Increasing in sleeve help

Hi! I am working on the sleeves for the Love craft bubble stitch cardigan and am having a lot of trouble with staying in pattern with the increases.

I understand that the stitches that make up the pattern need to stay making the pattern throughout to keep the pattern correct. I have attached a picture of me attempting to do that but it has left me with large areas of no pattern at each end of the work.

I am increasing at each end of the row that is increasing.

These are the two pattern stitches:

row 6 (rs) using B K3 K4 below
*K3, K4 below, rep from * to last 3 sts, K3

row 12 (rs) using A K2,
K4 below, *K3, K4 below, rep from * to last 2 sts
K2

I have also drawn it out to try make sense but currently the way I have done it in the photo is the only way it fits the pattern for me, so I am probably missing something!

I hope this makes sense!

Welcome to the forum!


Your version of the Bubble cardigan is lovely.
When there aren’t enough stitches to complete a pattern repeat, then working in stockinette as you have done is your best option. When you get to the point where you have enough sts either side of the sleeve, then work a pattern repeat on those sts.
It may help to see and count the sts on either side of the pattern stitches if you place markers before and after the section of pattern. Then you can more easily count the stockinette sts to determine if there are enough to complete the pattern repeat.
This article may be more about decreasing but it also may help with increase in pattern (scroll down a bit).

1 Like

Love this combination of colours you’ve chosen, it’s going to look fabulous.

1 Like

Sweet as, Thank you!

Hi, I have completed both the sleeves and the back and am now up to the front two sides of the cardigan and am just wanting to clarify some things before diving in!

The instructions say to continue in pattern until 50 rows fewer than have been worked than on back to shoulder cast-off. I did a total of 109 rows for the back (not including the cast off row) so that would mean I would go until I have 59 rows done. That seems a lot so am not sure if I have understood it correctly. I have 17 bubbles in total which should mean I should have 102 rows (17 x6 (the motif) - 102), so am not too sure if I have this right.

You then have to decrease 1 st at each of next and following 4th rows until 20 stitches remain. Assuming I have the number of rows knitted correct above I would finish those rows on row 11, so would therefore decrease on rows 3, 7 and 11. It then says to work 5 rows ending after patt row 7 or 1 but with how I’ve counted my rows and where the decreases are I am a few rows short of this (I assuming you count the rows as said in the pattern e.g 5 rows is the same as rows 1-5).

I hope this all makes sense!

Thanks

These are really more or less kind of instructions. You don’t have to be precisely on the row number called for. So the front should be about 50 rows fewer than the back to leave enough space for the front decreases. The front slope has quite a nice, deep V so that accounts for the number of rows needed here.
The same goes for the direction to end after a pattern row 7 or 1. If you need to add a few more rows to get to a row 7 or 1, then go ahead and add those extra rows. You also want the length of the front and back to come close to the same measurement.

1 Like

5 rows might be the same as rows 1 to 5, but it also might not.
When you follow a motif or “set pattern” those rows continue to be followed in order whilst you also count some other type of instruction such as decreases every x number of rows or to work 5 more rows. These instructions don’t tell you the pattern rownu ber but instead how many rows need to be worked.

As example a pattern might have a 12 row repeat and one could have worked to row 10 when the instruction then says “work 2 more rows”. This not meaning rows 1 and 2, but rather rows 11 and 12.

I do hope this doesn’t cause confusion. I have probably not explained clearly.

I think when you get to “work 5 rows ending after patt row 7 or 1” it will probably make more sense when you actually have it on the needles and can see it.

1 Like