I have just tried on my top down sweater knit in the round. I am about 11” below the armhole. It is alright so far, but a bit snug and I am a pear shape. I will want to increase for the hips using the make one at both sides (under armholes). How often do I make the increases? I have seen suggestions for every inch. Also, the pattern calls for transferring to a smaller needle for the ribbing at the bottom. Can, or should I keep using the needle I used for the body? I am concerned that it will be too tight around the hips. The neck ribbing is tighter than I want, but I will try to stretch it with blocking.
What is the name of your pattern and designer or source?
The frequency of increases depends on the row gauge, the current circumference of the sweater body, the desired circumference and the length in inches remaining until the ribbing.
It does sound like keeping to the current needle size is the right thing to do for the bottom ribbing.
It is Tincan knits, flax light. The gauge is 24 sts & 32 rounds/4” in stockinette on larger needles. Confession: I had trouble getting gauge after two swatches with different size needles so my gauge is off (26 sts instead of 24). I am using Fingering weight as recommended. I have made it before with DK with no problem. The current circumference is about 34”. The pattern says work until piece measures 15.5 “ from underarm or 1.5 “ short of desired length. My hips are 45 at the widest part. The length recommended in the pattern should be okay.
https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/flax-light
If the circumference at the underarm is 34" and you were starting at the underarm you would have 15.5" in which to increase. Say you increase by 12" to 46".
You’re getting 26sts/4" so that would mean increasing 78sts (3x26). You could increase 4sts/round, one stitch increased on each side of the side seam. That means about 19 increase rounds (19x4=76). That would be increasing about every 0.8" or say every 3/4".
But that’s if you start the increases at the underarm. As understand it you’ve already knit 11" below the underarms. That’s going to make a very noticeable flare to the lower body on the sweater and that may not be what you want.
My goodness, that calculation is something that would have been beyond me. Thank you so much. I will try increasing a couple of times over 1 1/2 or 2 inches, try it on again and see how it looks. A noticeable flare on the sweater does not sound too desirable, but I have a noticeable flare on my body, so it may work.
Susan
Try it and see how it goes is a good idea. You might want to put in a lifeline before you continue. That way it will be relatively easy (although still painful) to rip back and pick up stitches.
That is such a lovely elegant design.
If you end up feeling that the sweater is just too snug to be wearable or comfortable and decide to put in a life line and rip back the body to under the arm holes you would be able to make the fit exactly as you need it. It does take a bit of maths but it is not impossible and can mean a comfortable bust, waist and hip measurement.
I prefer to work out my decresses/increases into row numbers rather than measuring each time and it is not too hard to learn how, then when you are knitting you know to increase x number of stitches every x number of rows/rounds.
I find it quite tricky to find patterns that I think will fit me and end up altering some aspect of the measurement every time - but that’s the beauty of hand knitting, that garments can be custom fit (I admit I am not an expert at custom fits but I am learning all the time).
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In addition to the recommendations already given, you could go up a needle size too from the 3.75 to 4mm. It should not be noticeable - many patterns use sequential needle changes for waist shaping, for example. That’ll give you a little extra ease and may allow you to do fewer increases too.
To avoid the bell bottomed look, you could move your increases into the body. E.g on the front, increase along the nipple line - about a third in from either end, and on the back, about a quarter in from either end. That might contour better to the body. You can work the rib on the same needle but you need to avoid hem flip - there are lots of tips on how to do this, but perhaps the bind off is most important aspect as that tends to restrict the ribbing stretch. I find the Elizabeth Zimmerman sewn bind off is good for stretchiness without flare!! Good luck! ( I’ve just had to go up a needle size on my current project but my issue was that I was too lazy to swatch!! )
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Great advice. Thank you very much.
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Before you go any further, I’d suggest putting your sweater onto scrap yarn and washing and gently blocking it.
Then you will know for sure if what you have so far is a bit snug or not.
The reason for suggesting this is that sometimes a garment behaves differently to a swatch, or sometimes we knit differently on the garment to the swatch.
I know it’s probably not what you want to hear, but if the neckband is too tight, and the body is too snug, and that doesn’t change after a test blocking, then you might need to restart. If the ribbing relaxes after a bath, that’s one thing, but stretching it might distort your stitches.
Also, stretching to get more width reduces the length. So you might be able to get the extra width you need, but you might then find you have lost too much length in the bodice area (above the arm separation).
I would suggest using the smaller needle for the ribbing, so that it looks neat, but increasing a few stitches in the first row of the ribbing. KFB is good for adding a purl here and there. It all depends on your knitting tension, though. You might find yourself doing the bottom band twice if the first attempt is too clingy or too loose.
P.S. Cheers from another pear shape. Yay increases.
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Thanks for your suggestions. What a great website this is! The body is okay, but the neck is slightly tighter than I would prefer. I was only planning to stretch the neck a bit, not the whole body, so there is no concern about reducing the length overall. The thought of starting all over is very unappealing. I like your idea regarding the ribbing. I plan to go ahead and try a couple of increases, then try it on again to see how it looks. I will make good use of lifelines.
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I thought I would let you know that I followed your advice after doing a few increases (also suggested by knitting store staff) and did a test block (1st time ever). It worked very well. Neck and body are fine now. I am very pleased and almost ready to start bottom ribbing. Thank you so much.
Susan
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Hi
As a follow up to your suggestion, I wanted to let you know that I did a few increases about 3/4 “ apart (from 11” below the armpit) and, after a test block with a slight stretch, it looks great without any noticeable flare. Thanks again for great help.
Susan
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Hello again
I am now working on the ribbing, with about 1/2 inch to go. I took your advice and used the smaller needles, increasing by a few stitches in the first row. Would you recommend transferring the yarn to scrap again and trying it on to see if it too clingy or too loose, or casting off, and then redoing the whole ribbing if it doesn’t feel right?
Susan