Top down sleeve head tutorial

I think I have cracked it! Neat and well- fitting sleeve heads are an ongoing fascination for me and I have researched and studied them extensively! this is a method I swear by and it is a pleasure to share this with you. Do try it at home!

The pattern I used for this Henley constructs the garment bottom up, that is the body and the sleeves. Well, I hate bottom up sleeves for more than one reason. Firstly, I find sewing fitted sleeve caps into the body tedious. Secondly, it is a pain to adjust the sleeve length.

I looked at the pattern and it said that 14 sts is the final amount to be cast off at the sleeve head (remember: 14).

So I picked up with a slightly smaller needle the sleeve head stitches around the armhole. I started picking up stitches at the bottom of the armhole in the section AFTER the armhole shaping. The armhole was shaped binding off on the body 1 x 4 sts, 1 x 3 sts, 2 x 2 sts, 2 x 1 st. So I started picking up on the straight section and I picked up 1 st every 2 rows.

Why? Because when I knit the sleeve head with short rows, I add ONE stitch every two rows on each side on the sleeve head!

When I got to the top of the sleeve head (after picking up 20 sts), I put a maker in the work, picked up 14 sts 2 sts for each 3 rows. After my 14 sts I put another marker in the work and picked up 20 sts (one st n every 2 nd row) and I cut the yarn.

Why 2 sts to every 3 rows? Because that is where the ‘fabric’ is flat, stitches are joined to rows, just like on a button band…

I then moved the sts. I slipped 20 sts so my needles were ready to start knitting the sleeve head, the first 14 sts.

With a second dp needle (correct for my gauge), I knitted the first 14 sts, put a short piece of wool for the short rows to mark the turn, turned the work, knitted back 14 sts AND an extra stitch from the holding needle AND I put a marker thread as I turned the work.

Then I knitted the right side again, this time picking up an extra st from the holding needle, which I knitted together with the loop from the marker thread. Before turning the work, I re-positioned the marker thread.

I knitted all stitches back and when I came to the end, I picked up a stitch from the holding needle, positioned the loop from the marker thread to the left of it, pulled them together, re- positioned the marker thread, turned the work and so on… Until all 20 sts on both sides were used up.

Then I added the bound off stitches and incorporated them into the short rows, so I added on the sleeve head what I had bound off for the armhole.

Voila! This sleeve head is definitely fitting neatly into the armhole! Yay!

PS: In row 3, I re- introduced the basket weave pattern…

 

 

 

Proudly Presenting: Celtica

Very proudly presenting Celtica today! Or should this post be called “Surprised about the merits of Negative Ease”? There is a lot to be said about finally finishing this intricate project. Let me not rant on and on, I put it in bullet points for you:

• There was the issue of gauge, since I used a different yarn to what was specified in the pattern, this had to be accurate and I re-knitted the skirt (fronts and back in one piece) twice when I found that my version was too small
• There was the issue of cable placement as I re-knitted this jacket and realized that it would look horrible with 2 half cables from armhole upwards, so I redesigned the cables and added the slim one at the centre front.
• I knitted the sleeves top down, picking up stitches around the armhole and shaping the fitted sleeve with short rows. I knitted the first sleeve head 5 times, modifying the short row technique, and then I gave up – it is what it is. I love the shape, but since the sleeves use the purl side of the stocking stitch as the right side, there was no neater way to do short rows and knitting stitches together than what I came up with.
• Buttons: I raided my extensive collection of buttons and found real treasures, but never 7 of one kind! I did not have time to go to the amazing button shop, and part of me resented that idea – having the said button treasure in my shed… so I tried to make buttons… decided none of them were working… and settled for a mixture of suitable buttons – I think it works.
• The shawl collar is knitted in, as is the button stand – and I finished it all off by knitting a 3 sts i-cord around the entire jacket. Looks smart.
• Finally – when I did put the jacket on – it was gaping about 2″ at the front. Shock, Horror! This is too small! But no, it’s Negative ease in action. This jacket fits like a glove, caresses me ceaselessly on cold mornings and is made for me.

