Construction through shape
Calculation of stitches and rows
Knitting the pattern
1 Cast on 138 stitches.
2 Knit 172 rows.
3 Cast off 9 stitches on each side.
4 Knit 36 rows. The front neckline will begin
to be knitted from this row. If knitting the back,
continue for another 40 rows and cast off.
5 Front neckline: divide the neck width (45 sts)
into 5 equal parts (9 sts).
6 Put the carriage at the right-hand side (120
sts on the bed).
7 Put 61 left-hand needles on hold.
8 Hold 5 right-hand side centre needles. Knit 2 rows.
9 Hold 2 right-hand side centre needles. Knit 2 rows.
Repeat 3 times.
10 Hold 1 right-hand side centre needle. Knit 2 rows.
Repeat 8 times.
11 For the next 12 rows knit straight.
12 Cast off the right shoulder. The shoulder should
have 37.5 stitches, but as a half stitch is not
possible, the number is either rounded up to 38
stitches or down to 37 stitches per shoulder. This
can be adjusted at the neck edge and, because
the fabric is stretchy, one stitch will make very little
difference to the fit of the neckline.
13 Put the 61 stitches on the left-hand side back
into action using a transfer tool.
14 Re-thread yarn and put the carriage to the
left-hand side of bed.
15 Hold 6 left-hand side centre needles. Knit 2 rows.
16 Hold 2 left-hand side centre needles. Knit 2 rows.
Repeat 3 more times.
17 Hold 1 left-hand side centre needle. Knit 2 rows.
Repeat 8 times.
18 Knit 12 rows straight.
19 Cast off the left shoulder.
20 Put all needles back into working position with
a transfer tool and cast off remaining stitches.
21 Sleeve: cast on 114 stitches and knit 232 rows.
Cast off.
Construction through shape
1–2 Designs by Natalie Osborne, showing
different neckline styles.
Calculating stitches and rows is very
important for making up a garment;
you will often need to shape diagonal
or slanting style lines, such as for
necklines, shoulders, armholes
and sleeves. All shaped pieces are
basically calculated in the same way:
divide the number of stitches that
need to be decreased by the number
of rows you need to knit them in;
this will give you the number of
rows to be knitted between each
decrease action.
Neckline shaping
Most necklines are worked in a
similar way, often part-working in the
middle and then knitting both sides
separately according to shape; whilst
working on one side, the other side is
put on hold. Alternatively, waste yarn
can be knitted on to the side that is
not being shaped first: this takes the
knitting off the machine for a while
and can be useful when working in
particularly fine yarns, as it avoids
the carriage having to go many times
over the held needles. One of the
simplest styles is the square neckline,
where the centre stitches are simply
cast off, then each side is separately
knitted straight up.
For a round neckline, you will need to
check that the overall measurement
is correct; if not, the shape will need
to be adjusted to fit. The back neck
can often be knitted straight but
for finer knitting it is better to have
a slight curve. The round neck can
be easily converted to a V-neck by
drawing in the style line down from
the neck point to the centre-front
line. Both of these neckline styles are
suitable for a variety of collar designs
to be attached (see collars and
neckbands on page 132).