New on here, need help please

#1

Hi all,
my name is trace and i am 37 new member.
I am newish to knitting self taught and loving it. anyway i wondered if i could ask for some help please.

I have knitted a couple of small bits nothing big and got the hang of easier technics lol
anyway i thought i would be brave and knit my daughter a long cardigan coat. she has picked the wool etc. and i have started it.
My daughter is 9 and i have started the pattern on the 9/10 yrs size.
the problem i have is my daughter is a smaller 9 year old. so even though the chest size would fit the length and arms would be a tad too big.

can anyone help me on how i would knit a shorter arm length and back into the pattern. the pattern is just knit and purl basic till i know what i am doing lol

hope i dont sound too daft lol anyway help appreciated thankyou from trace x

#2

Could you post a link to the pattern you are using?

#3

I’ve not done much in the way of fitted clothing, so I can guarantee you’ll get better answers. But without seeing the pattern, if there’s not too much shaping or cables and things like that…in other words, if there’s a fair amount of “knit for 10 inches” sorts of things, you can simply knit that part shorter.

Otherwise, you’ll have to do some math with the patterning to figure out how/where to shorten.

#4

You could just leave the sleeves long and roll them up. Somewhere in the pattern is probably a place where you knit without increases; just knit less at that point.

#5

If you are going to reduce the length by omitting rows, make sure you do a gauge swatch first so you know how much length you are getting rid of by how many rows. It would totally suck to omit 15 rows because it seemed like a good number only to find out that you took of 5 inches of length and now it won’t fit.

#6

Use a tape measure. It’s easier than figuring the math and counting rows.

#7

Hi! :waving:

I’m sure your daughter is going to be THRILLED with her sweater coat! What a great use of your knitting talents!!

That being the case, though, remember that she’s going to be growing and since I’m sure she’ll love what you’re making, you’ll want to leave in some growing room for her. So when you measure for length for sleeves and the coat body, think about making the length longer than what will fit her right now.

Good luck with your project and please let us know how it’s going!

Happy knitting! :knitting:

Ruthie

#8

Hi all, thankyou for your replies.
this is the link for the cardigan coat i am doing my daughter, im not doing pink i am doing ntural colours for her.

Sirdar Leaflet 9250 - Womens Cardigans in Crofter DK (childrens in corner)

Read more: http://www.woodlandyarns.co.uk/sirdar-leaflet-9250---womens-cardigans-in-crofter-dk-2521-p.asp#ixzz0j2fy7MtI

many thanks all help appreciated
from trace x

#9

hi again this is the link to the knitting pattern can anyone help please with alterations thanks chicks
from trace

#10

You’ve been given ideas already. :shrug: Altering a pattern is not always easy especially for someone else. Do you have a yarn store you could go to?

#11

From someone who tries to avoid altering a pattern…

The length looks like it should be pretty easy to modify. Measure your daughter from knees (or however long she wants the coat) to wherever the waist is on the pattern - this may be a place where it decreases for a waist, or perhaps where the pattern changes for the chest part of the coat. Then when the pattern tells you to knit X inches then switch to the chest pattern, just knit the number of inches you’d like.

I have never been brave enough to change sleeves, though, because there are consistent increases throughout the length of the sleeve. You might try this, though: directions for increases usually say to increase every 5th or 6th (or something else). You might be able to increase every 4th or 5th row (that is, one row more often), but you’ll want to be careful that your sleeves don’t end up too short.

There’s no guarantee that this would work as you hope. One of my sisters is a good enough knitter to design her own sweaters, but I’m not!

#12

It might just be me, but I’ve always liked longer sleeves. It’s always nice to be able to just curl your hands up in the sleeves in order to keep your hands warm.

Another thing you could do is like Suzeeq suggested, knit it like it’s supposed to and then just roll the sleeves up. I have one jacket that’s kind of like that, where the cuffs are secured up in a rolled position with just one small spot of sewing. :mrgreen:

#13

Hi, Trace! :waving:

Here’s what I’d suggest…

  1. Carefully measure your daughter. Realize that you’re going to have to add some inches for “ease” (which will give her moving room in the coat) and also add a bit more for growing room. She is really NOT going to want to grow out of this thing in a few weeks. It’s a beautiful pattern and she’ll probably save it for her own kids one day!

  2. Do a very thorough gauge swatch to nail down exactly the gauge you need for the project. For wearable objects, especially one as important as this one, leave nothing to chance. Swatch! Get your measurements for both stitches to the inch and rows to the inch.

  3. Sit down with some knitters graph paper (the squares are a bit wider than they are high to mimic the actual size of the stitches) and color in the boxes, using your gauge from your swatch until you have the measurements totally lined up and visible on the graph paper.

  4. Then translate the number of rows and stitches to work with your pattern. Write it all out before hand so that you can cruise right through it.

I know this seems like the long way around the barn, but you’ve got such a good chance of producing a fabulous piece that could well become an heirloom, and all at the beginning of your knitting career!

Best of luck and please keep us posted on your progress.

Happy knitting,

Ruthie :muah: