Making my own Crochet Raglan Sweater.

 On a tide of positivity, having custom made my very first circular yoke sweater, I decided to do the same with a Raglan yoke. It has been more than difficult! So let me talk you through what I have discovered.

I have searched the internet from top to bottom looking for something which would give me a place to start and hopefully explain the maths involved. I found lots of people claiming to do that, but I got no where. 

 

I don't think I am the only confused crocheter in the world. If you take a handful of crochet sweater patterns at random you will discover that the majority of the older ones are constructed from pattern pieces which are sewn together. The newer ones are more likely to be drop shoulder construction. There are some round yoke sweaters and finally you will find a just few raglan yoke. One reason, I discovered, is not that they are more difficult to make, but that it is harder to grade for different sizes. But perhaps the other reason is that crochet raglan yoke construction is a well kept secret!

 

I would love to tell you that I have solved the mystery, but I have furthered my understanding. Let me instead, share with you my discoveries in the hope that one of you very clever people can move us forward from there!

 

In principle designing a raglan yoke should be simple, so where was I going wrong? I came to the conclusion that I was coming at the problem based on my knowledge of round yoke construction. Round yoke construction is based on thirds. The front and back are formed from about a third of the circumference each, the sleeves from a sixth each. The circumference itself is based on the Bust measurement, + the Bicep measurements, + Ease. The same measurements don't work for a raglan yoke, it's like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole!

It was this image that finally led to my understanding. Yes, there are people who tell you that this is how to make a raglan yoke. They will also tell you to place 2 increases at each corner of the raglan and to keep increasing until the yoke fits. You can make a garment this way, but it will not fit well. We are not all made up of the same proportions. If you are very slim, you may find that your sweater is oversized by the time the yoke is the right length. If you are full busted, you may find that your armhole is too low by the time you have achieved the right circumference.

There are two very important measurements we need to begin. They are the High Bust circumference and the Raglan Depth. 

Raglan Depth

For this we need three pieces of information.

1. First we begin with the Armhole Depth. This is the distance vertically from the shoulder to the underarm. Forget all the curves and bends just measure straight down, you can even use a flat ruler. It does help if someone else measures it for you while you stand still!
2. Now you need to add on Ease. It would be very uncomfortable if your armhole was exactly that depth. Once again the ease is the straight line down to the bottom of the armhole in a garment. You can look at another garment to find this measurement or you could measure down using your bra or vest top as a guide.
3. If you look at a raglan yoke, you will realise that the line of the raglan does not begin on the top of the shoulder. Instead it starts at the neckline. So we also need to add in the Shoulder slope. The distance between the place where your neck joins your shoulders and the lowest point of your shoulders.

All of these three measurements, Armhole depth + Ease + Shoulder Slope = the Raglan Depth. What you have worked out is the vertical distance from the top of the garment to the bottom of the raglan line. 

High Bust 

I had never heard of the High Bust measurement before. It is the chest circumference taken at the Raglan Depth. So it is smaller than your Full Bust measurement. You'll need to add Ease to this measurement as well.

Full Bust 

You will of course also need the usual Full Bust measurement and Ease. At the bottom of the raglan yoke, when you begin to crochet the body, you will add a number of stitches across at each underarm. The number of stitches you add will be based on the difference between the Full bust and the High Bust. This is what gives the garment the right size for the body. It should also be remembered that these stitches will also be picked up when the sleeves are added, increasing the width of the sleeves.

 

Planning You Raglan Yoke 

The numbers you need to plan your raglan yoke are as follows:

• Your preferred Neckline measurement, which must be at least the width of your head!
• Your High Bust measurement. Don't forget to add Ease.
• Your Full Bust measurement, + Ease. 
• The Raglan Depth = Armhole Depth, which is the vertical measurement from your shoulder to the underarm + Ease + Shoulder Drop.
• Your Bicep measurement, + Ease. 

It may help to also take measurements from a raglan garment which fits well. You can compare them to your actual measurements and they may help you to decide on the neckline circumference, or the amount of ease to add.

 

Drawing a Chart

I decided that the best way to proceed would be to draw out the yoke on squared paper so that I could understand how it would work. 

So, I began by drawing a rectangle. 

I knew the width, which is half the High Bust including ease.

The overall rectangle depth is the Raglan Depth doubled.

Short Row shaping

There are different ways to add short row shaping as we discussed here. To keep things simple I decided to add 4cms of short rows to the back of my yoke. This lowers the neckline at the front as I did in this mini sampler.

