Hello,
I knit the front piece of my sweater until it was 14 rows less than my back piece and now the I am instructed to “bind off 4 sts at neck edge 1 time.” What is the neck edge and do I need a new ball of yarn to do this? I am then instructed to “bind off 2sts same edge 2 times.” The sweater I am making has a 3-buttoned placket. Any help I could get to interpret these instructions would be great!
Thank You!
Sweater Neck
Imagine the front of your jumper at the neck - is it a v-neck or what? This is where you are starting to cast off so the neck is lower than the shoulders, so cast off normally with the same wool, no new strand.
Then you probably keep knitting the row across to the side of the front (the underarm) as usual, then you turn and come back probably a plain row. Then you are at the neck edge again, on a right side row, and you cast off 2 stitches, then when you have come back again, you cast off the 2 stitches on that row (a second time).
Does that make sense for what you expect the jumper to be shaped like?
The sweater is a button up where I will later pick up stitches to work in a placket (so I guess similar to a v-neck?)
Does this mean I am to bind off the center 4 stitches and then on the next row I have to bind off 2 stitches on either side of the 4 that I previously bound off? Would this mean I would have to start a new ball? How else would I get past the the 4 bound off stitches to do the next 2? Am I understanding correctly?
Since you’re only working one side, you only need one ball of yarn.
Bind off 4 stitches at the edge that will be the neck as you’re wearing it and then finish the row. Work the next row even. Then bind off 2 at the beginning of that row and finish it, work the next row even, and then bind off 2 more at the beginning of the row.
Sorry Im still a little confused as to what the neck edge is. I am about to start a RS row in stockinette and there are a total of 97 sts across for this sweater.
Do I bind off the first 4 sts of this RS row, finish the row, work the WS row normally, bind off the first 2 sts of the next RS row (so this is after the previous 4 bound off sts) and knit WS.
Then it says to continue until piece is same length as back to shoulder.
I’m confused how this can be the neck if I start at beginning of the row. Where would the shoulders be then?
If it’s a button-up sweater, then you’re working one side at a time, right?
In that case you do it as you said, at the beginning of the right-side rows if that is the neck edge of the side on which you’re working.
For the left side as you wear it, you’d do the neck edges on the beginning of the ws rows, for the right side as you wear it, you’d do them at the beginning of the rs rows.
The neck edges come before any shoulder shaping.
If the front is in one piece, then it’s a whole other set of directions.
So I started the bindoffs at the beginning of the rows and I don’t think it is working out. By starting at the beginning of the rows, the neck curve is now at the sides of the piece. Does that make sense?
As I get further and further up the piece, the bind-offs curve upwards, but because they were started at the edge. It’s as if the neck was cut in half. How can I explain this… If I were to sew the front piece sides together (into a tube) THEN the neck would look like a neck. What am I doing wrong? Should I be starting the 4 bind offs in the middle of the piece? But I am told to bind off the center 7 sts before working the other side and reversing shaping.
So I started the bindoffs at the beginning of the rows and I don’t think it is working out. By starting at the beginning of the rows, the neck curve is now at the sides of the piece. Does that make sense?
As I get further and further up the piece, the bind-offs curve upwards, but because they were started at the edge. It’s as if the neck was cut in half. How can I explain this… If I were to sew the front piece sides together (into a tube) THEN the neck would look like a neck. What am I doing wrong? Should I be starting the 4 bind offs in the middle of the piece? But I am told to bind off the center 7 sts before working the other side and reversing shaping.
The center 7 sts would be the neck and the 4 BO sts for the armholes. Maybe it would be better if you wrote out a few lines of the pattern so we can figure it. It would be easier that way. Also are you working on the whole sweater, or just the front?
This is the free pattern that I am using (I am making the smallest size).
http://www.kraemeryarns.com/patterns/pdfs/adam.pdf
Right now I am just knitting the front piece and I am about to start a RS row. It says:
Neck: Bind off 4sts at neck edge 1 time. Then bind off 2 sts same edge 2 times. Continue until piece is same length as back to shoulder.
Shoulder: Bind off same as back. Then bind off center 7 sts and work the other side reversing shaping.
Those are [B]really[/B] confusing directions unless there’s a typo in there somewhere. I’d email Kraemer yarns and ask for a clarification. But maybe Ingrid has an idea.
I thought it had two parts to the front and you were working on one.
However, The directions for the front say to knit across the first 45 and place them on a holder, so you are essentially working on one side at a time.
Now the neck edge is closest to those stitches that are on the holder–to the left of center as the right side is facing you. You work these stitches even until 14 rows short of the back length, and then bind off 4 at the beginning of the right side rows, and then do the other bind offs at the same edge.
OMG! I just realized I left out the part about knitting 45 sts and leaving the rest on a holder. Makes much more sense to me now! Thank you so much for the help
Sorry, I have more questions regarding this pattern. I have bound off 2 sts at the same edge 2 times. Then it says to continue until same length as back to shoulder. Does this mean continue binding off 2 sts at the neck edge or to just knit stockinette until the length is the same? If I continue to bind off, then how would I bind off the shoulder the same as I did for the back when now there are less sts to work with? Also when it says “continue to same length as back to shoulder” should I start binding off for the shoulder when I reach the lower end of the back’s shoulder or the higher end (because the shoulder is sloped due to how I binded off)
Knit without to match the back, so unless you bound off more than 4 sts, work in St st. You work until it’s the same length as the first BO on the back, then follow the directions for the front BO, which should be the same slope as the back.