Tag: raglan

What if … the bust and sleeve could both fit?

What if … the raglan markers on your Top Down sweater were only a guideline for the size of your sleeve and not the exact size of the sleeve?

“Why don’t you knit sweaters for yourself?” I have asked this question of a lot of knitters. The answer, quite often, is that the sleeves never fit. A lot of knitting pattern sizes are based primarily on the measurement around your bust. If your bust measurement and your arm measurement don’t agree with the size chart the designer is using, then you are not getting a good fit.

This is one of the problems I wanted to solve in the adult sizes of my series of Any Gauge Raglan patterns. I have written these patterns for one person at a time – you. You don’t have to compare yourself to a size chart.

In these patterns, you take your bust measurement and arm measurement with a tape measure, and, after converting to the number of stitches, make the raglan yoke to these measurements (Bust + Arm + Arm). Yes, when you finish the yoke,it would fit you like a second skin.

Then you put the exact number of stitches for your arm on spare yarn for your sleeve.

Here is the bottom of my Family Crew Neck yoke with one set of sleeve stitches on spare (red) yarn.

My sleeve stitches on the spare yarn are inside the raglan markers.

In this case my sleeve stitches are 6 sts narrower (1.25″ narrower) than where the raglan markers would indicate. Whether the sleeve stitches end up inside or outside the raglan markers depends on where the markers are set up in the neckline and the size of your arm, of course.

But it fits like a second skin? How is that going to work?

Wait, there’s more. Cast on the number of stitches you need for the amount of ease you want on the body. It could be anywhere between 4″- 7″ or even more, if you wish. Cast on 1/2 the ease at one underarm and the other 1/2 at the other underarm.

Now this sweater body has been knit to your specific measurements at the bust and arm. Ease has been added. This sweater body will fit you and only you.

Is this a really radical idea? Questions?

Cheers, Deb

Any Gauge and Gauge-Free patterns by Deb

Deb.gemmell on instagram

Settling In

There are parts of sweater knitting that I enjoy over others. Settling in to knit a raglan yoke is one of the most enjoyable parts of the sweater for me. I love keeping track of the increases, seeing it get bigger and bigger, wider and wider, knowing it’s going to be so great.

Both of my Family Crew Neck sweaters are progressing well. The child size 4 is way ahead.

The colouring of the yarn is a great incentive to keep going. This is Maravilla by Katia, a wool & acrylic blend.

My navy version (Shelridge Yarns, W4 worsted, navy) is coming along. The short rows are done here. I was knitting on a train trip to Ottawa. Perfect knitting conditions: travel mug of tea, audio book and ear buds, hours of quiet knitting time.

Now I’m ready to really go for it. I will be introducing a pattern into the front 20 stitches between the ends of the short rows. Fun, fun, fun. Isn’t knitting just the greatest!

Cheers, Deb

Any Gauge and Gauge-Free knitting patterns by Deb

Deb.gemmell on instagram

Family Crew Neck, let’s Cast On

This will be my first sweater of 2024 and I am so excited to get started. If you want to knit along with me, the Family Crew Neck is on ravely. I am going to make videos for most of the sections of the sweater so you can see how this pattern works. It’s an Any Gauge pattern so I don’t know what yarn or what size you are knitting, that was the challenge of writing this pattern.

I am going to knit a 4 year old size for my grandson and an adult size for myself. I had knit one for my son-in-law, my grandson (both in the photo), one for my daughter-in-law (also in photo), and one for my daughter. I didn’t knit one for myself!!! It’s obviously time.

This is a longish post. Getting started always takes a bit of time. Hang on, there are videos and photos of the Cast On for both sizes.

Here we go. Because this pattern is for Any Gauge of yarn, you do have to do some math. Sorry, but there is no avoiding it. You need your gauge (# of sts in 1″) and a couple more numbers. Nothing your calculator can’t handle.

Here is my cast on. Gauge is DK weight yarn (5.5 sts = 1″), 4 year old size with 5″ Back of Neck (BofN).

Yes, there are a lot of Front sts, that’s totally correct. The extra Front sts will form a dropped front to the crewneck.

Here is my cast on for an adult size in worsted weight yarn (gauge is 5 sts = 1″) with an 8″ Back of Neck.

And now, how can you cast on when you will be beginning with the neck band and it needs to go over your head easily? I learned this from Cat Bourdhi and now use it all the time.

OR watch Crocodile Cast On by Cat Bordhi

OK, I’m on my way. Two versions of the Family Crew Neck are on the needles. Join me and knit along or just cheer me on.

Cheers, Deb

Any Gauge and Gauge-Free patterns by Deb

Deb.gemmell on instagram

Can’t put it down

Sometimes a project catches you and you just can’t put it down. The V Plus Cardigan has a hold on me. Not just because I need a couple of new cardigans but because I’m back to sweater knitting, my first love. I can’t wait to get this published so you can get started too.

