PJKnits Sweater Tips

 Recently, I finished my Cozy Classic Raglan Sweater.  Along the way, I took some pics to share of some hints/tips that I use when knitting sweaters for me.  They might not necessarily be brand new to you, but I wanted to share them just in case.

For this particular sweater, there was one of those directions where you do something every other round.  The secondary round is a plain knit.  I put a green marker as I start that secondary round, to let me know as I come around to it that the previous row was just plain knit.  

Reasoning behind this for me is when knitting around a yoke with lots of stitches, I may put it down to get a cuppa or take a call, and when I get back to knitting that round, I would know by the green marker (signifying go) was a simple stockinette round with nothing special happening.

As I come around from the plain row, I would slip the green marker off, and put a red marker signifying that this round was other than just a plain knit row, for the same reasons above.

Just a little something to remind me where I was without having to look too hard at my knitting, especially on a dark yarn.

This is my sleeve, which most times looks totally odd and very different from the pattern.  You see, I have large biceps, ok, read that as fat arms, and along with picking up extra stitches under the arm when doing a top down sleeve, I have to change up most sweater patterns to accommodate my arms.

I keep my sweater measurements in my notes on my phone, so I always have them handy, wherever I am.  I can measure then to right above my elbow, where generally, I start the decreases to get down to my skinny wrist...why couldn't my biceps be in harmony with my wrist...LOL

To figure out how often to make these decreases used to take a lot of math, but now with just simple math,  and a really neat website, I put in some figures and the website tells me what to do.

The math I need to know - what is my row gauge right at that moment? Based on my wanted sleeve length, how many inches do I have left for decreases minus the ribbing?

I keep the website in my notes on phone as well, so I can easily get there.  It has been life changing for me.

https://www.worldknits.com/knitting-calculators

Because of this funky looking sleeve, it is almost impossible to measure length as I go.  To make it easier, I take a small ruler, laying it down at the underarm straight out, placing a removable marker in the sleeve.  Now, I have a place to measure down the sleeve for length.

While we are on the subject of sleeve length, when you don't have someone to measure the arm length for you, pull out ready-to-wear top from your closet and measure it.  Voila, the measurement you want.

One of my biggest problems with my knitted sweaters is, wait for it, which is the front and which is the back after you pull a sweater out to wear it??

  When weaving in ends in the back, which is normally the cast on thread.   I weave the yarn down the rib in the back, making a loop before going back up.  This tells me for all time which is the back when I go to wear it.  

And the final tip for today is - when weaving in your ends, don't trim them all the way down before you block, wait until it is all dry, and then trim the weaved ends.

Hope there are some helpful hints here for you and your sweater knitting!