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May. 19th, 2020 09:49 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
janestarzThe entire Stonehaven Sweater is knit flat, from the bottom up. The shoulder stitches are parked on scrap yarn. After finishing all the panels, you block the pieces to size and use a three-needle-bindoff to connect the shoulder seams.
The sleeves are also knit flat, and as I was happily working on the first bit after the ribbing, I realised I really wanted to not seam the entire sleeve length. After the amount of socks I have knit I am quite confident I can knit in the round. There would be no seam in the sleeve and it would be so much prettier.
And there was another thing; the original pattern states the entire sleeve is knit in pattern, so the only bits of stockinette are below the midriff. I thought this was a bit weird. We'd prefer the pattern to stop on the sleeves around the same height as it stopped on the body.
But how do you do that when working bottom-up? Especially if you suspect you need extra length in the sleeves? You can't easily fit the sleeve on the body because it's knit bottom-up. It would be quite an exercise...
First I'd have to seam up the sides and finish the shoulders of the body so Eisirt can wear them without the risk of shifting or falling off the scrap yarn. I'd also have to baste the underarm seam of the sleeve for the fitting. And then I'd slide the sleeve on his arm to check how far "up" I would be, to see where I have to start with my pattern to match it to the rest of the sweater.
Eisirt is always very patient with me when I need to fit, but he doesn't necessarily like the process. Taking off your usual gear just so you can put on a sweater-to-be just so we can fit.... what a hassle! I'd have to harass him to fit several times just to get the first sleeve done. With proper notes I can easily knit the second sleeve without having to fit.
The alternative is to knit the sleeve top-down. There's a technique to picking up stitches from an armscye and knitting the sleeves from there, picking up extra stitches each row and crafting the sleeve head as you go. It saves you even more seaming!
Downsides to this technique is a) I've never done it before and b) your sleeve would be attached to the body the whole time you're working on it. From other top-down garments I know what a hassle that can be.
I've not quite decided yet which technique I will choose. A seamless sleeve it will be. I'm just not sure yet wheter I am going up or down. And I'm not sure you won't be able to tell if you knit the sleeve in the other direction -- especially with the knit/purl pattern. So maybe I'll knit in the round, but from the bottom up...
And...will I block the panels beforehand too, or just block it when it's done...?
So many questions!
The sleeves are also knit flat, and as I was happily working on the first bit after the ribbing, I realised I really wanted to not seam the entire sleeve length. After the amount of socks I have knit I am quite confident I can knit in the round. There would be no seam in the sleeve and it would be so much prettier.
And there was another thing; the original pattern states the entire sleeve is knit in pattern, so the only bits of stockinette are below the midriff. I thought this was a bit weird. We'd prefer the pattern to stop on the sleeves around the same height as it stopped on the body.
But how do you do that when working bottom-up? Especially if you suspect you need extra length in the sleeves? You can't easily fit the sleeve on the body because it's knit bottom-up. It would be quite an exercise...
First I'd have to seam up the sides and finish the shoulders of the body so Eisirt can wear them without the risk of shifting or falling off the scrap yarn. I'd also have to baste the underarm seam of the sleeve for the fitting. And then I'd slide the sleeve on his arm to check how far "up" I would be, to see where I have to start with my pattern to match it to the rest of the sweater.
Eisirt is always very patient with me when I need to fit, but he doesn't necessarily like the process. Taking off your usual gear just so you can put on a sweater-to-be just so we can fit.... what a hassle! I'd have to harass him to fit several times just to get the first sleeve done. With proper notes I can easily knit the second sleeve without having to fit.
The alternative is to knit the sleeve top-down. There's a technique to picking up stitches from an armscye and knitting the sleeves from there, picking up extra stitches each row and crafting the sleeve head as you go. It saves you even more seaming!
Downsides to this technique is a) I've never done it before and b) your sleeve would be attached to the body the whole time you're working on it. From other top-down garments I know what a hassle that can be.
I've not quite decided yet which technique I will choose. A seamless sleeve it will be. I'm just not sure yet wheter I am going up or down. And I'm not sure you won't be able to tell if you knit the sleeve in the other direction -- especially with the knit/purl pattern. So maybe I'll knit in the round, but from the bottom up...
And...will I block the panels beforehand too, or just block it when it's done...?
So many questions!