I finished the body of my first prototype. You might catch that the body wool is left over from the Salt & Pepper version of the Family Crew Neck pattern. I added the green stripes in the yoke to make the wool go a little farther since I didn’t have quite enough for a second sweater. (Briggs and Little, Heritage)

I’ve wet blocked the body just to make sure it’s all that it should be. Do you ever block part way through?

Before I embark on the last sprint, the sleeves, I wanted to be sure.

I’m so enamored with this cardigan that I started a second one. (Patons Classic Wool worsted) It’s interfering with the sleeve knitting but it doesn’t take much to do that.

Two, two, two cardigans on the needles. I am welcoming winter. Come and get me, I’ll be ready!

Cheers,

Deb

Any Gauge and Gauge-Free patterns by Deb

Evaluating a WIP that’s not working

I started working on a top down V-neck design earlier in the year. It sort of worked but needed some more thought. It got put aside in favour of the Family Crew Neck pattern.

It’s time to really take a look at this idea again. Summer is perfect for contemplating, don’t you think?

I brought one of my experiments with me and now that time has passed I can look at it with some objectivity (instead of having a little snit and ripping it all out).

It’s a V-neck cardigan in garter stitch. I’m using a cone of sports/fingering weight wool from https://www.revolutionwoolco.com/

You might notice a tiny ruffle effect in the neckband. Here’s a really good look at it.

Whoops. I was working really, really hard to ignore this. I know that garter stitch has a different row gauge. I know this, really I do. Apparently working garter stitch short rows is a whole different thing. LOL.

I will cut the neckband and redo it, later. Then I will know the trick to getting the correct stitch count for the neckband. I’ll start my next one and everything will go amazingly well!!! Ha, ha, fingers crossed.

Are you having as much knitting fun as I am?   Cheers, Deb

Any Gauge and Gauge-free knitting patterns by Deb

Sleeves that fit

I’ve asked a lot of knitters “why don’t you knit sweaters for yourself?” Quite often the answer was that the sleeves don’t fit.

It’s easy enough to work out which size to knit according to your bust measurement but it is another thing to also have the correct sleeve size you need, in the same pattern. So …

My “Any Gauge” sweater patterns have a correction for this common problem: the raglan lines are used as a guide only. They indicate the general placement of the sleeves but do not necessarily give the exact width of the sleeve.

In my latest Family Crew Neck, the sleeve size I want, indicated by the orange markers, is a little wider than the raglan lines.

The pattern is set up to do this. Just before The Great Divide, you place the removable markers (orange) on the circular needle at the exact width you need for your sleeves. They can be inside the raglan lines for a narrower sleeve than the raglan lines indicate, exactly at the raglan lines in the usual way, or outside the raglan lines, like this pullover. The stitches between the orange markers are now the sleeve. Here’s a close-up.

I’m not stealing stitches from the body. The body will still be exactly what I need it to be. The pattern is written in a way to allow for all this variation, to fit both your bust and your arms. It’s working for all the pullovers I’ve knit so far, so I’m quite confident it will also work for you.

One more bit of weird knitting just for you. Enjoy.

Deb

Family Crew Neck pullover

Any Gauge and Gauge-Free patterns by Deb

The Family Crew Neck

The Family Crew Neck pullover is ready to leave home. I’ve hit the publish button so if you’re interested in knitting top down pullovers for every person you know in different weights of yarn, it’s ready to go.

I’m knitting #5 right now. I’ve knit a striped one for my son-in-law, a matching mini-me one for my grandson, a salt & pepper pullover for my son’s girlfriend, a twisted stitch patterned version for my daughter and now, of course, one just one more for my grandson (it’s a grandma thing).

This pattern is a framework for you to play with. There is MATH. Yes, sorry but no getting away from it since it’s for ANY GAUGE of yarn and I don’t know what you’re knitting with. All the body measurements are in inches, which you then multiply by your stitch gauge and voila, stitch numbers, just like that. It’s not hard, really it’s not.

I thought I’d take you on a tour. There may be some weird and wonderful things that are a bit different from top down sweaters you’ve done before. This is a system I’ve devised and used for years.

Here’s the Family Crew Neck . I don’t like picking up stitches, so this pullover begins with the ribbed neckband. It’s all one piece from the beginning. You’ll need a nice stretchy cast on because most neckbands on crew necks are slightly smaller than your head. Do you see me using the magic loop method here? I can learn! It allows for better photos so I’m figuring it out.

Now, work short rows and raglan increases, two things at once. I’m hoping you’re enthusiastic to get going. I always am.

The short rows produce a drop at the front of the neck. The raglan increases are … well, raglan increases. I always think of them in pairs, one before the raglan line marker and one after.

Every Increase Row starts one stitch before the Beginning of Round Marker (yellow) so you can do the pair of increases, one before and one after the marker.

The short rows get longer and longer as they creep down the Front on both sides. The Beginning of Round Marker is at the left front shoulder. A weird place but the short rows work this way.

Still creeping further down the front. Note that the centre front stitches do not get worked until the very end.

And done. Look at that front drop. I love this moment. Do you have moments when you sit back and say ‘just look at that, I did it’?

