I’ve taken a pretty simple shell pattern that is knit flat and I’m doing it in the round. The pattern tells me that 1 stitch on each side of the front and of the back are not included in the measurement because of seaming. The front and the back are knit the same to the armholes. So instead of casting on 110 (55 for the front and 55 for the back) I cast on 106 (subtracting the 4 that aren’t included in the measurement). I’m feeling confident to this point.
However, I’m about to get to the armhole shaping. It says to bind off 4 stitches at the beginning of the next two rows. I’m thinking I should only bind off 3 on each side since I didn’t cast on 1 stitch on each side, which will then put me back to the “printed” number of stitches and then follow the pattern exactly from that point on.
Does that make sense to do it that way? I’ve thought this through and through and it seems to be the right way to do it, but I’ve never converted a pattern before.
Sounds right to me! As long as you remember to do that on both left and right sides on the front and back, that should end up being the same as the pattern. Good luck!
When you bind off, remember that since you’re knitting in the round, instead of going back and forth, you may need to adjust your technique.
What I mean is, binding off from right to left is natural for most knitters. Binding off from left to right is not done as often. In a traditional straight needle sweater, this isn’t an issue. You’re starting a new row when you turn at the end of the old one, and binding off is easy. Here, there will be no “end” and turn around point.
Well when I actually get to the shaping for the armholes, I’m going to switch to knitting flat because … well, because I can’t think of any other way to do it. laugh
Thanks so much for the comments and letting me know I’m at least on the right track. This has been a learning experience and I’ve run into some issues that i should have dealt with differently but overall I think this will be cute. It’s the Seed Stitch Shell from the spring/summer 2005 Vogue Knitting magazine.
Well, yes, you DO have to do the rest on flats, come to think of it, but I didn’t know if you were using the circs for that row where the bind off takes place.
I love circular knitting and convert as many patterns as I can. I just finished a top down raglan with no seams at all. My dream sweater!
Yep, when you get to the armholes I’d suggest dividing the stitches in half, put half on a stitch holder or whatever, and do the front and back one at a time.