It is perfectly acceptable to make a raglan garment without adding short row shaping but I have mentioned it here as an example. You can see that those short rows are part of the yoke. They increase the width of the sleeves and reduce the amount of increase rounds.

 

Placing the neckline. 

I won't lie, this is the hard bit! 

The shape and size of your yoke will determine the shape of your neckline. Remember you are working in the round, so there will be the same number of rows from the neckline to the bottom of the yoke, as there will be from the neckline to the sleeve cap edge.

I started with the shape of neckline I wanted and worked out:

(High Bust width - Neckline width) divided by 2= the depth of the sleeve cap.

(Raglan Depth x 2 - Neckline depth) divided by 2 = the yoke depth.

Of course those numbers were not the same, so now I had to juggle them about until they matched. It meant I had to change the shape of my neckline.

So once I had got these numbers to match I could draw in my neckline. 

 

There's still one more thing to do.

At the end of the yoke you will add chain stitches across the yoke to separate the body from the sleeves. These chain stitches will give you the full bust measurement, so; Full Bust - High Bust = distance to be filled by chain stitches.

 

Now you have to convert all of these measurements into stitches and rows using your gauge swatch. At that point you may have to adjust your measurements here and there as you can't have half a stitch or half a row. You may decide to add the extra odd stitch to the back or front of your garment or neckline. Will it matter if your yoke is half a row too long or too short? 

 

Then it's time to plan the increases. 

You now know how many stitches will be in your neckline and how many at the bottom of the yoke. You also know how many rows you have to increase in. The chances are you will have an odd number of increases. 

The secret is that you increase unevenly.  You do not have to increase on the sleeve by the same number of stitches as the front and back panel. Which ever way you do decide to increase, you need to spread those extra stitches out as evenly as possible along the line of the raglan.

That being said, there other types of compound raglan where the increases are spread in a different way. But let's not run before we can walk!

 

This is what my finished yoke looked like.

 

You can see how the short row shaping has lowered the neckline at the front. I checked the fit at this point.

In the next round I added the chain stitches across at the underarm. I also finished the neckline before checking the fit again.

 

I then decreased a little, slowly at the under bust bringing in the width towards the waist. For a short cropped style you certainly want to do this. For a longer style you may want to increase again towards the hips.

 

Having completed the body I can now move onto the sleeves. There is quite a big difference between the number of stitches at the start of the sleeve and the number I wanted at the bicep, and the number I want at the wrist. So now is the time to plan the decreases. Don't forget to record any changes so that both sleeves match!

  and Hey Presto! I have a raglan yoke sweater in my size! 

 

In conclusion: 

I think perhaps there is too much fabric at the bust and bicep. Should I have used less ease at the underarm, or perhaps I was overly generous with the shoulder slope? Both things would have given me narrower sleeves at the top. But, looking on the bright side, at least it isn't too tight at the under arm. May be it's time to investigate how a different sort of compound raglan curve works?

 

  

I know it sounds complicated but...

 How do you eat an Elephant?

One bite at a time!

 

If you take it one step at a time you will have a garment that is custom made for you and you alone!

fastening off...

 

 

Book Review: New Ways with crochet

It's been such a long time since I last reviewed a book. But I am excited to share with you, Olena Fedotova's 'New Ways with Crochet'.

I'd more or less given up hope that there would ever again be a really interesting crochet book that I wanted to talk about. The crochet book-shop shelves are groaning with Amigurumi, the usual Learn to Crochet and sadly, AI offerings. In fact, I almost didn't buy this one, but 'the Researcher' bullied me into it! Did I really need yet another stitch dictionary? But as it turned out, this isn't just another dictionary.

 

Let's begin at the beginning...

The book is divided into 5 Chapters. Each one explores a different grouping of ideas, and each one finishes with an original Shawl pattern showcasing these ideas. So, besides the 50 stitch designs you also get 5 Shawl patterns.

 

Chapter One: Simple Stitches

In fact none of these designs are simple, instead they take familiar stitches and offer them back to us with an unexpected twist in each. Be prepared to work into stitches backwards or sidewards. Suddenly familiar techniques take a surprising turn!

 

Cobblestone stitch

It's described as a warm, textured, squishy fabric. It was those strong horizontal lines within the stitches which fascinated me. It's created by using a variation on a 'sc2tog' that you have never made before!

 

V-Ridge stitch

A squishy, stretchy ribbing.

The instructions for the Rib st are to be found at the back of the book. If you have an imagination you can view it as yet another kind of 'sc2tog'!

 

Both of these samples introduced me to simple but surprising new ideas, and there are still another 8 designs in the chapter to discover.

