Time to stretch out of Typepad's comfort zone, one tiny footstep at a time; I like the breathing room of this new and improved format, so this is step one. Step two will be figuring out my own banner, but that will take a while, considering that my well-thumbed copy of "Blogging for Dummies" is never far from the keyboard... and that I'd much rather be knitting than computing.
I am making steady, boring progress on all three WIPs right now. Rather than photographing them in their still unfinished state, I'll answer recent comments elicited by my entry on knitting set-in sleeves from the top down. It is a wonderful knitting trick to add to your repertoire, and not hard to master at all.
The "unvention" of top down sleeves must be credited to Barbara Walker, who describes the method in Knitting From the Top. I learned it first from my favorite knitting software, Sweater Wizard , which I use for almost every project of mine. There are many advantages to tools like knitting software, since they do the calculations for you, but you can also figure this out by yourself, with pencil, paper and a calculator. Actually, if you still remember how to divide without a calculator, you'll be fine. We are talking pretty basic arithmetic here.
Think of a set-in sleeve, knitted from the wrist up. At armhole level, you bind off a few stitches on each side, maybe 1" worth, to match the binds off on the front and back of your sweater. Then you decrease at the rate that will yield a diagonal line and then a curve, again matching the decreases on the body. You finish with a straight row or two before binding off for the top of the shoulder.
Knitting down from the shoulder, you don't need to worry about making that curve and that diagonal fit into the armhole you knitted for the body. And if your row gauge was somewhat off that of the pattern, you don't have to figure out a different rate of decreases to create that top sleeve shape. Knitting the sleeve down takes care of these issues. At least that's how I like to think of it. And the icings of the cake are multiple ( just hold that picture for a second: multiple icings! who can resist? not the Scarlet knitter, who was born with the sweetest of sweet teeth.)
Icing #1: as I mentioned in a previous post, no sewing of the sleeve caps! need I say more? Instead, you end up with a neat, clean seam with no major effort involved.
Icing #2: It is easy to try the sweater on its recipient and verify that sleeves are the right length rather than take a wild guess.
Icing #3: Right from the start, the sleeve caps acquire a nice three-dimensional shape that gives you the sensation you are knitting an actual garment rather than a flat piece of fabric. It may sound a bit esoteric, but that is how it feels to me. The sweater becomes "whole" and I find that my knitting gains momentum as I go.
Here is the story; no other pictures, I am afraid, but I'll point you to a few excellent links which document the technique.
First, attach the front and back shoulders of the sweater to each other with your method of choice (3-needle bind off, seaming, etc). Then pick up all the stitches you will need at the armhole for the sleeve to look right, with the front of the sweater facing you and going from right to left, starting with the armhole bind-off. I like to use a long circular needle, in a small size, even if I am going to knit the sleeve flat. For the bound-off stitches, you'll pick up and knit 1 stitch for every bound-off stitch. Then, as you go up, you'll modify the rate of pick up, but I can't give you a formula. You need to see how many stitches allow the knitted fabric to lie flat, how much of a curve the armhole is designed to have, etc.
This is the one step that requires attention; a perfectionist streak doesn't hurt either. I like to pick up my stitches slightly inside the body, not too close to the edge. Once I reach the shoulder seam, I place a marker so I can be sure to pick up the same number of stitches going down the other side of the armhole.
After that pick-up row, count your stitches. On the return row (say, a purl row), purl 2/3 of these stitches, wrap the next stitch without knitting it, place a marker, turn. (Oooops! remember to use the same size needle as for the body stitches, now. I still recommend a circular, long enough to hold all your live stitches without dropping them)
On the next row, a knit row, you will knit just the top third of the stitches, evenly distributed on either side of the shoulder seam, using a basic short row technique (and knitting the previously wrapped stitch). In other words, you are starting to build up a sleeve cap from either side of the shoulder top. From now on, on every row, you add one stitch from the original pick-up row, until all the stitches have been absorbed into the cap and you are now ready to knit the rest of the sleeve. Once you reach this point, you can join the sleeve stitches and knit them in the round, or continue to knit flat.
A couple of notes: I have done this on several sweaters and it is now my favorite method for knitting sleeves, but I'll confess I have only tried this in stockinette. Other stitch patterns will require more attention to the patterning and in some cases, like slip-stitch, I am not sure that it would be worth the effort. I'd love to hear reports to the contrary, of course. If the body and sleeves feature color motifs, these will end up upside down on the sleeves -- caveat knittor!
Every knitter has their favorite refinements. Romi shows how she is building her short-rowed sleeve cap in her entry dated April, 3. There are excellent photographs as well here . For a more thorough discussion of the architecture of set-in sleeves, this fantastic article from Knitty cannot be beat. And again -- this bears repeating -- "Knitting From the Top" is full of ingenious approaches on how to construct and shape a sweater (or skirt, or poncho, or cape) Even if you are never going to knit a skirt, and I firmly count myself in this category, this is the kind of book that makes you feel like a clever knitter. Do yourself a favor and check it out.
I love doing sleeves this way! No sewing. :)
Posted by: Romi | April 07, 2007 at 07:24 PM