Hi all, I’m knitting a cardigan (noragi by Vicki square)
And I’ve knitted the a front piece, the back piece and the two sleeves but it seems the back piece is much bigger than the pattern specifications… It may be due to having used Aran weight pure wool yarn? I also didn’t do a Swatch😅
The back piece measures 68cm height by 76cm width
The front piece measures 68cm height by 25.5cm width
And the sleeves measure 86.5cm height x 35.5cm width
An additional issue is that I put two white yarn rows above the green yarn row for the sleeves but the body and front piece have only one white yarn row above the green so the stripes of the sleeves don’t match up. As the sleeve piece is quite humongous and I need some extra yarn to finish the second front piece I was wondering whether it was possible to redesign the sleeve to make it smaller and rectify the unaligned stripe situation? In the pattern the sleeve piece is folded in half vertically to make a wide dropping kimono sleeve but could it be folded horizontally and reshaped to make a more normal sleeve and free up some yarn? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you so much!
Measure your gauge now across front and back pieces and count sts across each just to make sure that’s correct.
That’s quite a difference in the front and back. I’m assuming the front is half of the total front measurement so 51cm total across the front vs 76cm for the back. I don’t think that’s due to the aran yarn as I’d expect both pieces to be proportionally off.
Do you like the size of the back or the front? It seems that the best way to adjust is to decide that and then re-knit the piece that won’t match up. Of course this would be much easier if the back is the piece you like where the front is too small. Easier to re-knit the smaller piece but you need to decide which suits you.
As for the sleeves, you could turn it but that would eliminate the lovely continuity of the sleeve stripes across the body. It’s a lot of knitting but it’s preferable to re-do the sleeves knowing your gauge as measured on front or back.
Your knitting is so lovely and even, really well done. It would be best to get this jacket looking the best way possible.
The gauge is 17 stitches and 32 rows for the back over a 4 inch section and the official gauge is 18 stitches and 36 rows
The gauge for the front piece is 14 stitches and 32 rows.
The sizing of the back comes on wider than my actual back by 15cm on each end (I’m a size small for reference ). Could the extra fabric at the back be utilized in a revamped design in any way? Not sure if once the collar is knitted on it would assist in any discrepancies? Thanks so much!
The different gauges especially over the size of the back may well account for the difference between front and back. You may possibly have loosened up or relaxed into the knitting on the front.
The collar may well pull the knitted fabric in a bit but likely not enough to account for the larger size. It will certainly increase the width on the front which may be fine.
It’s really up to you what you would like to do. You could cut the knit fabric (see steek) on the back although that wouldn’t give you useful yarn to use.
The fronts on this are supposed to be narrower than half the back. The pattern width should be 23cm for each front (23x 2 = 46) whilst the back pattern width should be 63.5cm. The fronts are narrower due to there being a wide band to add and also a gap of 2.5cm when complete, the fronts do not join.
As for the sizes which have been knit.
In the length it should be 59.5 cm when laid flat and would stretch under its own weight to 71cm so you could take out some rows to reduce the height and that would free up some yarn although perhaps not enough to complete the front.
The widths are bigger because of the gauge difference between knitting and pattern and really the only way is, as salmonmac has already said, und it and work to your own gauge for size. It seems hard to do after all that work.
The back should be 63.5 cm rather than he 76 you have so there is an additional 12.5 cm in width here. That would add up to a lot of yarn usage over the length of it. Personally I would frog the back, make it the right size and review yarn need and front sizes afterwards.
The fronts are longer than needed so some yarn could be taken from the completed front by reducing the rows. The width, well, if you check the pattern I think you would be OK on width if you forgo the wide band and made a narrower one. I cannot see the part of the pattern which details the band so this is a total guess but I think it is around 7cm deep, you could reduce to about 5cm. Depends if you could live with the design change.
I would frog the sleeves and work the stripe pattern just because this is a beautiful detail on the alignment. If you want them narrower you can work fewer rows.
Probably not what you wanted to hear. Frogging is always painful.
Or, accept it’s really big and snuggle up with it in front of the TV on a cold night. Plenty of space for a sweater underneath too, you could save on the heating bill.
Thank you both @salmonmac and @Creations… I will try and see what would work best… I’d like to avoid frogging as much as possible as I’m not in desperate need of yarn… Only a little extra is necessary. And if all else fails maybe I’ll just make it into a blanket:smile:
I love the kimono sleeves on this jacket which really make it stand out. Well, good to have a plan B. Good luck with it and let us know what you decide.