The tour continues next week with The Great Divide. Another exciting moment, ha, ha, can you stand it?!

Hope you’re having as much fun as I am,

Cheers, Deb

Any Gauge and Gauge-Free patterns by Deb

Deb on instagram: deb.gemmell

Working a Panel of Stitches

My Family Crew Neck, a pattern-in-progress, is a Top Down pullover which lends itself to working a stitch pattern down the front. The panel can be as wide as that short flat section at the bottom of the crewneck shaping. I’ve been playing with a twisted stitch pattern that makes a diamond. Because I usually use a chart, and the chart is square, I’m thinking of it as a diamond in a box. Only the diamond actually shows but … well my mind won’t make the adjustment.

The little stitch pattern I’ve included in the pattern is 6 stitches wide and 15 rounds high for one diamond.

The easy way to work this as a panel across the 18 stitches I had available on my adult pullover would be to work 3 boxes across and repeat them down the front. Like this:

This is two diamonds high.

Logical and it would look good. But … did I do that?

Three guesses. If the first guess was NO, then you know me pretty well. I decided to do this:

Sometimes I complicate things (are you laughing?!) and live to regret it. Not this time. I had a great time doing this weird zigzag. It was not without the occasional rip back but having to concentrate was not a bad thing.

Now I am contemplating doing a little kid size in a thicker wool. I won’t have many stitches in the centre of the crewneck to work with so I’m contemplating doing this:

What do you think?

Hope you are also having fun with your knitting,

Deb

Family Crew Neck pullover

Any Gauge and Gauge-Free knitting patterns by Deb

Deb on instagram: deb.gemmell

Salt and Pepper Crewneck

This Any Gauge Family Crew Neck was a fairly quick knit. Nice big needles and an interesting wool for a plain pullover. Now that I have a basic sweater done I can get down to finishing my pattern. No more procrastinating. I’m taking on the challenge of making this pattern for all sizes. This is new for me and something of a formatting nightmare. How do I put in all the information for all the sizes and not overwhelm the knitter who is only knitting one size? Hmm, lots to learn here.

I used Briggs and Little Heritage, Threaded G+W. I knit it at a slightly looser tension (15 sts = 4″/10cm as opposed to the recommended 17 sts = 4″/10cm) for a nice drape. I’m very happy with it.

One more Family Crew Neck pattern prototype is done. I’m going to deliver it this week and will have some photos next week. Now to cast on the next one.

Right now I’m taking a moment to feel the satisfaction of a sweater finished. Don’t you love that feeling?

Cheers and hope your knitting is going well too. Deb

Any Gauge and Gauge-Free patterns by Deb

Dividing yarn for body and sleeve stripes

Working a sweater with big stripes is a great look. If you have tons of yarn available it’s not a problem to get equal sized stripes on the body and the sleeves. I made sure I bought enough. Knitting this prototype for the Any Gauge Family Crew Neck Raglan sweater for my SNL was really fun.

Then I decided to knit a mini-me sweater for my grandson with all the odd balls I had left over. Now I have a limited amount of yarn to work the body and sleeve stripes.

How do you divide your yarn so you’re sure to have enough for the sleeve stripes while you’re working the body? I didn’t want to knit the body sweating about the sleeve stripes. I wanted a nice relaxing knit.

If you have a scale to weigh your yarn and you have decided on the finished size of the sweater, you can follow along. Here is how I did it for my sweater sized for a 1 year old:

Formula: weight of yarn available = body circumference + sleeve circumference + second sleeve circumference.

Now the calculator comes out: Divide the grams of yarn by the total circumference of body and sleeves. This will give you the number of grams of yarn needed to knit once around the body and two sleeves.

Here are the numbers I used with my left-over balls of yarn:

35g of rust colour = 22″ body + 9″ sleeve + 9″ sleeve (1 year size)

35g = 40″ circumference

Divide as follows: 35 divided by 40 = number of grams to knit one round of the body and two sleeves

0.875g of yarn needed for every round of stripes knit

Separate Yarn to use for body and sleeve stripes : OK, now that I have this weird number from the formula I can divide my yarn into enough for the body stripe and 2 equal sized balls for each sleeve stripe:

22″ body x 0.875g = 19.25g of yarn for a body stripe

9″ sleeve x 0.875g = 7.87g of yarn for each sleeve stripe

Weigh out your yarn. Give yourself a safety margin. I wound a ball weighing 18g for the Body stripe. Now I’m sure to have more than enough left for the sleeve stripes.

Once I knew I would have enough for the sleeves I could make a decision on the actual size of the rust stripe, knowing I could mimic it in the sleeves. I didn’t need all 18g for the body stripe I wanted so I ended up with a little left over. Then I knit the sleeve stripes, counting rows so they were the same as the body stripe. This worked out perfectly. At least I think it did.

I am so pleased with the results.

I hope this is helpful, Cheers, Deb

Family Crew Neck

Any Gauge and Gauge-Free knitting patterns by Deb