Front Slope shaping for a beginner

I am a beginner who has taken on the challenge of knitting the Roux Pattern by Kim Hargreaves - and have come to a grinding halt at the “Shape Front Slope” section of the Left Front section of the cardigan. Much as I try, unable to make sense of the following instruction . Please HELP ! My pattern is described below and my notes in brackets)

The pattern is set in 10 rows and the next row is Row 9 of the pattern.
Shape Front Slope

Next Row (RS): Pattern to last 13 st, P2tog, Pattern 11 St : 39 stitches (I got this right)
Working all front slope decreases as set by last row, continue as follows :
Work 1 Row (so Row 10 with no decreases ? I got this right too)

Shape arm hole

Keeping pattern correct, CO 4 St at beginning and decrease 1 st at front slope edge of next row (I got this right too and ended up with 34 Stitches in the RS row 1 of the 10 row pattern)
Work 1 row (WS Row 2 of the pattern with no decreases)

From here on, I am stumped :

The instruction says : Decrease 1 st at armhole edge of next 5 rows, then on following 2 alternate rows and at the same time, decrease 1 st at front slope edge of next and following 1 alternate row, then on 1 following 4th row !!! to get to 24 stitches.

(The next 5 rows - are these RS Row 3, Row 4, Row 5, Row 6 , Row 7 ?)
Following 2 alternate rows are Row 8, Row 10?)
So when I need to decrease 1 st at armhole edge of the above said rows, on the RS Row 3, I would decrease on the right end of the row and on the WS Row 4, at the beginning end of the Row and so on ?)
At the same time, I decrease 1 st on the RS Row 3 front slope edge (what is the front slope edge? Do I follow the pattern - pattern to last 13 stitches etc ? How can I do that when the number of stitches have decreased ??)
if I decrease 1 st on the RS Row 3, I also do this on Row 5 and Row 9 ?)

I think the biggest confusion is - whether you follow the originally set pattern of stitching to 13 stitches, knit together and do the pattern till the end OR just focus on the decreases on the armhole edge and front slope edge (and forget the statement - Working all front slope decreases as set by last row)

Sorry to be so verbose - but wanted to give all the info. Hopefully someone has the patience to read this long post to the end :smile:

Welcome to the forum!


For the left front (left as you would wear the cardi) decreases at the armhole edge, you’re on the right track. Decrease on rows 3,4,5,6,7 and then rows 9 and 11. (Row 11 will be row 1 of the pattern stitch.) These decreases are at the right edge, the same edge that has the cast off of 4sts. They’ll be at the beginning of RS rows and the end of WS rows.

The front slope decreases are always going to be worked 13sts from the end of the RS rows. If you look at the photo of the finished sweater, the cable next to the buttonband stays constant up the front slope. The cable next to it however decreases due to those front slope decreases.

Decrease at the front slope on rows 3,5 and 9.

No doubt, a challenging pattern. Good for you for jumping in to it.

OMG @salmonmac, THANK YOU so much - you answered so succinctly and clearly - I know what I need to do now.

One last basic question - as the number of stitches on the needle decreases, I may not be able to follow the original pattern - as in, knit where I used to and purl where I used to. If original pattern said Purl 6, Knit 2, Purl 6, for instance - and some of those stitches are now decreased, do I
a) continue Purl 6, Knit 2, Purl 6 OR
b) do Purl 4, Knit 2, Purl 6

Thanks again - appreciate the quick response. Wish I had classes that I could attend - this is all self taught with youtube videos with the motivating support of a dear cousin in Sydney trying her best to support me long distance in India :smile:

You’re really doing well on this sweater.
You’re going to have to work fewer sts on the knit sts of the second cable from the buttonband. Keep the p2 between cables but let the cable itself decrease. Take a look at the photo to see what I mean. The blue dots are just to the right of the decreases.
Roux_1 (1)

Good to put together an international team!

So very helpful - thank You again for the clarity you have brought to a week of puzzling !
Let me work on this and perhaps post a pic or two :crossed_fingers: :crossed_fingers:
International team - that sounds like a great idea !

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@salmonmac, not the cleanest of work, but this is how far I could get. I still have the challenge of internalising the pattern so that I can do the right stitch, as the number of stitches decrease. Thanks a lot for your timely and very clear help instructions - I may not have been able to follow them to the T, and have obviously made a few wrong stitches, but am happy that I am unstuck now :slight_smile: and making progress

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It really does look very nice.
Good for you for getting this to work. Now remember how you did it so that you can repeat it on the right front!

Thank you. Yes, am cognisant that I will need to repeat this feat :sweat_smile: for the right side. :crossed_fingers: I have noted down what I did, but hoping to get it a bit cleaner (although both sides should look equally bad or equally neat :joy:)

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This is identical to the pattern photo, you just can’t see the odd little wrong stitch in the pattern photo because the model’s hair is covering it up :laughing:

No, honestly, your cabling looks great, you have done a brilliant job and it sounds very hard to do.
I just recently swatched and reswatched about 30 times just to work out a neck decrease on a simple 3 x 3 rib so I am very impressed with your knitting skill.

Thank you @Creations ! That is so motivating !
Like everything else, once you do it, you wonder why it took so long to crack it !
The rib decrease - Kudos to your tenacity …
I could not have cracked it without the timely help from @salmonmac, so grateful !

