I raced through the body of my sweater in order to stay ahead of the class, but even if you haven't finished that section, you can always start on a sleeve!
Knitting sleeeves can be a welcome break from working the torso of a sweater--they are more portable, and smaller, so each round goes much faster and the length gows perceptibly, for a real feeling of accomplishment! In this lesson, we'll go over the math behind sleeve shaping, and discuss some potential modifications that allow you to get custom sleeves!
Click the link below for the handout:
And check out our videos, where I (somewhat tiredly--apologies! I should maybe not shoot these lessons on Monday!) walk you through the math and show how the formulas in the handout gave me the sleeve I want!
We have a lot of great activity happening for the particiapnats of this class, so I'm hoping I can call upon all of you amazing knitters (including any knitters who are following along without commenting) for a favor! Since the bulk of the knitting of a sweater is the body and sleeves, I would like to take a week off from our lessons next week, to give everyone a chance to catch up and get excited about finishing their sweaters. My idea is that, instead of a lesson next week, we should do a show-and-tell/troubleshooting post! If you would be willing to share your progress on your sweater, if you have run into a problem and would like the Knit Picks Brain Trust to help you solve it, or if you have written or discovered some fabulous sweater-knitting resource, let us know by sending pictures, questions, links, and whatever (no spam though!) to designer.nina@gmail.com, and I'll include it in next week's post! If you have burning sleeve questions that need to be addressed right away, or course, feel free to ask in this post's comments. Thanks for all that you do, knitters! I am really looking forward to hearing from you!
Aug 19, 2011 at 1:29 AM I need to make knitted sleeves for a reversible quilted jacketI am making. they need to be set in sleeves..How can I getinstruction for just a plain set in sleeve with ribbing cuff
Aug 19, 2011 at 1:24 AM I Make reversible quilted jackets and I need a pattern for sleeves of the ribbed cuff jacket, Any suggestion on a basic sleeve pattern with ribbed cuff that i put in the body of the jacket?
Mar 24, 2011 at 10:46 AM Connie - worksheets for lesson 5 and 6 are combined in the lesson 6 blog post. Where it says "lessons 5 and 6" in purple, you will be able to click on that to get the pdf.
Mar 24, 2011 at 10:02 AM Nina, At the end of the handout for Sleeves, it says the next lesson is the Yoke. Where can I find the written instructions for the yoke? I don't see a video on this topic either. Thanks, Connie
Dec 10, 2010 at 11:18 AM Hi, Nina! Quick question: Do you have to do the increases and decreses for the sleeves, cn I just knit it plain? Thanks! Edvinas
Sep 28, 2010 at 7:51 AM I just found these videos and am loving them. I discovered an error that you'll want to edit out. It's in Lesson 4 part 1 video. In calculating the number of stitches to cast on, I think you mistakenly used your row gauge of 6.875 instead of your stitch gauge of 4.75. You summarized by saying you would cast on 60 stitches. Then there is an edit in the video and it correctly talks about using the stitch gauge of 4.75 so that the number to cast on is 42. Obviously you caught the error and made the correction, but the error is still on the video and needs to be edited out so it doesn't confuse new knitters. Thanks for these excellent instructional video tapes. I want to be Nina when I grow up!
Sep 12, 2010 at 1:57 PM Aloha! hkz
Jul 16, 2010 at 1:24 PM Thank you so much Nina for these fabulous lessons. I am getting so much done. A bit behind than most, but knitting along anyway. ...and Thanks to Becky who brought up 3/4 sleeves. Didn't even think of those, but I think I am gonna do those too. I ALWAYS end up pushing up my sleeves and my favorite sweaters all have 3/4 sleeves.
Jul 8, 2010 at 3:31 PM Thank you so much for the info I will check other garments for the cuff diameter. All my kids had long arms and every thing I ever bought them looked like it was to small. My daughter has troll feet I kid you not they were just about square when she was a baby no way was I getting her into shoes Mary Jane's were not happening I put her in a moccasin when she started to walk. . We are praying she has her dads feet but if not I will be making lots of matching booties for my sweater knitting.
