The Knitting Fiend

I’m back where I was yesterday– but with improvements.

I ripped back to the shoulder flanges, then picked up stitches from the shoulders and knit down. This time, I decided to shape the shoulders by knitting short rows. The edge of the shoulders are now 6 rows shorter than the inside. Since Jim’s shoulders aren’t shaped like the top of a cereal box, this will improve the fit. (It’s also the method recommended by Walker in Top Down Knitting, rather than the simpler method in my little “Mon Tricot” handbook.)

I think you can see the shaping in the illustration to the left. (If not, you’ll just have to take my word for it. )

For those wondering, here’s how I pick up stitches. I had already knit my two shoulder strips; i didn’t break the yarn when I finished the second one; I put the end stitches on yarn to hold them. Then, I set those aside.

Next, I picked up my Denise adjustable needles and some white acrylic worsted and cast on 34 stitches for the neck; I then broke that yarn and set this aside.

Then, returned to the shoulder strip and its attached skein of yarn. I turned the work sideways and used a double pointed needle (dpn) to pick up 28 stitches along one long edge of the strip; see photo left. (For a detailed illustration on how to actually pick up, or knit up, stitches, visit button bands. )

I slid the stitches I’d just picked up onto the Denise knitting needles, organizing so the cast on edge of the shoulder strip was on the right needle tip and the waste yarn for the neck stitches were on the left tip. The skein of yarn was right there on my right, so just worked across the 34 neck waste yarn stitches to create a neck opening.

I went and found the other shoulder strip, turned it so the cast on edge was next to the neck and began to pick up stitches.

Since my next step is to begin working an Aran pattern, I placed some string markers at the edges of each major “panel” in the stitch pattern.

The result is pictured to the left. I suspect you can distinguish the white waste yarn all along the neck and shoulder edge; I’ll remove that when I finally get ready to knit up the neck. You can also see the stitches at the outside edges of the shoulders. Those will end up at the top of each sleeve.

Now, it’s beautiful out. I’m going to knit on the patio!