attaching raglan sleeves in bottom-up sweaters

I recently helped one of my friends attach the sleeves to her Bellyphant baby sweater, and I admit, it is a little hard to wrap your brain around what you're doing the first time you do this. What you have when you join the sleeves to the sweater body is two small tubes and one large "tube" that is not a tube because it is a cardigan. The difficult thing to imagine beforehand, but what becomes really obvious once you've done it, is that when you're holding a sleeve tube up next to the sweater to attach it, the back side of the sleeve (closest to the armpit) is held with right side facing the right side of body, and the outside of the sleeve is held with right side facing out. So the stitches you are binding off at the armpit are bound off with right sides facing -- using the tail end of the yarn you used to knit the sleeves -- and then you use the working yarn from the body section to knit around the outside of the sleeve all the way to the other side, and then continue working the back of the sweater.

The diagrams in this Vogue Knitting article by Jared Flood help to clarify this all. Jared has you put the armpit sleeves on holders rather than binding them off. If that is easier for you, by all means, do it his way. For me, I like as little finishing as possible, so I like the three-needle bindoff.

So here's the process as I am working that row where the arm stitches are joined:

First I knit the right number of stitches of the body section for the cardigan front. Then I hold my sleeve up to the body section. (I've been working the sleeves magic-loop, so half the sleeve stitches are on one side of the circular needle and half are on the other, and the two needles are both facing with the points to the right.) I use the length of yarn that's hanging off the sleeve stitches to bind off the right number of stitches of the body and the sleeve together with three-needle-bindoff. The sleeve needle that I am binding stitches off of is the back needle of the sleeve (the one that has purl stitches facing me as I am looking at the sleeve tube). After I've finished binding off these stitches, I knot that yarn from the sleeve and drop it. Then I pick up the working yarn from the body section and continue knitting across the sleeve -- but this time I knit across the top needle of the sleeve (the one that has the knit stitches facing me). When I have knit all the sleeve stitches, I go on across the back of the body section until I get to the next sleeve and repeat the process.

Does that help at all? It sounds really hard until you do it. It's hard to visualize ahead of time and to describe in words, but it's very intuitive when you are actually knitting.

Side note: some knitters on Ravelry have wondered why I designed this one bottom-up instead of top-down like the other raglan sweater patterns I've done. The answer is that there's a little bit of variability in people's row gauge, and if you are knitting the sweater top-down, it's hard to be precise about placing the elephants at the bottom and making sure that the sweater is the right length. If you start with the elephants, you can knit the striped part of the body as long as you need it to be before adding the sleeves -- the stripe is only a 4-row repeat but the elephants are something like 18 rows tall.

Bellyphant!

Sorry about the gap in posting there, gentle readers! I have been studying for the Orals like a madwoman. I hope I can make up for my e-silence by offering at long last the pattern for my baby sweater with elephants on the belly -- or as I've dubbed it, the Bellyphant Cardigan!

Click here to download the 9-page pattern pdf for $4.99 (Ravelry dowload):




This one is a first for me, because it's a bottom-up raglan instead of a top-down. The difference was necessitated by the design's having the elephants at the bottom of the sweater -- unless you want to do some math, it's much easier to start with the stranded portion and then knit in stripes until it's the right length, rather than starting at the top with the stripes and then beginning the stranded portion at the appropriate number of inches from the bottom of the sweater.


The details:

Size 3-6 (6-9, 12-18) months
Finished Measurements 21” (22”, 25”) chest, 10.5” (11”, 12.5”) long
Gauge 6 stitches and 8 rows = 1 inch

Requirements
Size US 3 (3.25 mm) straight or circular needles. I would recommend a long circular needle
Size 3 (3.25 mm) double-pointed needles or long circular needle for magic loop
300-400 yards sport weight yarn in main color (MC) (I used Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino in brown #11); about 200-300 yards sport weight yarn in contrast color (CC) (I used Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino in pink #15 or teal #203)
8 stitch markers
2 Stitch holders or scrap yarn
Tapestry needle
7-10 Coordinating buttons

Skills required: knitting flat and in the round, stranded knitting done flat, 2x2 ribbing, paired decreases, three-needle bindoff, picking up stitches

The pattern includes a glossary of all abbreviations as well as illustrated instructions for ssk (slip-slip-knit decreases), picking up stitches, and working three-needle bindoff.

