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Everyday Cardigan KAL: Separating sleeves and starting the body

Everyday Cardigan KAL: Separating the sleeves

Good morning! At this point you should be finished with the yoke and ready to take the sleeve stitches off of the needle. We’ll do that this week, as well as begin the first two inches of the body.

Depending on whether you are making the long-sleeved version (as written in the PDF pattern) or the cap-sleeve variation (similar to the sleeves in the pullover PDF), you will treat those sleeve stitches differently. Be sure to read the correct set of instructions for your particular sleeve needs!

Separating the Sleeves

Now that the yoke is as long as it needs to be, it’s time to divide up the stitches. Some of them will belong to the right front side of the cardigan, some of them are right arm stitches, then there’s a whole lot of stitches that will make up the back of the sweater, some left arm stitches, and finally left front stitches.

You need to work the fronts and the back while keeping the arm stitches out of the way for later.

What you’ve knit so far is fairly flat. It can be challenging to look at your work as a three-dimensional object, but once you’ve worked the next row, and the sleeve stitches are poking out from the body stitches, it will become clear.

Long Sleeves

Everyday Cardigan KAL: Separating the sleeves

Work the button band sts and the right-front sts as written in the PDF pattern.

Everyday Cardigan KAL: Separating the sleeves

Everyday Cardigan KAL: Separating the sleeves

Thread a yarn needle with a length of waste yarn.

Slip the right sleeve  sts off of the knitting needle one-by-one onto the waste yarn as written in the PDF pattern.

Video: Dividing for sleeves in a top-down raglan sweater by Rox Knits

Everyday Cardigan KAL: Separating the sleeves

Cast on sts at underarm using backwards loop method as written in PDF pattern.

Video: Backwards Loop Cast-On by Very Pink Knits

Knit across the next set of sts for the back of the cardigan as written in the PDF pattern.

Continue with the left sleeve sts, new underarm sts, left front sts, and button band sts as written in the PDF pattern.

Everyday Cardigan KAL: Separating the sleeves

At this point, you should have obvious armholes.

Cap Sleeve Variation

Everyday Cardigan KAL: Separating the sleeves

It takes two rows to properly deal with the cap sleeves and the underarms. First the sleeves are bound off, and then the additional stitches are added at the underarms.

Work the first row as follows:

  • Work button band sts, knit to sleeve marker, bind off right sleeve sts.
  • Knit to sleeve marker, bind off left sleeve sts.
  • Knit to button band marker, work left button band sts.

Video: Basic Knit Bind-off from Knittinghelp.com

Work the second row as follows:

  • Work all front sts to the first bound-off sleeve.
  • Cast on 10 (6, 10, 10, 8, 10, 14) sts at underarm using backwards loop method.
  • Work all back sts to the second bound-off sleeve.
  • Cast on 10 (6, 10, 10, 8, 10, 14) sts.
  • Work the remaining front sts.

Video: Backwards Loop Cast-On by Very Pink Knits

Everyday Cardigan KAL: Separating the sleeves

At this point, you should have obvious armholes, and your sleeves are complete!

Starting the body

Everyday Cardigan KAL: Separating the sleeves

The body of the sweater is worked the same, no matter which type of sleeve you have chosen.

Work Stockinette Rows just as you did with the yoke until body measures 2″ from those newly-cast-on underarm stitches. Don’t forget to add a buttonhole at Row 53, if you haven’t already. End on a WS row.

Everyday Cardigan KAL: Separating the sleeves

After two inches, the underarms of your sweater should look like this.

Next week

At this point, no matter which sleeve variation you are doing, you should have the sleeve stitches off of the needle, and two inches of the body worked. Next week, we’ll do a few increases at the underarms and then begin working the many inches of stockinette required to finish the body.

Any questions about this week’s lesson, please leave a comment!

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Posted on 2 Comments

2 thoughts on “Everyday Cardigan KAL: Separating sleeves and starting the body

  1. I love you blog..I also love your crochet hooks with the hand made handles I am interested in a certain one I saw of yours that is no longer listed…it is brown and turquoise .. I love it! This is the only place I have found to leave you a message..do you have a email so I could send a picture of it to you? Thank you

    1. I’m sorry I originally missed this comment! My email is polkadotcottage@lisaclarke.net but I have to warn you, I’m not doing custom work at the moment. If I don’t have that hook in stock anymore (and it’s likely I don’t) then there’s not much I can do unfortunately!

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