Here is the button thought experiment in pictures: all sorts of lovely stuff… could I mix and match?

Here is a Dorset Button (right: made at the Knitters Guild some months ago) and one I made following a tutorial on Kate Davis’ blog (left) some time ago:

Then three samples trying to make it work for this particular jacket. But I decided that buttons in the same color would look drab. I did not have any other color that would look good… by this time I realized that any hand made button ought to be in a satin or silk finish.

And voila – a dog thinking I was setting up a photo shoot to show off his new, radical hair cut: “This is a nice and sunny spot for it, Mum!”

“And thanks for using your new jacket for it!”

“Even if you are finished now, I might just continue napping, ok?”

And what else? New ideas are overflowing my brain… a new project has been cast on. Not sure what it will end up being, so I will post something, once I have survived this experimental phase.

Life is certainly good. There is so much going on with 4 kids – it’s great. We all love the dynamics! I must make a photo of what happens in our kitchen in the mornings – lunch box assembly, breakfast orders, sock and school uniform hunts and last minute notes to be signed.

The evenings are no less busy. 4 kids in the study in various stages of doing homework, discussing maths, drama, parliament or history – playing music of any kind. Patrick coming and going to and from band rehearsals of any kind, me forever disappearing to Tai Chi/ Yoga or other classes or P&C meetings. In between countless lot’s of laundry processed (primarily by the children), afternoon teas being produced, consumed and the debris left in the kitchen, dinners produced and washing up piled in the kitchen sink. And whenever I think that now I have a moment peace to do some work or play – another trip to the shops to buy more food!

Patrick has put the window frames into the downstairs room and today the bloke is coming to put the glass in! So that is still ticking along. I have chosen curtain fabric and ought to go and look at it and purchase and sew.

Happy Days.

 

 

 

 

We’re off to see the Wizzard…

A quick post is better than no post – eh?

Patrick has only just unpacked his and Jo’s hiking gear after (what sounds) an amazing hike to Pantoni’s Crown… and I have started to set out all our ski stuff on the newly refurbished dining table – I don’t think we have had a single dinner on it yet!!! We will be skiing and snow boarding in Thredbo for 3 days.

I don’t think the kids will remember the terrain, so it will be interesting how we will manage to coordinate…    And here is an update on the cardigan hoot hoot:

I have finished front and back, grafted the shoulders, added the shawl collar and knitted a 3 sts i-cord all around! Looks very neat, I dare say. Not sure if I have got time to rummage through the button box before we leave. And I have made a go of the sleeve heads… sigh… I have tried and tried – my calculations for the pattern is spot on, I found as I knitted at at least twice – BUT the short rows are not pretty because it’s the purl side of the stocking stitch that will feature as the right side! So I have tried Wrap and Twist, Japanese and German short rows, and now I have devised my own and it seems to look pretty… (mental note to myself: take pictures of this new short row technique!)

Other news: we are all set for term 3 (I hope…). We bought Lena’s school uniform yesterday and she looked splendid in it! Today was her first day at school and she set off with Esther to the bus in the early dark and rainy hours of the morning. I am looking forward to hearing about her experiences! In the meantime I went back to work (yes, I could find my office and work the computer), but on the way home, I did stop off at the supermarket for MORE food and MORE exercise books… We love being a big family. The entire dynamic has changed, it’s all fun and games, even though there have been some stomach bugs and skin hives running through the family… all part and parcel…

Thank God SOMETHING works well!

The good news is: top down set in sleeves work, they work for me… they are such a nice fit. And the other really neat thing is though there is a bit of initial complication to get the project going – you need to have your wits about in every row – once you have reached the underarm stage… sweet… you just go round and round in circles until body and sleeves are done to the cuff… The bad news: I will start again, yes, 3rd time lucky, I do hope. This is just a tiny bit too big on Patrick… never mind, another chance to refine the pattern.

