Advise on how to fix sleeves on a pattern (schoeller-stahl)

#1

i am currently working on this sweater jacket from schoeller stahl:
http://www.elann.com/ProductDisp.asp?Name=Schoeller+Stahl+Merino+Stretch&ProductType=5

i am making this for my sister who is a petite size 1 so i am making the small, but while doing the arms i realized the arms are way too big and look nothing like the picture. after doing some internet search i found this right here on this site:

note: this is a size medium and the sleeves still look a bit big.

http://www.knittinghelp.com/knitting/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6501&view=previous&sid=74e14f4c481a1f1290ddbc83132633db

the pattern for the arms is written all in one size and this will look like gorilla arms on my tiny sister. this is my first sweater, can i succesfully make the arms smaller by removing some stitches? if i do, will the top of the sleeves fit the the arms of the weater when i sew it in? has anyone else made this sweater successfully?

thanks!

sarah

#2

You could make the sleeves smaller, but my concern with this particular pattern is that the armholes are decreased to the neck. If it was a straight armhole, I’d say just knit it shorter, but since it’s a raglan, I’d be concerned about trying to decrease at an even rate, end up with the right number of stitches and have the sleeves fit.

#3

Hey, I thought I recognized that problem! I remember that I thought there was a typo in the pattern for the sleeves. I think it said to repeat the increases every 4 rows 16 times then every 2 rows 4 times, and by the time I did all those increases the sleeves ended up way too long. Is that the problem you’re having?

I can’t remember exactly what I did to fix it, but I’m pretty sure I still did all of the increases, I just didn’t space them out as much. So by the time you finish them the sleeve isn’t so crazy long. I would recommend starting the increases sooner too to make sure that the length works out.

Sorry I can’t remember exactly what I did, but you’re right that there is an issue with the pattern! I’ll see if I have any notes from that project anywhere.

#4

Hi Mer, thanks for replying to my post! I thought of writing to you personally but I thought maybe you did this so long ago that you’d probably wouldn’t remember. Before I started the sweater I googled it and saw yours and thought “Man, I hope I can do mine this pretty!” I’ve read all your notes before I started and saw that you did have some trouble with the sleeves. But here is my problem. It’s not so much the pattern as it is my sister is 5’2 and a size 1. The sleeves in the pattern don’t have a small, medium, large, just one size fits all and it looks like it will fit a larger person. When I began the sleeves they were looking very wide around my arms and I know my sister’s style is more a slim look, specially around the arms and waist (which is why she chose this pattern).

To make a long story short, I have frogged the sleeves twice (the pain, oh the pain!). I worked so hard on the rest of the sweater I can’t give up now. I’m going to try going down a needle size and also take your advise on the increases. Any notes you have will be so greatly appreciated!!!

#5

Strange that both sizes have the same number of stitches for the sleeves–I didn’t notice that! They do increase differently, but the small size still seems large. I don’t seem to have written anything down about the sleeves, so I’m not sure I can be of help. It did turn out larger overall than I had anticipated, but I think it did fit my sister ok.

As Ingrid mentioned, I’m not sure there’s much you can do without messing up the way the sleeves fit into the body. It’s possible that you could cast on fewer stitches but I don’t know how that would work out. It would sort of pull the front and back up at the shoulder when you seamed it, I imagine. But if you did the same # of decreases the raglan part would still fit.

Well, I hope you figure it out! Are you using the recommended yarn? I really liked it–nice and cozy!

#6

I’m working on it with smaller needles now but keeping the same numbers of stitches. if i have to increase more stitches or stretch it a bit before sewing it then that’s what i’ll do (cross my fingers it works!) I am using the recommended yarn in Blue Danube, it’s sort of a night sky blue, very pretty and it’s getting a lot of attention (I knit while waiting for my kids to get out of pre-school). The yarn is so soft and stretchy, this is why i think it will work. Wish me luck I will make sure to post a picture of it when I am done.

Thank so much for your input.
sarah