Baby cardigan

Hi All - newbie here!
I wanted to ask a question about a pattern I’m following. It’s a very easy pattern (why I chose it!) It’s a baby cardigan that knits in one piece up to the armholes, and at that point the pattern says to split for fronts and backs by casting off 6 stitches at armhole…done all that! it then says to leave these stitches on a holder while you do the sleeves.

I have knitted the sleeves to the armhole edge and cast off the 3 stitches at each end.

The pattern then says to knit across the front of the the cardigan, then the sleeve, then the back, then the next sleeve and the remaining front.

My question is… when I get to the first sleeve, there are too many stitches on my needle for the needle points to meet to actually knit across the sleeve? I tried to overcome this by transferring ALL the stitches onto a circular needle (was using straights) and trying to knit across the whole garment with that… which sort of works, except that its still really difficult to knit the sleeves?

Am I doing something wrong? or is it supposed to be like that?

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!!

Jane3

Hello
I don’t thinknyoure doing anything wrong. Did the pattern call for a circular needle (to be used as flat knitting back and forth) and if so what length did it say? Usually when a cardigan is knit flat on a circular it is to accommodate the large number of stitches but you need a long enough cable. Some circulars have interchangeable cables meaning you can out a shorter or longer cable in.
I would check your pattern details and see what needle it says to use.

What is the name and number of the pattern?

I have knit a yoke with cap sleeves in a similar way and found it extremely tight on the first few rows after the join. One method to help is to use a longer cable, another is to use 2 circular needles so the stitches can spread (they need to be the same size needle, if you’re new to knitting you may not have spares). Another more awkward method is to slip half the stitches to a separate needle of the wrong size , or even piece of yarn just to hold them there, but then you need to transfer them to the correct needle before working or your gauge will change, this is a bit fiddly as you have to keep slipping stitches on and off the needle.

Hope this helps some.

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thanks for the reply!
the pattern is a Hobbycraft pattern called Knitcraft 0146
it didn’t say to use circular needles, but the circular I have is plenty long enough to accommodate all the stitches … and no I don’t have any spare needles!
I will persevere!

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Is this the pattern?

Super cute!

It may just be that it’s tricky going for a couple of rows as you get it going as its kind of tight near the underarm area for a bit but I think it gets a bit easier as you work up away from the underarm.
If you’re not sure if it’s right maybe you’d like to post a photo of your project on the needles for someone here to look over?

Do you have interchangeable circulars or fixed? With interchangeable it’s possible to put none matching size needles onto the cables as its only the end you knit with that needs to be the correct size for the gauge. If you have fixed circulars you might be able to slip some stitches to a second circular (a smaller needle if you have it) and work them off that needle with the correct circular. It may help you get past the first few tight rows even though it’s a bit of a faff moving the stitches bit by bit. If you do this put a needle stopper on the unused ends of the circulars so you don’t lose stitches, elastic bands work as stoppers.

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Welcome to KH!
That’s a very sweet pattern.
What I’ve found helps with the tightness at the underarm is to pull out a bit of the circular cable at the right needle-cable join just before working the body/sleeve section. It gives you enough leverage to easily get through the join. As Creations posted, this is only a problem for a couple of rows before easing up.

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