Here is a shot with the garment lying flat – you see how I have increased the armhole stitches on the body and started the jolly round and round knitting… I then paused and knitted the sleeve head again: I picked up all the increased armhole stitches from the body in one row and then I knitted short rows across the sleeve head (back and forth/ knit and purl) increasing the right amount of stitches per row (just as I did for the underarm on the body) and then I started my jolly round and round knitting.

Peace at Last!

I have worked out all the issues… and I think now I can anticipate a calm and quiet weekend! I jumped out of bed early this morning and felt like screaming Eureka! In my sweet half slumber, while the birds were tuning up, it came to me how the sleeve heads are done! Much unraveling has occurred to get to this stage of this project and there are two things I’d really like to go on record: (1) I am not one for easily giving myself credit, but I am almighty proud of this jumper, having solved all the issues and problems with the design, matching the stripes to the size and design and so forth… (2) Even when the going got tough and I was in states of frustration, exultation, passion or flow – I did write a comprehensive pattern of those sections, this is a first! I usually get carried away and just get it done somehow and then cannot remember how on earth I did it.

Neckline challenge: I wasn’t sure if the neck really was going to sit nicely, being so square… I altered the Kangaroo Pouch Jumper pattern by starting the neckline of the front a stripe lower than the beginning of the shoulder.

Shoulder challenge: Uh, I didn’t take a picture of the back shoulder, hm. Well, in the above picture you can see a red stripe finishing the back piece. That stripe has got short rows on the side to shape the shoulder – and it was tricky to match the short rows with the stripes.

Armhole challenge 1: This picture illustrates  the name Kangaroo Pouch Jumper fairly well – an unusually big amount of stitches is put on hold (they look like kangaroo pouches, eh?); then one knits around the entire armhole (picking up stitches along the steek and along the ‘pouch stitches’) and then the top down set in sleeves are worked, starting up at the shoulder. A steek, YIKES! I did have a good look on google for steek information, but then decided to take Elizabeth Zimmermann’s instructions on face value: I stitched two rows of short zig zag along the opening, which I had basted carefully and then….

… I cut it open!

Armhole challenge 2: I followed EZ’s instructions to the dot here, picking up the ‘pouch’ stitches that were on hold and then picking up around the armhole 2 stitches to every 3 rows, which resulted in a really nice and smooth finish.

Sleeve head challenge: I tried and tried, followed the instruction to the dot but couldn’t get it to work. EZ’s method is starting the sleeve head at the shoulder seam and then increasing the one st at the end of each row (short row shaping) as well as decreasing the armhole stitches. I couldn’t get the decrease to look neat with the stripes and all… so I hoped for the best that a solution may come to me.

Collar challenge: I wasn’t sure if the collar was going to sit nicely, being so square – but hey – looks good to me! I used the same method as for the hem, just in reverse (knitting lining last and then hand sewing it down.

I saved the best for last – the Eureka Moment. Instead of decreasing the armhole stitches, I decreased stitches within the sleeve cap! I thus had no issues with stripe colors from the sleeve head colliding with the light grey stripe of the armhole and making a mess. And an additional bonus was (which I didn’t know until I did it!) that my sleeve head stripes match the ones on the body!

Have a great weekend!

On cake and set in top down sleeves

There is a lot to catch up on – I have not written a post in ages! I am totally out of the habit of  taking photos of what happens around me, I hope that is not going to be a problem for you… I will have to use my words.

Let’s first talk about cake. Sunday before last I had my department for morning tea, this was a cake eating event instead of a baby shower for one of my colleagues. This looks pretty impressive, eh? I made a German marble cake (far back on the big blue plate) and this time I iced it with lemon icing. I also made the German plum tart on the red cake stand. I gave my colleague the little knitted baby jump suit – and my colleague just loved it.

Well, Sunday cake is engrained in our family’s week now, I made some more this Sunday: a honey cheese cake and three banana cakes (only one in this picture). Pretty yummy. With the cake news covered, let’s get into the knitting news.

