22 neck stitches need decreasing after initial pick up - will this affect neck shaping?

#1

Hi. My query concerns whether it’s feasible to pick up 22 extra stitches (see next paragraph) than the pattern states for a crew neckline then decrease this number of stitches on the first row of the neck ribbing.
I’m using what has previously been reliable software to knit my first saddle shoulder sweater but it seems to be in error when stating how many stitches to pick up in order to knit the neckband. The saddle bands are 22 stitches (11cm) in width where they meet with the neck so logic tells me I need to pick up 22 stitches for the saddle band. However, the software tells me to pick up 11 stitches for each saddle band. I suspect what it’s doing is stating the measurement width of the band instead of stitch numbers because I altered the width from 11cm to 10cm and the same error was repeated in the software. As the pattern stands, it states to pick up a total of 96 stitches which sounds about ok for me.

So, my question really is what I have asked at the beginning of my post - will the neck shaping be affected by the number of decreases necessary?

Cheers, Julie

#2

Welcome to the forum!
You can always give it a try.
Perhaps picking up an intermediate number of sts, say 16sts over the 22 saddleband sts then decreasing to 11sts might be a compromise.

#3

I might try @salmonmac’s suggestion, and then do the decreases either side of the saddleband, where the neckline needs to curve the most.

1 Like
#4

If you have 22 sts in each saddle band what effect does it have on the number and placement of the other 52 sts for front and back? It may help to count along the front where you’d expect to pick up (I usually find it’s 1 to 1 across any straight bind off section but more like 2 to 3 on sloped sections and 3 to 4 on any vertical part) and again at the back and just consider the numbers for a few minutes. It could become apparent where you need to decrease and by how many based on these different areas.
The last couple of sweaters I made I have done the neck band 3 times and also ripped out an older sweater neck to rework it (with more experience) and each reworking has improved the neck considerably. Now I feel like the first go is perhaps a tester to see where to pick up more or fewer, and I also changed the size and style of the neckband. Unless you have yarn which really hates to be ripped out and reworked I would say pick up all around and see how it looks, possibly work some rows and transfer the stitches to yarn so you get a good look at it. Sometimes I place a removable marker on the neck (body part) to indicate to me I need an extra stitch there or I need to decrease there so I have guides for my second trial.

#5

Thanks so much everyone for your responses. Once I’ve done this I will post back here to let you know the outcome.

3 Likes