This pattern does require flat colorwork (not knit in the round), and there are some pretty large stretches of one color only in some rows. If you’d like, you may prefer to knit it in intarsia rather than stranded knitting. The colorwork section is only 11 rows, though, so I think it's reasonable.

Click here to download the 9-page pattern pdf for $4.99 (Ravelry dowload):




The original recipient of this sweater adores it, and I've worked up two more of them to sell for my choir's silent auction. So the pattern has been test-knit by me in two different sizes and knit a total of 3 times over the last 6 months or so.

That's it, my friends! As soon as I'm done with the Orals I promise I will post again. I'm so looking forward to knitting again, and indeed to doing anything with my spare time other than read about medieval lay devotion!

Correction.

Silly me. I forgot that a big change in stitch gauge would entail a similarly big change in row gauge. There was no way this puppy was going to reach under my armpits at the bottom of the yoke ribbing. Luckily, I was planning all along to make it a sweater with sleeves, so it's all good. I incorporated a few raglan increases to cut down on the number of stitches cast on under the armpit, and viola: a Shalom-esque sweater rather than a Shalom.

I think it's still cute, though I liked the nice, neat way that the real Shalom's yoke ended just as the body/sleeves divided. Alas. Next time I won't be such a smart-aleck and will just knit something in the right gauge of yarn.

That said, I love, love, love this yarn (Karabella Aurora 8) -- the color and the feel. I worry, though, both that it will grow out of control and that it will become pilly. Those two problems have plagued me as long as I've been hard-headedly knitting things with soft yarn even though everyone says that soft yarn pills and that superwash grows...

Tulip Yoke Baby Cardigan pattern

Just in time for in-like-a-lion March weather, here's a free baby cardigan pattern with spring colors of mud and grass and a line of cheerful spring tulips!

This is a top-down, circular yoke cardigan in three sizes (3-6, 6-9, and 9-12 months), with instructions on how to increase for the yoke, separate for the sleeves, and pick up stitches for button bands. It's a great pattern to try if you are a first-time sweater knitter!

Also avaliable as a free Ravelry download here.
Matching hat available here.

Note: There was one row missing from the yoke instructions. All increases should be worked in knit rows. Pattern has been amended 7/3/09.

Tulip Yoke Baby Cardigan Pattern

Sizes: 3-6 (6-9, 9-12) months. Shown in smallest size.
Finished Measurements: 20” (21”, 22”) chest circumference

Gauge: 6 stitches and 8 rows = 1” in stockinette

Requirements:
Circular or straight needles, size 3
Double-pointed needles, size 3 (optional)
Sport weight yarn (I used Knitpicks Shine Sport): MC (300-450 yards), secondary colors A (less than 100 yards), B, and C (less than 50 yards each)
Two stitch holders or pieces of scrap yarn
Tapestry needle for weaving in ends
6-8 matching buttons

MC=green (I used “leapfrog”)
A=brown (I used “fedora”)
B=pink (I used “terracotta”)
C=tan (I used “willow”)


Note: this is a top-down circular yoke sweater; it begins at the neck ribbing. It does make use of flat fair isle knitting for a brief section of the sweater (14 rows total), so be warned if flat fair isle knitting is something you hate!

Special instructions:

Complete abbreviations glossary at end of this document.

m1 (make 1): my favorite way to make a stitch is to lift up and knit the right leg of the stitch one row below the stitch on the left needle. Another option is to pick up the bar between stitches and knit it through the back loop.

Reading the charts: pattern repeat is marked in red. For the tulip chart, one or two extra stitches are included next to left and right button bands to make the pattern symmetrical. The tulips are upside-down because the knitting will be done top-down. The fair isle pattern for both charts begins with a purl row.


Directions:

Yoke
With MC, cast on 79 (79, 85) stitches. Work 7 rows of k1, p1 ribbing. Work one row purl. Switch to A and work two rows stockinette. In next row, increase 16 (16, 20) stitches evenly across row as follows: k2 (2, 4), *m1, k5 (5, 4), rep. from * 14 (14, 18) times, m1, k2 (2, 5). 95 (95, 105) st. Work 1 more row stockinette. In next row, increase 28 (28, 28) stitches evenly across row as follows: k7(7,12), *m1, k3, rep. from * 26 (26, 26) times, m1, k7 (7, 12). 123 (123, 133) st.