The two fronts together should add up to rather less than the back, as there are front bands and even then it doesn’t close. Kimonos typically fit this way. You’ve only got a 15 cm difference, which could be correct. You can see how they line up in this photo:
That does seem to be the case when I lay down the front piece I have knitted onto the back-they do seem to be proportionate to the kimono design. Did you have any other insights to add in relation to the general sizing of my pieces being larger than called for in the pattern/the sleeve patterning? Thank you!
Pin the shoulder and side seams and give it a try? See how far out the sleeve seam will be, and whether it seems to be what you want. It shows as very wide… the sleeve is attached almost at the elbow.
Hi just a quick question you said the back is meant to be 63.cm width but in the diagram it says front+back and that the front piece should be 23cm in width so I thought that the actual recommended width for the back is 40.5cm? Is this correct? As I’ve had another inspiration… I actually found that I knitted both front pieces but forgot about one- I found it yesterday! Meaning i could join the two front pieces to make the back. This is commonly done in real life fabric kimonos that the back is two pieces joined instead of one continuous one.
Then to unravel the over sized back piece and reknit the front pieces and sleeves.
What are your thoughts?
Thanks!
The diagram is a bit confusing, but shows the full back width as 63.5cm. It’s showing the back with the right front laid ON TOP of it, not the back with the right front extended. So the back is 63.5cm and the front is 23cm. The 2 fronts together add up to 46cm, leaving a gap of 17.5 for the bands and the remaining gap.
If you’d be happy with the fit of using your 2 fronts as the back, which would give you 50cm, then go for it. You’d want to compare that with your bust measurement, to be sure. You’d still want it to be at least 15-20cm larger than what your actual measurement is, otherwise it will seem pretty snug.
You have a section in the pattern which details the finished size. I can see it in the pic you posted. The total knitted work should be 124.5 cm,mthis includes back (63.5), 2 fronts of 23, and the deep band each side of the front. Then there is the additional 2.5 cm gap between fronts.
You said you are quite petite, but even so a 50cm back is really quite small, especially for a kimono style which should really be oversize for the style.
You might consider a solid band up the centre back to make up the extra width, depending on the exact width of your extra fronts you could add say 15cm in the centre back in a solid colour and seam the 2 fronts to it to make a back. If you do this allow a little extra for the seaming.
@ColoCro thanks for the clarification re the pattern diagram- I was quite confused about that for a while and for her other kimono patterns! @Creations thanks for explaining this option however after loosely sewing together the garment and wearing it I’ve decided it’s way too big(and extremely heavy) also it’s a gorgeous design and lovely wool yarn so to do justice to the cardigan Im prepared to frog it and start again as you and @salmonmac had initially suggested. When the idea was first proposed it was too much for my heart to handle after many hours of knitting but it’s ok it’s all a learning experience thanks so much for taking the time to help…
In relation to reknitting the back piece how would I make it fit the real gauge? I’m assuming it’s by casting on less stitches instead of 112?
Yes exactly, cast on fewer sts. You can measure your current gauge across the back. If you are getting say 16sts per 4inches, multiply 16sts times the total width in inches that you want and divide by 4inches. That’ll give you the number of sts to cast on for the width you want.
I know it’s a difficult decision to rip back or rip out part of the project. We’ve all done it. The reward is later as you re-knit and finish with a garment that is just what you wanted. I’ve always been happier for having bit the bullet and re-knit.
As you have said your gauges for front and back are different, the front was 14 sts per 10cm and the back 17 sts per 10cm, you’ll need to decide which gauge to base your calculation on. Probably the most recently knit piece (because your tension has changed over time)
Based on the two gauges you said your pieces were measuring as
14 sts per 10cm. 1.4 x 63.5cm = 89sts
17 sts oer 10 cm. 1.7 x 63.5 cm = 107sts
So somewhere between 89 and 107 sts
Your most recent knitting was the front I think, so maybe go for the 14 sts per 10cm. I’d probably go for an even number as the pattern called for an even number to cast on, so 90 rather than 89.
Obviously this is just an example and you can decide what number to cast on based on the samples you have in front of you.
One other point, have you tried washing/blocking a piece yet? Gauge can change when washed and ideally you want the correct size after washing.
Frogging always takes time to come to terms with. And the job of frogging a large piece is in itself quite a physical and time consuming job, winding all that yarn. It will be amazing at the end though. Good luck.
And now you know why we swatch! But you do have the world’s largest swatch to base your reknit on.
It seems that your fronts are the correct size, and you only need to reknit the back? Check the size against the schematic after you’ve knit 4-6", rather than reknitting the whole thing. You may need to cast on the same number stitches, as your gauge seems to have gotten tighter. You can check that with your front pieces.
thanks so much for taking the time to help…
