric's structure. A knitting machine is fed two or more colors of yarn at once and, stitch by stitch, chooses which color shows on the face. The design is not applied afterwards; it exists the moment the cloth does. Turn one inside out and you can see the other yarns running behind the face, which is why the reverse often looks like a negative of the front.
A print works the other way round: the cloth is made plain, cut and sewn, and the artwork is added to the surface afterwards. Torazen's printed pieces use a bonded matte print, which sits flat and does not catch the light, but it is still a layer on top of cotton rather than cotton itself.
The practical difference: a jacquard design wears the way the sweater wears. The colors are in the yarn, so they wash and soften with the garment, and there is no edge to lift or crack.
What knitting changes about the artwork
Knitting sets rules a print does not have, and good knit designs are drawn to them.
Resolution is the stitch. Every stitch is one pixel of one color. Diagonals and curves step at the stitch scale, so the artwork reads like pixel art up close and resolves at arm's length. Fine hairlines and small lettering do not survive; bold shapes do.
The palette is a few solid yarns. A jacquard design is built from a handful of colors, each a physical yarn: no gradients, no soft shading. A knit of a character is a graphic reduction of that character, and the reduction is the point.
The design can be the whole panel. Because the pattern is knitted in, it can run edge to edge, where a print is confined to a placement area.
That is why a subject looks different on a knit than on a tee. The Dark Eclipse Manga Knitted Sweater, the Founding Titan Knitted Sweater and the Frieren Journey Knitted Sweater each reduce a scene to a few solid yarns.
One exception by design: the Sacrifice Embroidered Knitted Sweater carries embroidery on the knit rather than a knitted-in motif, so the mark sits as thread on the surface.
Artwork built in yarn
The 100% cotton knit
The sweater is a 100% cotton knit. That is the only fiber claim worth making, and the full breakdown is printed on the garment label. Cotton knit is cooler and less itchy than wool and breathes well, which suits a piece worn over a tee for most of the year rather than only in deep winter.
The crewneck, cuffs and hem are ribbed. Rib is stretchier than the body knit, so those edges recover after being pulled over the head or pushed up the forearm, and the hem sits close instead of flaring.
The knits are pre-washed to minimize shrinkage. As with the garment-washed tees, most of the movement has already happened, so what you measure on arrival is close to what you keep. No gsm figure is published for the knit, so the number to trust is the measurement table.
Knit measurements in cm and inches
The knit is a regular fit with a comfortable drape. The chart uses full length rather than the HPS length on the tee and hoodie charts, so measure a sweater you own top to hem when comparing, and do not read this column against a tee's length figure. Chest is the garment laid flat from underarm to underarm; double it for the circumference.
| Size | Chest (cm / in) | Full length (cm / in) | Shoulder (cm / in) | Sleeve (cm / in) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S | 56 / 22 | 68 / 27 | 51 / 20 | 54 / 21.5 |
| M | 58 / 23 | 70 / 27.5 | 53 / 21 | 55 / 21.5 |
| L | 60 / 23.5 | 72 / 28.5 | 55 / 21.5 | 56 / 22 |
| XL | 62 / 24.5 | 74 / 29 | 57 / 22.5 | 57 / 22.5 |
| 2XL | 64.5 / 25.5 | 76.5 / 30 | 59 / 23 | 58 / 23 |
| 3XL | 67 / 26.5 | 79 / 31 | 61 / 24 | 59 / 23 |
To place that against the tees: a knit in M is 58 cm across the chest, one centimeter narrower than the vintage tee in M and four wider than the classic tee. It is between the two, closer to the oversized one. The size step is 2 cm on the chest up to XL and then widens to 2.5 cm for 2XL and 3XL.
Take your usual size for the fit the sweater is cut for. Size up if you want a roomier drape, or if you plan to wear it over a hoodie rather than a tee. If you are between sizes, the fit note says size up for a roomier look, but on the knit the smaller size will not read as tight.
How to wash a cotton knit
A knit is a structure of loops. Loops stretch when wet and heavy and shrink when heated, so everything below follows from that: cold, gentle, flat.
Turn it inside out. Wash cold on a gentle cycle, or by hand, with a mild detergent and nothing with bleach in it. Do not wring it; press the water out by rolling it in a towel.
Dry it flat, laid out in its own shape. Hanging a wet cotton knit lets its own weight pull the body and sleeves long. Keep it out of the tumble dryer on any hot setting, which is where shrinkage happens.
Store it folded, not on a hanger, for the same reason. Some pilling is normal wear on cotton knit; a fabric comb takes it off. Keep it away from hook-and-loop fasteners and sharp jewelry, which catch loops.
Where the care label on the garment says something different from this page, the label wins.
Every knit in the archive
Twenty-two knits across twelve franchises, each listed with its collection.
Berserk — Dark Eclipse Manga Knitted Sweater, Black Swordsman Duality Knitted Sweater, Sacrifice Embroidered Knitted Sweater.
Jujutsu Kaisen — Divine Dogs Knitted Sweater, Cursed Energy Knitted Sweater, Manga Knitted Sweater, Choso Piercing Blood Knitted Sweater, Choso Don't Die Knitted Sweater.
Studio Ghibli — Spirited Away Knitted Sweater, Mononoke Knitted Sweater, Mononoke Forset Spirit Knitted Sweater.
Attack on Titan — Founding Titan Knitted Sweater, Armoured Titan Knitted Sweater.
Frieren — Frieren Journey Knitted Sweater, Frieren Memories Knitted Sweater.
One Piece — Whitebeard Legacy Knitted Sweater. Chainsaw Man — Power Knitted Sweater. Black Clover — Clover Warrior x Liebe Knitted Sweater. Death Note — Fallen Shinigami x Light Knitted Sweater. Tokyo Ghoul — One-Eyed Ghoul Kagune Shards Knitted Sweater. Kaiju No. 8 — Kaiju Fury Knitted Sweater. Other Anime — Whatever Happens Knitted Sweater.
More knits
Before you order
Every measurement above is on the sizing page in both inches and centimeters alongside every other blank, so you can set the knit next to a tee or hoodie you own. Measure the sweater you like the fit of, flat, and match the chest first.
If the size is wrong on arrival there are 14-day returns and size exchanges from delivery, and shipping is tracked.
Read next: what 270gsm and garment-washed mean on the printed pieces, and how to wash a garment-washed tee, which covers print care for the bonded matte pieces the way this piece covers the knits.
Independent fan-inspired designs — not affiliated with or endorsed by the rights holders.