Seamless Raglan Question
I'm almost done with my seamless raglan for my one-year-old son. I'm a little stuck when it comes to finishing the neck though. I think I might skip the neck shaping and just allow it to be reversible. I'm not sure how far I should keep going with the decreases before I start neck ribbing. I'm working from KWT, and I've read the instructions several times, but I can't seem to figure it out from EZ's explanation. I knit the body (24" chest width) over 120 stitches, and I had 160 stitches once I joined body and sleeves, before I started the raglan decreases. Can anyone help me figure out how many stitches I need to have when I start the neck?
Or if I decide to do the neck shaping, how do I translate EZ's numbers to my sweater? (I find it endlessly frustrating that she starts out with a nice percentage system into which you plug your own numbers but then by the end she's just using her own numbers and you're left to figure out how on earth she came up with them. The EPS is a great idea, but I really wish she would have actually carried it out throughout the entirety of the instructions. *sigh* Anyway, I digress . . . LOL)
Also, can you recommend a good stretchy bind off for the neck ribbing so it will fit easily over my little guy's noggin?
Kelley
Or if I decide to do the neck shaping, how do I translate EZ's numbers to my sweater? (I find it endlessly frustrating that she starts out with a nice percentage system into which you plug your own numbers but then by the end she's just using her own numbers and you're left to figure out how on earth she came up with them. The EPS is a great idea, but I really wish she would have actually carried it out throughout the entirety of the instructions. *sigh* Anyway, I digress . . . LOL)
Also, can you recommend a good stretchy bind off for the neck ribbing so it will fit easily over my little guy's noggin?
Kelley
Labels: seamless raglan
posted by Kelley at
7:43 AM
9 Comments:
I just finished my first one, so am not the expert here by any means, but for my four-year-old's sweater I started the neck when I was at 50% of K, which I believe is noted in sort of "by the way" fashion. I did do the short rows on the neck and it fits quite nicely, although the neck stands up a bit too much for my taste (but he doesn't care).
You can see it here: http://knitsmith-wordpurl.blogspot.com/2007/03/my-first-first-for-2007.html
By
Dana, at 8:27 AM
For a bind off you might be able to use EZ's garter stitch bind-off that uses a needle. I think it is in the back of all of her books. I've used it, and it keeps up the elasticity very well.
By
Kelley, at 9:04 AM
Cute sweater, Dana! When you say 50% of K, what does "K" stand for--body stitches or body plus sleeves after joining?
Thanks for your input. :-)
Kelley
By
Kelley, at 9:07 AM
For a kid's sweater use 50% (or a bit more) of your body stitches for the neck. You can do a couple sets of short rows on the back of the neck- rib to the left shoulder, turn, rib to the right shoulder, turn, rib all the way around, do another set of short rows 2 sts past (towards the front) shoulders. Do a couple more rounds of ribbing and bind off. EZ has a sewn cast-off that is very stretchy. It's in the Knitter's Almanac and Knitting Workshop.
Good Luck!
By
Anonymous, at 9:37 AM
I've made a few toddler sweaters with EZ's patterns and just sort of made up my own measurements by taking it off the needles and trying it on the kid--50% of K for the neck works well, and just one short row across the back neck worked well on my last sweater. I also measured it against a store-bought sweater that fits the kid well so I knew how deep to make the yoke/raglan. Did EZ's sewn bind off too, it it nice and stretchy.
By
Liane, at 10:08 AM
I typically do a regular bind off in ribbing, but use a MUCH larger needle -- a size 10 for a sweater knit on size 7, etc. (I also cast on on much larger needles, using cabled cast on.)
The bigger needle allows you to work the cast on/cast off tightly, so that the stitches are even, and allows for plenty of stretch.
I do know that I got the idea for this from EZ, likely from Knitting Without Tears, since it's the first knitting book I purchased, and I've been doing this since the dawn of my knitting time.
By
Rebecca Z., at 12:05 PM
If you go up a needle size or two for your bind off, it should be stretchy enough. EZ's sewn bind has a lot of give to it, too.
By
Ruth, at 6:26 PM
Kelley, my K was the # of body stitches. Thanks! Dana
By
Dana, at 3:41 AM
K always refers to the number of body stitches regardless of what context you're working with.
Make head openings large, and the short row method that someone described sounded good. there are a lot of streachy bind offs, but I've found, particularly for necks, is to use a style that is open (so not a turtle neck) to bind off loosely in ribbing with a larger needle, or if you can, don't bind off at all and knit it twice as long as you want the neck and then fold it over. you can do this sort of "hem" thing with regular ribbing. and it should work.
Conversely, and I think this is the better option, maybe once the neck looks like about to fit, knit the last few rows of the body in ribbing or garter stitch, and then just leave it: it's usually the "stand up" or trim on the collar that makes things more difficult. you could also do a more formal turned hem at this point (increasing so that it'll lay flat. if the kid's neck is cold. make a cordinating scarf.
If you're feeling treppedation at the EZ method, my recomendation would be to look into later books, and into meg's books, as the system is a bit more cemented and precise about the whole matter.
By
tycho, at 6:30 PM
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