With the body and sleeves completed, we now put all the pieces together.
Reserving Stitches for the Armhole
Once the sleeves and body are done the next component is the yoke. Prior to completing that however we need to address the stitches that will become the underarm.
The underarm area should be roomy enough for comfort and movement. For this reason we will use 10% of the sleeve stitches here. Place these on a scrap of yarn for now. For example: if 10% is 7.2, I will reserve 7 stitches. 3 stitches to the front side of the sweater and 4 to the back of the sweater will provide me with the proper number of stitches.
Setting Up the Needles
Your first calculation will be the total stitch count. For this you will have the full number of stitches from the body and both sleeves, minus the stitches reserved for the underarm. For example my body had 219 stitches, my sleeves were 72, and the reserves stitches were 7 (done 4 times).
Therefore I have 219 (body) + 144 (sleeves) – 28 (reserved stitches)=335
25% of the body stitches will be the right front. 50% the back and 25% the left front. Markers should be placed at the front and back of each sleeve. Follow instructions on the Calculation pages to help set up your needle and markers.
Neck Calculation
The neck will be your “C” number X 2 multiplied by your stitch gauge. this number is to be divisible by 7 after subtracting 2. Make adjustments as necessary. For example my neck measures 7.5 inches across. So I will take (7.5 X 2) X 5.285 (stitch gauge)= 79.275 I will adjust to 79 as 79-2 is divisible by 7.
Raglan Decreases
* Before beginning any decreases knit in pattern for one inch.
After 1 inch place a marker at the front and back of the sleeve between the body and the sleeve stitches as per instructions on the calculation pages.
All decreases are then done on the right side of the sweater. You will decrease one stitch on either side of the markers. Knit to 3 stitches before the first marker. Do an SSK, K1 slip the marker then K1 K2tog. Repeat at the back of the sleeve. Knit across the back then 3 stitches before the marker do an SSK, K1 slip the marker. Slip marker then K1 K2tog. Knit across left sleeve to 3 stitches before the marker, complete a SSK K1 move marker K1 K2tog. Each decrease round will eliminate 8 stitches. Continue in this manner each right side row.
Calculating Decrease Rows
To know how many decrease rounds to do you must start with the number of stitches once the body and sleeves have been added to the needle. Subtract the number of stitches calculated for the neck. Now take this number and divide by 8.
For me I start my body and sleeves with 335 stitches. I need 79 stitches at the neck. 335-79=256. If I divide by 8 (decreases per row) I get 32. I will do 32 decrease rows. Remember decreases are only done on the front of the sweater. The wrong side you will purl your stitches.
I am doing 32 decrease row. This means I’m doing 64 rows counting the purl wrong side rows. If I divide 64 by my row gauge of 6.125 I get 10.44. So my yoke depth will be the 1 inch I knit plus 10.44 inches over the decreases. This means I have 11.44 inches
Hint: Checking your raglan measurement.
When completing your measurements, a measurement was done for the yoke depth “G”. In a round yoke sweater this measurement seems to make more sense. In a raglan sleeve sweater the decreases create a 45 degree angle line.
Here we can easily do a calculation as a check.
I’m taking you back to school here. Image your raglan decrease forms a triangle. The depth of the yoke is the straight downward line and the raglan decrease is the 45 degree angle forming a right triangle. To measure the angle length we will use A squared plus B squared equals C squared.
For example the depth of my yoke is 8 inches. 8 squared is 64. If I measure horizontally 8 inches then that is B which squared is 64. 64+64=128. Now is I take the square root of 128 I get 11.313. This means my raglan angle is 11.313. Compare that to my decrease rounds divided by the row gauge I’m at 11.313 versus the 11.44. This check tells me I will have the correct yoke depth.
Note about the pattern
As you knit the decreases you will need to be making adjustments to the lace pattern. If you are doing at decrease when you need to do a yarn forward DO NOT do the yarn forward. You may also need to eliminate doing an SSK or K2 tog. You ONLY want to eliminate 1 stitch on either side of the marker on each front side row. For this reason I have used a small stitch repeat pattern. Do not worry about how the design will look as it will not really show in the completed project.
Once you have eliminated all the the stitches and arrived at the final stitch count for the neck you have completed this section of the sweater. Place these stitches on a spare needle or stitch holder.
This completes lesson 3. Be sure to stop by our YouTube channel to view the video to accompany lesson 3A and Lesson 3B
Other Videos in this series
Raglan Lace Alpaca Sweater Lesson 1: The Body
Raglan Lace Alpaca Sweater Lesson 2: The Sleeves
Raglan Lace Alpaca Sweater Lesson 4: Completing the Sweater
The Importance of the Swatch
I-cord Cast on
I-cord Cast Off
