Tag Archives: bottom up sweater

Stellar’s Jay Sweater-Shoulders

Indulge me in a little “do as I say, not as I do.” The first time I made an EPS sweater, I ignored a step in the shoulders. It was a vague little instruction where Elizabeth Zimmerman said to “work a few short rows across the shoulders”. I was so close to being finished, and anyway, I didn’t know what “short rows” were, so they couldn’t be that important.

I ended up with a perfectly fitting sweater, except that if felt like it was trying to choke me. Constantly. With Icelandic Wool.

Ha! That showed me. I’ve never skipped the short rows on a sweater again.

So, where do short rows come into play for a bottom-up (or a top-down) sweater knit in the round?

It turns out, that, if you look at your neck from the side, it actually points a little forward, instead of pointing straight up. (It points even further forward if you’re a sloucher, like me.) See?

So, if you make a sweater without any short rows, the neckline will sit parallel to the floor. This will pull uncomfortably on your throat and make you want to burn your sweater. Also, it looks kind of dumb.

What you want, to be comfortable, is a sweater that is higher (by an inch or two) at the back of the neck than the front. Like this:

Looks better, right? So how do you do it? Usually three or four short rows in the last couple inches of the shoulders are enough to raise the back of the neck enough to make it comfortable. I am a big fan of doing a simple wrap and turn.

I like to make my first short row go all the way to the points of my shoulders (or a little past). Then, each short row after the first gets progressively shorter by 8 or so stitches. It requires a tiny bit of math, but it works out pretty well.

All I know is, I will never leave out the short rows on a sweater like this again!

Stellar’s Jay Sweater: Joining the Sleeves

Once I had my sleeves (and body) all knitted up, it was time to join the whole thing together. On first glance, this seems like it would be difficult to do, cumbersome and fiddly, but it’s not too tricky, actually. Just go slow, and make sure you count your stitches correctly!

The goal is to end up with the sleeves arranged on either side of the body, with active stitches all the way around (so that you can keep knitting the shoulders). If you are imagining looking at your sweater from the top down, it would look something like this:

Start knitting at the beginning of your round (usually the center back of a pullover, or the center front for a cardigan). Make sure to use a great big circular needle, or you’ll run into trouble in a few minutes! Work your way across the body of the sweater until you reach the armpit.

Then, pick up your sleeve and knit around the outside of the sleeve, leaving its armpit unworked. Leave the active armpit stitches on a piece of scrap yarn or a stitch holder.

Switch back to knitting the body, and work your way all the way across the back (or front) of your sweater.

Then, repeat the process for the other sleeve, knitting around the outside of the sleeve, while leaving the armpit alone.

The final step is to close up the armpits. Attach the sleeve armpit stitches to the body armpit stitches on either side. I like to use the Kitchener stitch, but you could also use a 3-needle bind-off, if that’s your favorite.

Now you’re all set up for the knitting the shoulders on your bottom-up sweater! Just keep going in the round (if you’re making a pullover), or turn the work and go back the other direction (if you’re making a cardigan). Simple!

Stellar’s Jay Sweater: Changing Plans

4 Replies

I’ve been hard at work on my Stellar’s Jay sweater. The body is almost up to the armpits!

I’m following my pattern as I wrote it, except for a couple (sort-of) minor details.

First, I decided that I didn’t like doing the scallop rows the way I had planned it out, so I modified it a little. Now, it is slightly shallower (worked over two rows, instead of three), and I think it looks much better. I’m probably the only one who would ever notice, but I’m picky that way.

Second (and this is a larger change), my pullover had turned into a cardigan. I don’t know what happened- I was casting on and some knitting spirit whispered in my ear that I needed a cardigan, not a pullover, and one thing led to another. I’m still following the pattern as I designed it, but instead of working the sweater in the round, I’m knitting it flat. When I finish up the sweater, I’ll pick up stitches along the selvedge edges and knit on some button bands. It should look pretty good (I hope!).

It’s important to remember that regardless of how much planning goes into your knitting, it’s still possible to change plans as you work. You’re in charge of your project, and being flexible when you don’t like how something is working up will end up giving you a better finished project.

What changes have you made to projects as you knit them?

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