Neck of jumper help

Hi there, my name is Annie and

I have been knitting a rowan cotton jumper called landmark. All going well until I reached the shape shoulders and back neck instructions and I’d be really grateful if you can advise.

Shape shoulders and back neck:

(Starting with RS and 106 sts after shaping armhole) Cast off 10 sets

At beg of next 2 rows. 86 sts (I did that)

Next row: cast off 10 sts, patt until there are 14 sts on needle, turn and leave rem sts on a holder (I did this and left 62 sts on holder)

Work each side of neck separately

Next row -WS- cast off 4 sts, patt to end. 10sts. Cast off rem sts (I cast off 4 finished that row for the 10 sts then cast them off)

THIS IS WHERE I’M STUCK

With RS facing, working on rem sts, cast off centre 38 sts, patt to end. Complete to match first side of neck, reversing all shapings (I’ve got 62 sts left so do I follow pattern for 12 then cast off then do the other 12? The two sides of the jumper already look matching so don’t understand if I’ve done something wrong with the first 14 sts or what :flushed:)

If you can advise I’ll be hugely grateful

Welcome to the forum!
Your pattern looks beautiful and the cablework is intricate and lovely.
https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/landmark
OK, now you’re on to the second shoulder. Cast off the center 38sts leaving you with 24sts. Work to the end of the RS row, turn, cast off 10sts and work to the end of the WS row and turn to the RS. Cast off 4sts at the neck edge and work to the end of row. Now turn and cast off the remaining 10sts.

Thanks for getting back to me but unfortunately it still doesn’t make sense to me - do you mean I follow the pattern for 12 then cast off 38 and work on the next 12 - as if I cast off 38 straight away the neck would be skewed? I do find this bit very confusing 🫤

You’ve worked one shoulder and cast off all of the sts for that shoulder. Now you’re to work the second shoulder as a mirror image. There are 24sts for each shoulder and 38sts at the center cast off.
Cast off the center 38sts and work across the row. You’ll have 24sts for shoulder #2. You’re going to cast off 10sts on each armhole edge twice and 4sts at the neck edge. You won’t be working with 12sts at all but with 10x2 plus 4sts.
This is the step by step:

Come back if that’s still not clear. We can get at this another way.

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Hello
I think you have perhaps made a mistake in knitting your last couple of rows and the 62 sts you have remaining are in the wrong place which is why you feel the neck and shoulder will be skewed if you follow salmonmac step by step on how to finish off.
This is something to check before proceeding. If I am right you will need to tink back a couple of rows a stitch at a time to undo a couple of rows.
If I am wrong it will be worth just checking.

I have marked up this pic to explain my thoughts

First bind of of 10 on next 2 rows, yellow line, then red.
Next RS row bind off 10, blue line.
Work until 14 on needle - this is where I believe the error is. You have worked across the whole row, turned and bound off 10, green line. This row needs to be reworked. The green line should not yet be bound off. This is the first lot of 10 sts in salmonmacs description (bind off, 38, 10, 4, 10).

Your 4 bound off stitches, purple are incorrectly placed too.
In the pic the white line shows your stitches on hold which look reasonably central (apart from the 4 bound off) however these 62 on hold should be positioned in line with the black line, not at all central.
Once you tink back the last couple of rows you will be able to rework the first shoulder, then the centre hind off, the the second shoulder.

Tink back to the blue line which is a set of 10 bound off sts, leave these worked. Then work 14 stitches only, when counting these stitches include the 1 which was used to bind off the blue 10.
14 sts on right needle, 62 on left needle.
Turn.
If you like this point post a photo and we can check.
Then WS bind off 4, work to end, turn
Bind off 10.

Rejoin yarn on RS at beg of 62 sts on hold.
Bind off 38 for centre neck.
And so on.

You are close to finishing this piece and this hiccup will be resolved soon!
Lovely pattern by the way.

Edited to add.
Sorry, I don’t know how experienced you are. Do you know how to tink back each stitch to keep them safe? Do you know how to tink bound off stitches. If not please say and we can help.

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I had a feeling I might have gone wrong earlier….thats really helpful so thank you :pray: I’ll let you know how I get on. I’ve had to unpick umpteen rows as I’ve gone along….losing concentration being the usual fault! There are several errors still in the knit but sometimes you just have to leave it otherwise I’d never get on and this is only the back….front and arms yet to do :neutral_face: More news soon :+1:

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It will be well worth all the effort.

Do you know that cables, single stitches, multiple stitches, can be fixed by kaddering down and reworking them back up rather than undoing whole rows?
There is a good video from roxanne richardson on this which makes it clear how to work them. It is still effort of course, but not the same as undoing masses of full rows. But, you are right, sometimes, just move on, doubt anyone will notice errors but you anyway.

If you get at all stuck with this reworking of the final rows just post again. It doesn’t matter how many times you ask, post photo of your knitting, or check on understanding. For example if you’re not sure how to work the first shoulder once you have gone back.

Good luck.

Thank you for your kind encouragement - my Mum was a great knitter from Guernsey and knitted Guernsey jumpers at speed on 8 needles…she died when I was 18 and I’m now 64?so it’s wonderful to have supportive advice again :heart:

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I’m glad you’ve got it sorted or soon will have. This is a sweater to be proud of.
It’s so comforting to carry on a family tradition with such lovely knitting.

In addition to Creations good advice, you might also consider a lifeline just in case.


It’s not pleasant to rip back but a lifeline or two makes it so much easier.
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Thank you for all your help :pray:
I took the stitches back to the first set of decreases and added the lifeline….what a brilliant help that is … and I’ve done it :partying_face: It’s funny how a simple change in the wording of the pattern would have made it so much easier eg ‘cast off 10 and pattern next 14 sts’ would have made it clear for me whereas ‘until there are 14’ implies keep going until 14 are left! Anyway thanks to you guys I finally understood :pray:

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Great news!
Really glad to be able to he’ll out and pleased your sweater neck has worked out as it should.
I agree the “work until 14” has expectations of working until 14 left rather than working until here are 14 worked. I guess they chose this way because after binding off one stitch is us already worked, so in reality it’s another 13 to work but making 14 worked total. Many patterns would say work 14 but then people get confused with that and end up with 15 worked due to forgetting one was worked already.
Any which way it can get confusing. That’s why it’s so helpful to have a forum like this. I feel like we are all together sharing thoughts and ideas as we knit. Asking those “little” questions as we go because the answers can make a big difference.

Thanks for posting an update. It’s lovely to see and hear that the tricky bit is resolved,

It is indeed going to be a beautiful sweater. Keep good notes because the front shoulders should match the back. The neckline itself will be different but because the shoulders front and back will be seamed together, I expect the bind offs at the shoulders to be the same.
Love to see a photo when you finish!

(If the directions had simply said “…until there are 14 sts on the righthand needle…” they would have been much clearer.)