Hello, I’m hoping someone here will have an answer. I’m working on this wonderful Wonder Woman sweater in a large for a friend. (It’s a free pattern, so you can just open it if you have a Ravelry account.) I’m only using one strand of yarn instead of the suggested double because it was just too thick when I tried using double yarn. So far I’ve made the sleeves and am almost finished with the front of the body.
The sleeves are the perfect size. From the underarm bindoff to the collar is the right length, but on the front of the body it is totally off. I’m 10 rows away from the top and the yoke is REALLY long. I’ve double checked my gauge, I’m only off by about a 1/4 stitch over 4 inches so I don’t think that’s my problem. Once I realized it was super off, I looked at the pattern and realized there are almost 20 extra rows in the yoke between the small and the large, versus only 8 extra rows in the sleeves between the small and the large.
Now I opted to make the large because she has a 42" bust measurement, but she is a fairly short girl. I am a very tall girl, with the same bust size, and this yoke is already too long for me and sits just under my chin at 10 rows short of what the pattern says.
I thought of ripping out a few rows, and just making the collar as the patter suggests so the yoke is the appropriate length, but that collar seems like it would be huge. (pattern calls for 26 stitches for the front and back pieces, and 14 stitches on sleeves for a total of 66 stitches when you start the collar ribbing, but I would be at roughly 96 stitches if I did it that way.
So I think adding a scoop neck might be the best solution? But how would I go about that? I was thinking that if I take the middle 4 stitches and put them on a holder where I want the lowest point of the neckline to be, I could then work up one side, hiding some extra decreases around the held stitches for the ribbing so my collar isn’t too big when I get to the same length from the underarm binding to the collar as the sleeves. But I’m not sure which way those decreases should lean, or how many stitches per row to hold to make it a proper shape. Also, I’m not sure what I would do on the back as I’d like it to be less scooped in the pack.
I don’t even know if I’m thinking about this the right way. I’m hoping a more experienced knitter can help me work this out so I can finish this sweater and get on to my christmas knitting. If there’s another way of doing this, possibly doing more decreases somehow without messing up the shape of the yoke, I’d be willing to try that too.
The fact that your sleeves are coming out right implies that your row gauge must be close to correct. Is that right?
I wouldn’t expect the sleeves and the body to necessarily be proportional between sleeves and body. It’s likely that there will be more rows (and sts) in the larger size while the sleeves will be more similar between sizes.
I would rip back on the yoke and distribute most of the extra increases within the number or rows that you now know will take you to the base of the neck. Aim for close to the number of sts needed for the collar but you can be a few sts over. You don’t need to get all the sts into the yoke, some extra increases can be placed in the last couple of rows before the collar addition.
Watch too that the yoke is matching up to the sleeves where the two will join.
My gague is only off by a quarter stitch over 4 inches. So yes.
And while I get that there will be more rows and stitches in larger sizes, being wider doesn’t make you proportional longer everywhere which is how this pattern is accounting for size. 20 rows on size 10 needles is a lot to add to a yoke just because the finished garment is wider. I sew a lot more than I knit and often run into this issue with sewing patterns, but cutting fabric down to size is a lot easier for me than rewriting a knitting pattern.
There are no increases, only decreases at the beginning and end of every knit row. I’m just worried that decreasing more will change the shaping of the yoke so the sleeves won’t line up properly. So let’s say they’re at a 45 degree angle. If I double up the decreases, is it going to change that angle?
I understand the idea of fixing it, and could completely figure it out if it were fabric, but my brain isn’t good at coming up with the stitches required to make the shape.
Sorry for the confusion. I meant to say distribute the extra [I]decreases[/I] (obviously not enough coffee consumed at that point).
Yes, easier for sewing but it can be done for knitting too. You [I]will[/I] be changing the angle along the edges of the front but as long as the lengths match up along the seam, that’ll work. Knit fabric is a bit more forgiving and stretchier than sewn fabric.
You could also put some decreases in every so many sts to decrease the width if you think that’ll work without changing the width at the bust. Often yoke patterns decrease every so many rows.
Watch that the front and back aren’t decreased so much that you pull in on the sleeves and make them too tight at the shoulders though.
Okay so would this work?
Instead of the suggested k1, dec, k until 3 stitches remain, dec, k1
Could I k1, dec, k1(maybe 2), dec, k until 6(maybe7) remain, dec, k1(maybe 2), dec, k1
Without too much issue on every 2nd or 3rd dec row depending on the length I need to get the appropriate stitches for the collar?
Yes, that seems like a good way to do it, especially since the decreases occur every other row. I’ve added in extra dec close to the neck of a sweater before (k2tog every 3sts) because I wanted a smaller neck and collar.
An alternative is to dec every row but I like the double lines of dec better. See what you think.