I think I’m addicted to knitting sweaters. I love knitting super simple and fast sweaters using sumptuous yarns in sumptuous colors. And while I traditionally love top-down patterns, there are some aspects of them that don’t perfectly suit my tastes. Let’s take Knitting Pure and Simple Pattern 992 as an example. I’d love to make a version with a fun, thick yarn, but I need to make a few changes first.
- First, the sizes are too big for me. The smallest chest measurement is 38 and I really like that mine is around 34 (yes, I know everyone feels sorry for me).
- Second, the sleeve section just below the armhole is too baggy. I prefer it to fit snugly.
- Third, I would like the waist to have a bit of shape …
This is how I can achieve those goals.
- Making it smaller: The theory of making the chest smaller is simple: you want fewer points. For example, let’s say your gauge is 3 pts / inch. If your finished chest size is 38 inches, you will knit 38×3 = 114 stitches for the body of the sweater. If you want the finished chest size to be a little smaller (for example 34 inches), you will need to remove 4 inches from the body, which is 12 points (4×3 = 12). So, subtract 12 from 114 and you get 102 … That’s the number of stitches you want to have on your needle while you are knitting the body. When it comes to KPS patterns, we can simplify the math even more. At first she tells him to knit until there are 55 sts between the back markers, for the 38 inch chest. To reduce the chest size by 4 inches, we need to remove 12 stitches in total: 6 from the front and 6 from the back. So … subtract 6 from 55 (which gives you 49) and that’s the number you will knit to. You can basically write ’49’ before 55, creating an even smaller size!
- Tightening the sleeves: This change is simple. Instead of waiting to make the first sleeve decrease (remember, you are starting from the top) for 6 rows, repeat the decrease every other row 3 times … and then follow the pattern as specified.
- Modeling addition: To shape this sweater from top to bottom, you want to decrease about 2 inches of stitches (at each side seam) gradually to 1.5 inches above the waist, knit 3 inches flat, then gradually increase them again. So in the 4 sts / inch example, you will want to decrease 8 stitches in total (1 on each side for 4 times). Please note that the standard waist-to-shoulder measurement is 17 inches.
Using these techniques, I can knit a sweater that fits me exactly the way I want!
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