In next row (WS), join B and begin working tulip chart. You will work 12 (12, 13) repeats of the tulips. Remember to work the extra stitch or two at the beginning of first repeat and end of last repeat to center the design on yoke. After row 10 of the tulip chart, work one row in color A, then in the next row increase 28 (28, 28) stitches evenly across row as follows: k8 (8, 13), *m1, k4, rep from * 26 (26, 26) times, m1, k7 (7, 12). 151 (151, 161) st. Work 3 rows stockinette (in color A). In next row, increase 17 (17, 19) stitches evenly across row as follows: k3 (3, 4), *m1, k9, rep. from * 15 (15, 17) times, m1, k4 (4, 4). 168 (168, 180) st.

In next row (WS), join C and begin working zigzag chart. You will work 42 (42, 45) repeats of the zigzags. After row 4, work one row stockinette in MC, placing markers as follows: p24 (24, 26), place marker (pm), p36 (36, 38), pm, p48 (48, 52), pm, p36 (36, 38), pm, p24 (24, 26).

In next row and following 5 (7, 7) RS rows, work raglan increases: *k to marker, m1, slip marker, m1, rep. from *, k to end. 216 (232, 244) st.

Body
In next RS row, divide for sleeves as follows: knit to first marker, place stitches between first and second markers on a holder or piece of scrap yarn, knit to third marker, place stitches between third and fourth markers on a holder or piece of scrap yarn, knit to end. You can drop the markers in this row. Continue body in stockinette until it measures 9½ (10½, 11½) inches from cast-on. Then work 12 rows of k1, p1 rib and bind off.

Sleeves
Place one sleeve’s stitches back on needles and rejoin MC yarn. Work back-and-forth or in the round. If you work back-and-forth, cast on one selvedge stitch at each side to use for seaming up later. Work 12 rows stockinette. In next row/round (RS), k1, ssk, work to 3 stitches before end, k2tog, k1. Work 11 more rows/rounds. Repeat these 12 rows/rounds 3 more times. Work 0 (4, 8) more rows/rounds stockinette. Sleeve should be 6 (6½, 7) inches from armpit. If it is not, continue in stockinette until it is. In next row/round, *k4, k2tog, repeat from * to end. Work 8 rows k1, p1 rib and bind off. Repeat with other sleeve.

Buttonhole bands
Pick up 3 stitches for every 4 rows along left front cardigan edge for button band. Work 8 rows k1, p1 rib and bind off. Pick up same number of stitches along right front cardigan edge. Work 3 rows k1, p1 rib. In next row, work eyelet buttonholes in the places you would like them (make an eyelet buttonhole by working up to the place you’d like the buttonhole, then YO, k2tog, and continue to the next spot you’d like a buttonhole). Work 4 more rows k1, p1 rib and bind off.

Finishing
Weave in ends, block, and sew on buttons!



Abbreviations used in this pattern:

k: knit
k2tog: knit two stitches together
p: purl
pm: place marker
rep from *: go back in this line of instructions to the *. Repeat the instructions from the * to the end of the line as many times as specified.
RS: right side (usually knit side)
ssk: slip the next two stitches as if to knit, then knit them together through the back loops.
st: stitches
WS: wrong side (usually purl side)
YO: yarn over (move yarn to front of needle as if to purl, but knit the next stitch, making a loop where the yarn went over the needle.


Copyright 2009 by Jennifer Little of Looking Glass Knits. Please do not sell this pattern or sweaters knit for it for your own profit.

What I've been doing instead of grading papers.

Exhibit A:


An unblocked sock. The second in my set of socks for Sarah for Christmas. This one is top-down, eye of partridge heel, very standard-issue -- but not for me, because it is only the second pair of socks I've ever made.

Nicely kitchenered toe.

Hello, world. Hello, sock.

Exhibit B:


The sleeve of my long-neglected fair isle yoke cardigan. This one has been long neglected for two very good -- and one medium good -- reasons. The medium good one is that it has a tiny gauge. The two very good ones are first, that I started knitting it before realizing that I was twisting my purl rows, and since learning this I've become a much faster knitter when doing it correctly, and it's irksome to have to keep knitting this the old (wrong) way; and second, that I made the armholes too big when I was knitting the body, and I didn't know what to do to fix this problem. I didn't want just to rapidly decrease as I started knitting them, because that would make them have a funny shape, and in my opinion the most crucial part of a sleeve is the part where it hits your shoulder -- it can make your arm look either fat or skinny. So I came up with this ingenious scheme, which I think worked awesomely. The pit:

(for some reason, this seems like an obscene angle from which to take a picture). I ascertained that there were about 10 stitches too many in the arms as I picked them up to start knitting down, so I kitchenered together four stitches from each side of the arm, leaving the last extra stitch on each side for selvedge when sewing the arms up. Here's a closer detail shot:

That kitchener stitch is executed very poorly, but it's an armpit, for cripe's sake.