Well the next brief item covers cake and knitting – we went to Timothy’s birthday and had cake and delivered the knitted Bull jumper… and it fits!!! I made the sleeves 10 cm and the body 15cm longer than the original Bull jumper, and this was just based on his brother’s estimate, well BINGO. (Sadly no photo – please imagine a handsome, blond young man with a beautiful smile, pleased to take the woolen jumper off on a hot day).

Now knitting pure: I have been busy knitting the second jump suit for my brother’s baby, realizing that the baby is due in 2 weeks time! So this one is stripy, but has got just as many stitches than the first one (he he he) – these tiny garments on 2.25mm needles take just as long as an item for an adult on 4mm needles, seriously!

Knitting away on the 2nd jump suit gives me the opportunity to check my pattern for accuracy, but also to revise my entire idea of how to set out to represent instructions, the notation of good knitwear design. And though it’s all very accurate what I have put on paper – I realized that it is terribly long-winded and off-putting, even for the keenest of knitters… Somehow I thought of Japanese knitting instructions, no idea where I read that they are really easy to understand. I googled, I found, I read, I understood – this subject deserves it’s very own post one day (though there is already lot’s written about it) so I will only say that it’s the Japanese style I will be aiming for in my own writing – simple and clear, everything is set out on one page, no words are wasted… a drawing and a few numbers, I love it!!!

I have started something myself! A knitted shirt. I actually documented the process diligently (and the pics got deleted from the camera by another user, so much for shared gadgets), but they are no longer available… This project has been exiting in more than one way:

1. It is for me, myself, I!!!
2. it is bright red, not grey – I am getting bold with my colors, hurraaaa!
3. I took the pattern of a shirt I love wearing… there is a bit of shaping involved here to get a good fit, so fingers crossed it all turns out as planned
4. I am making fitted sleeves! Fitted sleeves knitted from the top!!!!!! I was tempted to buy a book on the subject – but then I figured that I have a brain and that I am paid to think (something I still am getting used to…) – so I do have the capacity to work this one out myself and funnily enough, I think I did!
5. I will make cuffs and a collar, all edged with garter stitch

Here are some pearls of wisdom re: set in/ fitted sleeves knitted from the top. All I knew when I started this, was that the cap of the sleeve is knitted with short rows, increasing stitches either side from the shoulder seam.

First of all one needs to pick up the stitches around the armhole. Two decisions are to be made: (1) How to pick them up neatly? (2) how many stitches?

(1) I divided the armhole into three sections and dealt with each section slightly differently.  My decreases for the armhole were as follows:  3, 2, 2, 4 x 1, 0, 1 stitches and then 32 rows no decreases.

1. section 1: at the bottom of the armhole where I had cast off  3, 2, 2 stitches, so I went into the 7 stitches to pick up the new ones, I ignored the gaps between the rows, so the scye turned out nice and tight.
2. section 2: where I decreased 4 x 1 stitch I went into the stitches to pick up new ones, but also picked up extra stitches under each decrease, by going into the stitches as before.
3. section 3: along the 32 rows of no increases, I picked up 3 stitches every 4 rows by going into the space next to the selvage stitch.

(2) It was hard to thing to get my head around the issue of how many stitches to pick up… for the top down fitted sleeves you pick up stitches to fit the armhole (armhole measurement x 1/10 stitch gauge; 46 cm x 2 in my case = 92 st) – this is the ‘first row’ of the sleeve cap, the foundation for all the short rows – but then the sleeve width is measured across the armhole; 36 cm x 2 in my case = 72 st). What about the 20 stitches difference???? Me and my brain, we figured that because my cap is 38 rows high (18 increases either side from the shoulder seam), we need to divide my stitches across the armhole (72) by 18 rows, ensuring that the first increases (at the cap) start flat (around 4 st each side), then steep (1 increase every side) and that the last increases (at the bottom of the armhole) match my armhole decreases. As for the extra stitches, 20 of them – I will have to decrease them evenly around the armhole as I knit my short rows… but not at the scye, that needs to stay tight. So everything fell nicely into place…

I will keep you posted… and not leave any unpublished photos in the camera for too long…