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@salmonmac, I am back seeking your help again !
I successfully did the right front of the cardigan - reverse shaping it, without hitches. Just started on the sleeves.
The pattern says
Work in pattern as follows : Rows 1 - 14
Row 1 is the Cable row (35 stitches)
P3, C6B, P2, C6B, P1, C6F, P2, C6F, P3
Row 3, with 2 M1s : 37 Stitches
Row 11 is next cable row
Row 13 with 2 M1s : 39 Stitches
Row 14 : K3, P6, K4, P6, K1, P6, K4, P6, K3 (39 stitches)

The above 14 rows set position of pattern as given for back. Continue as now set, shaping sides by inc 1 st at each end of 9th and 2 following 10th rows, taking inc sts into rev st st. (45 stitches)
Continue straight until sleeve measures 45 cms.

My first clarification -
I have done the first 14 rows (cable rows in Row 1, Row 11). When I start the next set of 14 rows, starting again with cable row (as set in the pattern), the cable row is just 3 rows after the last one (in Row 11), whereas the pattern at the back and the two front sides, is cable row every 10 rows. Would this not make the cables look shunted on the sleeves as compared to the back and front ? Am I mis-interpreting the pattern, when it says continue as set in 14 rows ?

Second clarification -
As I shape the sides by inc 1 st at each end of 9th row and 2 following 10th rows,
I suppose I follow the pattern as set, but without the M1s (these M1s are applicable only for the first 14 rows, I gather ?)

Lastly,
to reconfirm the increases,
I would do an increase in each end of Row 9 of the second set
Then Row 19 (10th row that follows, 3rd set) and then
Row 29 (10th row that follows, 4th set)

Post this, I would continue straight - so, no increases or decreases, but repeating Rows 1-14

Thanks a lot for helping me !

You’re making great progress. Getting the reverse shaping is always a challenge but sounds like you’ve gotten that down pat.
The first 14 rows are really to set the placement of the knit and purl columns as well as the cable crosses. Work the cable crosses with the same frequency as the back and fronts, every 10 rows. The pattern isn’t clear here but that’s what the photos of the completed sweater show.
Yes, only work the M1’s on the 9th and the 2 following 10th rows (rows9,19 and 29). After you’ve completed these increases work straight.
You’ve got it! It’s going to be a lovely sweater.

Thanks a lot, @salmonmac, I will continue with confidence now :slight_smile:

Just to get the Row numbers right -
The first set of 14 rows are 10 row pattern of the back + first 4 rows of the pattern.
The first 1 st increase on the 9th row, therefore -
9th Row : is this the 9th row after the first 14 (3rd Row of Set 3) or is this the 5th Row after the first 14 rows ?

Cant wait to finish the sweater and post a pic here - and most importantly, cant wait to see it fit my daughter well !! :crossed_fingers:
Thanks again !

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@Salmonmac, I chose the 5th row after the first 14, as the 9th row to inc 1 st - there after the 19th and 29th row. So far, seems to look as it does in the picture.
Hopefully I have interpreted your feedback correctly. Thank you !

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Sounds good! Enjoy finishing up.

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Finally …….
Terrified of blocking - reading so many different ways to block, some even saying not to block cables.
The pattern asks for a wet towel to be placed on the knitted pieces and gently iron. I don’t have a steam iron. Wondering whether to press gently (on the wet towel with iron set to wool) only on the edges to spread them out, or can this be also done on the cables all through ?

Let them dry a bit before sewing them together - plan to use mattress stitch iso back stitch.

Thanks for holding my hands (and brains) through the past few weeks !! So much appreciated !!

It’s a pleasure to see this beautiful sweater. Blocking really depends on the yarn you used. Wool will respond well to wet blocking even without the iron. Just pin the pieces out to the pattern dimensions and spritz with water (you can pat it to help the water soak in a bit) then let it dry completely. You could also place a damp towel on top and let both towel and sweater dry together.
You can pin on top of a dry towel on a rug or use blocking boards. You want to spread out the sts especially between cables but you don’t want to flatten those lovely cables.

Acrylic yarn can be washed and dried according to the ball band on the yarn. I tend to block it just like wool but that’s just me (as my friends tell me).

Thank you @salmonmac, for your quick response.
This is Rowan Big Wool -
Will make an attempt :crossed_fingers: to follow your suggestions - avoiding flattening the cables and spreading out the other stitches where possible. Shall post a picture after sewing :-))

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@salmonmac, While the shoulders and back neck sewing seems to have gone reasonably well, I am foxed with sewing the sleeve to the vest portion. Whichever way I lay it out, doesn’t seem to “fit” :frowning:I sure hope I haven’t made a mistake with the measurements. The arm hole looks so large as compared to the sleeve’s upper arm portion !
Can you please suggest whether the sleeve needs to be blocked to make it wider ?
(My blocking exercise was done very gently :-))) almost reverently )
Thanks so much

Blocking gently is good. You might stretch out the sleeve cap a bit more but I think it looks quite reasonable. I pin the points that are indicated in the photo and then pin the 2 spaces between the underarm and shoulder seam before I sew the seam.
There’s going to be quite a bit of stretch in the sleeve cap because of the cables. It looks like you’re well on you way.