Design A Sweater, Lesson 5: Planning the Neckline
by NinaKnit Picks Designers , Sweater Class Add comments
I am not usually a monogamous knitter, and the recent heat has made my wosted-wool sweater project even less appealing. So I am a little behind on this sweater myself and I suspect some of you are, too! In the next phase of our sweater designing, we will work the yoke and neckline, which means two sets of calculations that must be worked at the same time! To make that a little easier on everyone,and to give you all some time to catch up, I've divided this section into two lessons. This week's video covers the basic shaping and construction of the neckline, and gives ideas for how to decide what knid of neckline you want.
I have a turtleneck planned for my sweater, and my plan is to knit a high crew neck and then work the ribbed turtleneck up from there in the finishing. But you could do a low scoop neck and work ribbing up from that for a big cowl, instead, or any number of neckline choices. Since the math of planning your neckline is dependent on how you work the yoke, we'll cover the hard details of it in a combo handout next week. For now, stay cool, enjoy knitting, and dream up a great neckline for your new sweater which is so close to being done!!
Aug 2, 2010 at 7:54 AM Hi Diane! I would suggest working the decreases like this: ON a RS row, k2, ssk, work in patt (doing your raglan shaping as you determined) to last 4 sts, k2tog, k2. This way, you'll decrease the neckline stitches, widening the v, and still have a good selvedge for when you pick up to knit the neckline ribbing or trim. Let me know if this helps!
Aug 1, 2010 at 11:08 AM Hey nina...what do you mean by decrease. I am doing a V-neck, so I would bind off a couple stitches for the center(since it is an even number) & then bind off a stitch on each side or k2tog/ssk? I am confused. My last sweater I made was great, but it can only fit a linebacker, so I just want to make sure I really get the neckline right.
Jul 19, 2010 at 9:03 AM Victoria--Usually baby garments will have a button placket to help ease the garment over their giant heads, but I think v-neck would be a good alternative. If you want to do a placket--it's easy to do one along the raglan seam, which runs diagonally form the armpit to the neckline. You'll just work your yoke flat! I'll cover how to do that in Wednesday's lesson. As for the stretch, I think it is ok if there is a lot of stretch (this is one of the advantages of a knitted fabric) as long as it returns to the original size when unstretched. I may be misunderstanding though--if you have access to a camera, it would be really helpful for me to see a picture of what is going on. You can send it to designer.nina@gmail.com and I'll try to help you get to the bottom of it! As for sleeves, I think that a good rule of thumb is that the total sleeve sts should be roughly one-third of the total body sts. Babies' arms are not very tapered so you could go ahead and cast on this number of sts immediately, work a ribbed cuff, and then work plain for the desired length of the sleeve. Let us know if that works out for you! Cellogirl, if you click the "sweater class" tag under the title of this article, you will be taken to the archive for the class--much easier to search and navigate than going from the main page! We are working on getting all the tags up on the main page, but until then, this will work. If you're still having trouble, this is the link to the class archive: http://www.knitpicks.com/cfBlog/archives.cfm/category/sweater-class and it updates automatically, so if you bookmark it and return,the most recent lessons will always be in there. As yo mentioned, some necklines will begin their shaping right away--while some will wait until we are well into the yoke to begin. It depends on how low you want the front of the sweater to go! Typically, underarms are about 5-8 percent of the total number of body sts s If you want to get ahead of the game, you can go from there! Hope this helps everyone!
Jul 19, 2010 at 8:49 AM Nina, is there any way to link your class blogs, searching for the blogs through all of the other blogs seems a bit confusing to me, or am I the only one?
Jul 16, 2010 at 11:34 AM Hi nina I am still stuck on my tiny little 9 m arms. I am trying to get the right amount of stitches around the wrist. I am going to need to put a button opening at one shoulder??? I knitted the body and when I put it on waist yarn it was sooooo stretchy it could fit her mother. When I swatched I was concerned with the vertical stretch. Should I start over or what. Sorry to be such a problem child. I feel like that kid in the class who is not able to put the top of the paper on top and does the assignment upside down. ( I am am so glad they understand dyslexia )
Jul 16, 2010 at 6:03 AM Great presentation--figuring the neckline is so important to the final product. But, would joining the sleeves to the body be the next step in the knitting process? If one wants a neckline to really plunge, now's the time!! For some reason, I couldn't load part 2 until today--must have had a run on the site at utube?? Can't wait to know how many stitches to graft!! Happy stitching!!
Jul 15, 2010 at 7:59 PM Nina ..While Ive been Knitting Sweaters for more years then I Care to Admit too .. Learning to Knit them in the round is such/has been such a Foreign Idea to Me ..the Ease of How Fast it would work Up goes without saying but Initially getting it ingrained is a Whole Diff Idea ..Cant Wait til it Feels as 2nd Nature too knit Sweaters in the round as it is to Do Them In Flat Pieces .. as Always YOUR Classes are da BOMB Girl !!! the 1st Sweater Im Converting from Flat to Round i got from the Glam KNits Book (god willing it'll Work) Looks like it Will :))) on a Final Note Youve Got to take a Peeky at the Gorgeous SPINNING our gals on Team KP Have Done/doing in the Tour de Fleece on RAV..Amazing Dazzeling Stuff !! So PROUD of those gals Peggy/Susan/Cheryl/i believe Knit4many <-- Apologies If im wrong about Knit4 :) Go Team KP & KEEP UP the Brilliant Work Nina we luv ya girl !!
Jul 15, 2010 at 7:18 PM Hi Mary! Yes, all the math necessary will be in the next class handout. Since the math depends on the calculations for the shoulders, I wanted to publish them in the same document :)
Jul 14, 2010 at 7:13 PM Nina, I found these classes so very helpful. I started knitting last Oct and have made 3 sweaters. Now I will be able to make one that fits me. Thank you. Will there be printable instructions like the prior classes? I like to reread and make sure I understand the info. Mary Ann