Hello all, I’m Sarah from Manchester UK. I’m a self taught knitter . I’m gradually getting better….
I’m trying to knit a cardigan for my sister for Christmas but it’s gone a bit wrong. I forgot to shape the neck
or something and now the top of the cardigan looks all wrong. Any ideas please?! I know it’s not too clear but what you can see is the right sleeve and right front
Welcome to KH. What pattern are you using? If you missed out doing neck shaping I fear the only recourse is ripping the work back. Frogging is never fun (unless you’re weird like me, sometimes I enjoy nothing more than frogging lol). We need more info and seeing the pattern would help.
Your knitting looks lovely. I might have to have that pattern. 
Thank you, I’ll post more details tomorrow. I’m not sure I’ll be able to go back and redo I think I wouldn’t know where to start and likely mess it up!
Whatever is the problem there are excellent knitters here who can help you through the process.
Welcome to KH!
You’ve worked this thoughtful gift so beautifully.
What is the name of the pattern and designer?
I agree with GG. In order to put in the neck shaping, you would have to rip back. It may help to put in a lifeline if you can at the place where the neck shaping should begin or end. Once you’ve taken out the knitting (however painful) see if you can recognize where you are in the pattern stitches. It make take a try or two on the initial 10sts of the row to see that you are at the correct pattern row but you’ll be able to see whether the new row matches or not.
I don’t know if this will work but will the sweater work as it is now with a kind of boat neckline? Is there a collar or neckband yet to be added? This is where knowing the pattern will help us.
Thanks everyone.
I’ve attached the pattern. I still have to do the rib on all the edges -neck etc, but not sure I should.
I think one of the reasons I’m confused about ripping it back is I am not sure if I’ve now sewn the raglan seams up wrongly , if that makes sense?
This sweater has a drop sleeve which is seamed to the back and front rather than a raglan. Ideally you would work the back and front then join them at the shoulder. The top of the sleeve would then be seamed along the back and front with the sleeve top mid-point at the shoulder seam. The schematic will give you a length for that sleeve top. As is, the sleeve opening from the body seems small so it may help to reset the sleeve.
Since this is bottom up it’s going to require less ripping out and possibly none depending on the current length. The direction is to start the neck shaping at a given measurement. Did you reach that measurement? See what measurement you have now. You may only need to take out the bind off in order to begin the neck shaping.
Can you delete the second and third pages of instructions. The first photo and the photo of your knitting are fine. We can’t post large portions of patterns due to designer copyright. Use the pencil icon in the bottom of the post to edit please.
Tinking the bind off:
Thank you!
Sorry, hadn’t thought about copyright. Done!
This looks like a much easier fix since removing the seams isn’t like frogging and reknitting. Whew!
Good luck with fixing it, it looks great and I’m sure your sister will love it.
Looks like you’ve sewn the sleeve on sideways? It should be sewn along the gray edge. It gets folded in half with the fold at the shoulder seam. This picture shows how it goes pretty well.
Thanks to all of you for your help!
Basically, as you have said, I sewed my sleeves incorrectly. I’ve only ever sewn raglan sleeves so I assumed it was the same. The good news is that I’ve managed to resolve it -pictures to follow.
It’s far from perfect, somehow the sleeves don’t feel quite right, think they should sit further up near the shoulder, but apart from that it’s resolved. This site is amazing!
The setting of the sleeves is typical for sweaters with no armhole shaping, where the fronts and backs are basically rectangles. It’s called a “t-shaped garment” or “drop shoulder”, and the sleeve seam will be partway down the arm, around the bicep area. It’s a detail you might look at when you’re looking for a project–either because you want the ease of knitting with minimal shaping, or because you’d prefer something with a raglan or set-in sleeve.
Here’s a nice overview of different sleeve types, which is so good I’m going to bookmark it for myself!
@Creations, you might find it useful as well! It gets pretty detailed as to how to calculate different sleeve types.
Thanks, yes, I’ve read this article a few years ago when I designed a set in sleeve sweater from scratch and along with a couple of other tutorials I made 2 great fitting tops (one had the armscye too long which I had to frog and make much smaller and got a great fit) with proper bell shaped caps and I was really pleased with them at the time. Since then though I lost mobility in my arms and so couldn’t put them on! I also, later, decided I didn’t like the yarn (cashmer silk merino i think) next to my skin and they were so well fitted I had no space for anything underneath. I eventually sent them to a charity with the hopes someone would get some use out of them.
Mostly now I need oversized so I can get in and out easily. I have improved a lot though and don’t need quite such a big bat wing as I did before. Changing mobility and then body shape (menopause, my weight isn’t much different but my body shape looks big and lumpy compared to my precious shape which takes some getting used to!) my frequent difficulty is knowing what style I want and what size. If I could work out those things I’d have a much easier job of knitting! The things I always know are I don’t wear raglan or round yoke, ever, I thoroughly dislike both shapes.
