Sunday, November 12, 2006

Question

Although I've been knitting since I was eight, I've never been very confident to vary from the pattern at all. I know it's possible to knit a sweater in the round even if the pattern hasn't been done that way. My question is this. If I do this, do I decrease the number of stitches on the needles because I don't need to seam it? What do I do when I get to the armhole shaping? Should I switch to back and forth at that point? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks!

Sarah

6 comments:

schrodinger said...

I've never done it before, but I remember reading that you definitely need to reduce the number of stitches (I would guess at least 4 - 2 for each side) but don't know for sure, I tried googling, but having no luck, sorry.

knitspot anne said...

i would be somewhat careful about removing seams from a garment. seams provide structure and help garments keep their shape. sweaters with cables, color-stranding, and twist stitches will do fine without the seams because the fabric has more stiffness to it. but if your fabric and yarn are too soft, you might consider keeping the seams to help it stay shapely.

prairiegirl said...

Well, the yarn is certainly a soft DK. Maybe it is just best to keep the seams. I don't want to spend all that time knitting to end up with a frumpy looking sweater.

Emily/Knit Addictions said...

I hate flat knitting so I often change patterns so I can knit them in the round. Any of Elizabeth Zimmermann's books can help you learn to alter flat knitting to round knitting. I don't know what type of sweater you're knitting, but my suggestion is to determine your gauge, determine the finished chest circumference you desire, and cast on the appropriate number of stitches. To fix the "seam" issue, you can use EZ's method of "phoney seams" which I think works great. Armhole shaping depends on if you're working a set in sleeve, drop sleeve, or whatever. If you'd like more info than I can give in this vague comment, email me at knitwitATknitaddictionsDOTcom and I'll try to help. Or check out some of EZ's books for help.

prairiegirl said...

Thanks for the tips Emily! I'm going after work to see if my public library has any of EZ's books. I want to check out her "phoney seams" method that you referenced! If I am still confused, I'll send you an email.

Emily/Knit Addictions said...

Great! Good luck! Let me know if you have any questions and I'll do what I can to help!