Jul 8, 2010 at 10:03 AM Hi Victoria! According to the industry standards, a 6 month sleeve is 6.5 inches from cuff to underarm, and a 12-month sleeve is 7.5 inches, so for your size, I would guess 7 inches would do it? You can always make the sleeve a bit longer too so they can be turned up until the baby's arms grow into them! You can find links to all the industry sizing her: http://www.craftyarncouncil.com/standards.html for future reference, too :)
Jul 7, 2010 at 12:52 PM Nina I am stuck I can not find a length for a 6-9 month sleeve. All the patterns I look at are in rows not inches. I even went shopping and in sunny Ca. there are no sweaters on the market. the body of the sweater is 17 inches around I stopped at 8" long.
Jul 5, 2010 at 9:13 AM I'm so excited about the sweater class!! Posted the sweaters for Nina today--just can't wait to see the work we're all doing!!
Jul 2, 2010 at 11:27 AM Nina, Thank you for the info on the shorter sleeves. It really helps!
Jul 1, 2010 at 10:59 AM And, thank you everyone for your encouragement and appreciation of these lessons! They are really fun for me to do and I am just thrilled that you are finding them helpful! I am really looking forward to seeing everyone's progress for next week's post!
Jul 1, 2010 at 10:56 AM Shorter sleeves are really easy. If you are taking your measurements off an existing garment, try it on and not with a pin where you want the sleeve to end. Then lay the garment out flat and call that point the cuff. Measure across that row of stitches to get F, and measure from that point to the armpit to get H, and then follow the calculations from there. You may not have to do as many increases, since you will be beginning the sleeve at a wider point in the arm. Also, if you use ribbing for the cuff, you probably will not want to make the ribbed border as deep as you would for a long sleeve. If you don't have a garment to take you measurements off of, then just measure around your arm where you want the end of the sleeve to fall, and use that measurement for 2F, and measure from that point to your armpit (you may need an assistant for this!) to find H, the length of the sleeve. For really short "cap" sleeves, you really only need to cast on enough stitches for 2G, the measurement around your upper arm, and knit a border. The sleeve cap will be knitted in with the shoulders, just as with long sleeves. Does this about cover it? Let me know if you all have more sleeve questions!
Jul 1, 2010 at 10:44 AM Show & Tell will be so much fun. My sweater is pretty basic but I would love to see what everyone else is doing. I am planning 3/4 sleeves too ( someone already asked about them) so any hints you have on how to make them would be great. Thanks for all your help.
Jul 1, 2010 at 4:48 AM Thank you so much Nina for another fantastic lesson--such great information and so well organized!! Am ready for sleeves on both sweaters--my horizontal vertical stripe section bound off yesterday--think I'll finish with an icord, so am skipping that on the sleeves and going straight to the 3/1 rib for that one. On GS sweater I'll 1/1 rib and then start the centered cable up the sleeve. I think that I'll do 2 at once and seam the back--yes, I know that's not the master plan, nor the most practical, but conceptually easier when doing 2 at once,--that is, of course, unless you have a better solution? I had to magic loop GS sweater body, and found that more disruptive than stitching up. I think that the show & tell/ questions--sounds really great for next week. Will look forward to seeing lots of sweater parts!!
Jun 30, 2010 at 7:04 PM Nina, Great lesson! I have one question, what if you wanted to do a 3/4 length or short sleeve (for like a summer sweater)? How would you do it - how would you start for the increases? Could you give an example?
Jun 30, 2010 at 5:18 PM Nina, once again perfect timing of the lesson. The torso of my sweater has started to take over the basket on my bicycle. Sleeves sound so much more portable, not to mention cooler on these humid summer days. Also thanks for reminding me to measure across a row of stitches for G. I went back to double check and I was 1/2 and inch too big. Just another example of why it's important to double check the math before casting on. Thanks again you're doing a great job on these lessons.
Jun 30, 2010 at 5:04 PM I JUST finished my bodice right before you posted this new lesson, so I feel really accomplished & am basically SO EXCITED I'M ABOUT TO EXPLODE about right now! Going to cast on my first sleeve now! THANK YOU, Nina!!! =)
Jun 30, 2010 at 4:31 PM Nina, I think that is a wonderful idea! Your lessons have been so well thought out and put together. I know this is a lot of work, but we do appreciate it! ?s