Exhibit C:
A gorgeous chevron beret that is, alas, too small, I fear. This is a mid-blocking shot, and I was only able to squeeze it onto a medium-sized dinner plate -- about an inch in diameter smaller than the one on which I blocked the first chevron beret. I have plenty of Imagination yarn left over, so I can just knit a new one if it is too small, but it's a disappointment nonetheless.


Exhibit D:

The beginnings of a February Lady Sweater for my grandmother. Despite my manifold qualms, I am knitting this in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran. Yes, it is already beginning to pill, but she is very picky about softness. It may not be evident in this picture, but I decided to make the yoke circular as in the original, and to start the lace pattern early instead of knitting garter to an inch before separating for the arms, because I'm knitting this as a bed jacket for her and I think that the circular, shorter yoke looks more like old-fashioned bed jackets.

Exhibit E:

I reorganized my yarn stash. I was beginning to fear moths, so I packaged it all up neatly in Ikea boxes and zipper bags and put it neatly in the bottom of one of my new bookshelves.

Pretty nice, eh? This project renders relatively obsolete my old system of organization:

I may have gotten a little obsessed in the process of putting everything in zipper bags. Here's my basket of UFOs:

All neatly piled in order of what's next to work on.

Yes, I really, really did not want to grade those papers.

Officially Fall...

... and officially finished! The first pair in my Socks for Sarah project, that is. These are in Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock, colorway Gold Hill. 64 stitches around, toe-up, short row heel, double eyelet rib and double rib leg.

Lookin' good, for a first pair of socks. Things I learned: work more rows plain after the heel before beginning leg patterning. Work tubular bind-off LOOOOOOSELY!

Here they are on my fat, fat feet:


And I've cast on for my second pair. Top-down, this time, still 64 stitches around. These are in Knitpicks Felici in colorway Schooner. I'm going to try a different heel this time too.


Meanwhile, in other knitting news, the body of my mom's Radcliffe Cardigan is finished and blocked, with button bands and everything, and ... it's too small. I've got to rip it out halfway and increase under the armpits. And take out the waist shaping -- it is my style, but not my mom's.

Lessons learned with this project: while aiming on the small side for superwash projects is the way to go, non-superwash yarn does not grow nearly as much in blocking. I measured my swatch ruthlessly, but I should have rounded up instead of down, because a difference of a tenth of an inch a stitch can make a difference of an inch or more in the final product. Oh well -- at least the gauge on this one is big, so it won't take too long.

New and improved!

I did a little math and resized the Peach Blossom jacket pattern for children sizes 2-10. You can get the pdf file here. Coming soon: babies' sizes from 6-18 months.

Produstination

Comprehensive exams are in just a few days, and of course what that means is studying 24/7. And by "studying 24/7," what I mean, clearly, is "watching the Olympics, cooking unnecessarily fancy food, drinking quite a bit more wine than health benefits warrant, listening to Moby Dick on CD, patting myself on the back for listening to such an erudite book, and knitting." It's been productive procrastination city here chez Looking Glass.

The upshot:

Significant progress on both Radcliffe cardigans, especially the one for my mom, whose body is only about 6 inches from completion:



Quite a bit of length on the chevron scarf (man, I'm hoping those wrinkles block out!):


The cuff of a fair isle glove:


And -- steel yourselves -- I've made a sock.


After setting a lot of stock in my being a non-sock-knitter, I have knit a sock. I understand a little better now what the appeal is -- it's pretty quick knitting, despite the tiny gauge, and it's definitely satisfying to try it on every 15 minutes or so and marvel at the perfect fit. This is a trial run at knitting socks for my sister, whose only real luxury as a second-year OB resident is the fancy socks she wears under her clogs. She's picky though, about itchiness and thickness -- I'm hoping that this Lorna's Laces yarn fits the bill, as it's about the softest and thinnest sock yarn I could find.

