11.21.2013

Shearer Short Row Shoulder Shaping (Try to say that 10x fast!)

Finally -  the sleeves! (And finally a bit of a hitch.)

Picking up from the shoulder and working the chart downwards, knitting flat. The plan, to accomplish the short rows for both sleeves before knitting on down towards 2x2 ribbed cuffs.
Picked up,  across the length of the arm hole, the number of stitches called for in the pattern for the top of the sleeve. Used the usual "pick up 2, skip 1" approach. Marked the centre point and each of the cable elements either side of that then tweaked the number of stitches a bit to make the sides match.
Then, working the chart from the top also put in short rows, every row, either side of just over half the stitches at the centre of the work.

With the planned short rows done, the bulging excess of fabric tells me I've done too many. 

I also see my wraps and turns among the ribs are probably best described with words I don't want to put on my blog.

Both these problems are easy enough to fix.

Less clear is how to address the fact the sleeve cables seem to be springing out of the the visual no man's land of the purl section along the top of the shoulder edge. At the underarm, where the ribs visually connect with the sleeve detail, its fine but then it all falls apart - crappy wraps and turns aside - once you get beyond that point...

Ewwwww.  Hmmmm. I'm going to have to ponder this a bit....

  • Obviously, what I've done so far has to come out but then what?
  • Duplicate stitches across to the first rib of the body sections spring to mind but seem a cheap fix.
  • Picking up the sleeve stitches from closer to that rib also occurs to me....not sure what the drawbacks of that might be fit-wise since the body I'd need to measure against is currently somewhere across the Atlantic.
  • I could work the sleeves bottom up and then sew them in to best visual advantage.
  • I think I've already ruled out working the sleeves without cables so as to render the issue moot.
Yup, 'off to ponder...
 
Thanks for dropping by!

6 comments:

Sel and Poivre said...

'Just thought of another option - make it into a VEST! ;)

Anonymous said...

What kind of sleeves are called for in the original pattern?
You are an intrepid knitter indeed.
LisaRR

Lorraine said...

Marie- I don't think you want to make this into a vest- that was a joke, right?

I'm curious about the short rows- is that to prevent bulk under the arms?
Let me know how you are doing- I find this interesting.

Sandra said...

I'm the first one to save on seaming, and knit the sleeves on, but I think in this case, you may have to bite the bullet and knit the sleeves separately, and sew them in. that of course brings it's own set of challenges...

Steven said...

This project just gets more and more complicated every time I drop in for a visit. I'm loving watching you think through this. I'm confident you'll come up with a good solution.

Needles said...

Well, the difference between this and a sewn in sleeve where things will spring out of a heavier sewn line is not that far. Can you make the line look heavier by increasing and then decreasing for the extra weight of fabric? I did that once and it looked more like a sewn seam but my yarn was farily light.