I need help making armholes for a Sweater (Diamond Brocade Stitch Pattern)

Hello everyone!

I’m making my first knit sweater and need some help with the armholes.
I decided to make the whole thing in a diamond brocade stitch pattern (https://imgur.com/a/XXjsDrT)IMG_20180508_155455220

The thing is I want to make the armholes while keeping the pattern, but in order to make the decreases for the armholes, I’m gonna have to lose stitches (right?). And to keep the diamond pattern, I need stitches in multiples of eight.

The problem: After decreasing I can’t get multiples of eight.

What should I do? Should I add stitches to keep the diamond pattern?

I appreciate if anyone can help me out!

Welcome to the forum!
Yes, you’re going to lose some sts in order to shape the armholes. Although this pattern may be a multiple of 8, you don’t necessarily have to work full repeats of the pattern across the rows.

If you imagine the armhole edge as occurring at the line below, then you can see that you can work the rows so that the pattern continues even with the interruption of the decreases.diamond%20smaller

Thank you! And thank you for your reply :slight_smile:
But I’m gonna have to ask, if I do that isn’t the pattern going to get kind of distorted? I mean the diamonds won’t look right.
I apologize if this is a silly question, and even though I understand how to do this with a flat pattern, I’m having a hard time trying to adapt the armholes to the diamond pattern :frowning:

The important thing is to keep the pattern correct in the main body of the sweater. The only place where the pattern will be truncated is at the sleeves. It will look like the pattern is disappearing into the seam. The rest of the pattern will continue as set.
You can see this a bit in this vest in the same pattern:


When you decrease for the armholes, are you then knitting back and forth on either the front or the back?

I use this
www.getknitting.com/ak_0603mfcalc.aspx
Good luck.

I am using the diamond barcode pattern for the first time in a dress that I want to make. I need to decrease on the ends to make the dress flare out but I don’t know if I decrease on the ends if it will keep the diamond pattern. Or which row of the 8 rows would be the best to decrease on.

Welcome to the forum!
You can decrease on any row in this pattern. There’s really not one that would be easier than another. You will have to account for the decrease in order to keep the pattern aligned however.

You can subtract one stitch from the beginning of the pattern or chart it out to make that decrease clear.
The best way to work this is to look at the pattern as established in the previous rows and decide which stitch to begin with to continue that pattern.
This article from the ever helpful Patty Lyons, may help. It’s a simpler example than the brocade but still useful.