Not usually a fan of variegated yarn, either, I find myself inordinately pleased at the fabric this yarn creates, though it was a bit tough finding a pattern for the cuff that was both elastic and not marred by the striping. I finally settled on a double eyelet rib.


Now -- merciful heavens -- I can't wait to buy a skein of solid sock yarn and try my hand at something more complicated!

Long-overdue May posting

the fair isle yoke sweater, progressing at a glacial pace

It's been too long since my last post, I know -- I've been busy with schoolwork and end-of-semester anxieties and joys. The students are variously adorable and irritating, depending, mostly, on how sunny it is outside; to my surprise and pleasure, most of them have really enjoyed reading The Remains of the Day, despite their initial complaints about its moving quite slowly (as it does, but the slow pace becomes incrementally more tragic as the book goes on).

Saint Margaret and the dragon

My own studies have been wearing down a bit too gradually for my taste. After presenting a paper on the passion of St. Margaret almost two weeks ago, I've been feeling like the semester was already over -- and therefore have been irritated every time I have to go to another class. It turns out that all three of my final papers are on medieval saints' lives this semester -- and I am coming to the somewhat alarming conclusion that I want to write my dissertation on hagiography -- alarming because hagiography is a pretty fuzzy field and the research involved is about 4 times as complex and time-consuming as just focusing on good old Geoffrey C., whose books are readily available and in English... But saints' lives are just so fascinating! Case in point: one of the postmortem miracles of St. Aethelthryth of Ely is a story of the saint's appearing next to the bed of a sleeping girl and slapping her really hard for no particular reason -- hard enough to damage her sight and mangle her face -- then when the girl prayed to St. Aethelthryth (that's right, the same saint who slapped her), her sight was restored and her face was healed. It's like the Mommy Dearest of the Middle Ages.

Saint Aethelthryth

On to the knitting news. First, my contributions to the silent auction were both hits -- I think that each sweater set brought in something like $85. That success leaves me wanting to knit more baby things for nobody in particular. I'm working on a new design, but it's taken a lot of ripping-out already; in the meantime, I've been working on some versions of my old designs in new colors. The brown Chronicles of Narnia sweater I've already posted about, but here it is all finished, and looking quite classy, if I do say so myself:


That's in four colors of Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino and size 5 needles. I have to say that Baby Cashmerino seems to have changed its fiber content or something; it was much more plasticky and less luxurious than I remember its being the last time I knit with it. Next up there is another Peach Blossom jacket, in spring green Shine Sport:


This is an attempt to ascertain if the Peach Blossom jacket could ever look boyish enough for a boy. I'm not totally convinced, but I do think the color combination is sweet, if still a little girly. It's also very nicely coordinated with the other project I've got going chez Looking Glass:


My mom bought me some little pots to plant herb seeds in. I've been absurdly delighted to watch them grow; I feel like a kindergartener checking their progress every day. They are, clockwise from the top left, marigolds, basil (I think), zinnias (I think), oregano, and chives. The oregano may be dead after going a bit too long without watering; I keep cheering on the few leaves that still seem to be green, but they have not changed much in size over the past week.

Radcliffe Cardigan

Special note: from now until 2/14/10 I will donate 50% of the proceeds from my pattern sales to the American Red Cross for their Haiti relief efforts.

I am pleased to offer my first pattern for sale, the Radcliffe Cardigan. This sweater is a top-down, fitted cardigan styled after the practical but flattering fashions of the 1940s and 50s. With its small vintage details like seed-stitch yoke, slightly puffed sleeves, and demure cable framing the button band, it seems to me like the kind of sweater a college co-ed might have worn to class. So I named it after Radcliffe, the women’s college of Harvard University which formally merged with Harvard in 1977. When I graduated in 1999, mine was the last class of women who received diplomas from both Harvard and Radcliffe.

A unique construction allows the customizability of top-down knitting with the look of set-in sleeves. Because it is knit top-down, the pattern is easily adapted to sizes larger and smaller than those I have written up.


Details

Sizes: women's 32-40" chest
Gauge: 6 stitches and 8 rows = 1 inch
Needles: size 5 32" circular, size 5 double-pointed needles optional
Yarn: 1200-1600 yards DK or sport-weight

Click the Ravelry link below to purchase pattern with Paypal ($5.00).