  

Shawl 

The accompanying asymmetrical Daydream shawl pattern uses a combination of stitches from the first chapter in a single colour.

 

Chapter Two: Linen Stitch Variations

The title is very misleading! Linen Stitch is just the vehicle to carry a new variation on Raised stitches producing light weight and fluid fabrics. There are even 5 variations in two colours. These are my favourite stitch discoveries in the whole book. And a revelation when used for rib and cabled designs.

 

Linen Rib stitch 

Made into a linen stitch foundation, the raised stitch are made into rather than around the stitches below. The ribs created are soft and nothing like the stiff post stitches we are all used to.

 

Diagonal Drift

This time the raised stitches are placed at an angle forming softer, wider ribs. 

 

 

Shawl

The symmetrical Golden Hour shawl continues to explore these textured themes in two colours.

 

Before buying the book I'd made Olena's Replay shawl which also uses some of these stitches. You can imagine how happy I was to find more stitch patterns which use the same technique.

 

Chapter Three: Texture, Lace, and Colorwork 

The chapter title makes it sound as if there will be no relationship between the next ten designs. Not so. Olena takes us into a watery world of rippling stitches. She starts off slowly by introducing the idea of 'eyelet' stitches. It's as if we have stepped into the designers mind as she leads us through a progression of ideas.

 

Mini Eyelet Ridge stitch

I was thinking that there was nothing surprising about this sample. Unbelievably it uses yet another 'sc2tog' variant to create the eyelet. The variant is used again in this chapter.

 

Interrupted Ridge stitch

This sample demonstrates the main technique used in the other designs. The swatch appears to have been made using short rows. It isn't!

 

 

Shawl

The chapter is resolved with the symmetrical 3 colour Drop by Drop shawl.

 

Chapter Four: Single-crochet Ribbing Variations

Explore low relief textures, using nothing more than stacked Single-crochet (Dc-UK) and chain stitches. You'll be using extended stitches in a very novel way.

 

Fine Linen Rib stitch

The rib here is very subtle made with extended single-crochet. The technique takes a little practice. 

 

Bold Linen Rib stitch

I preferred this version in which two rows of the stacked stitches are run parallel.

 

Petite Honeycomb stitch

I really struggled with this stitch, the design is so subtle. In the end I used the largest gauge of yarn I had so that you could easily see the pattern.

 

Shawl

The single colour symmetrical Heartstring shawl draws on the same patterns you've just learnt.

 

Chapter Five: Crochet Cables

You may have already met these twinning cables before. Here are ten to play with. The technique is quite straightforward once you have been taught the secret. This is by far the largest chapter in the book because it incorporates the tutorials.

 

While a number of the cable designs are already screaming for my attention I haven't made any samples for you today. Instead I have two cowls I made back in 2020. I think I have been obsessed with cables and ribbing since I first picked up a crochet hook!

The Charmer Cowl pattern was released in 2019 and uses the Travelling Vines stitch design.

 

And the Adventurer cowl uses a stitch similar to Tight Twists. I am very happy to know that Olena hasn't exhausted her interest in these twists and that I have 8 new designs to play with.

 

 

Shawl 

The finale is an asymmetric Morning Mist shawl made using a softly variegated yarn which draws together other themes from previous chapters with a gently curving cable.

 

I remember that having learnt to crochet I was ready for a new challenge, but when I asked for books to take me beyond beginner I could find nothing. If you are ready to take the next step, love to learn and ready to take a new challenge, this is the book for you.

fastening off...

 

Short-row neck shaping in Crochet

During my recent foray into sweater design I found myself struggling with the concept of short-row neck shaping. Information on the subject is hard to find. I ended up with so many questions. You'll forgive me, I hope, if I dedicate this months post to answering some of them.

 

Let's start from the beginning in case you have no idea what on earth I am referring to!

If you make a top-down, bottom-up or raglan sweater you end up with the front and back of the sweater being at the same height. But if you take a look at the human body, the neck does not sit centrally. Thanks to the curve of the spine, the back of the neck is much higher than the front. So, without short-row shaping, you may either end up with a chill at the back of the neck or else you may feel like your sweater is strangling you! The answer is to add short rows to the back of the sweater. This raises the back of the neckline while allowing the front to tip forward. But the bottom of the sweater remains straight.

 

There are two ways in which we can do this. Either we add short rows in a sort of crescent shape somewhere within the back of the yoke, or we add short rows across the bottom of the back of the yoke only.

 

Let's start with the first idea and try out the variations.

A crescent shape of short row shaping can be added anywhere within the yoke. I have seen it used it various ways:

immediately right after the neckline is created;

right at the bottom just before the yoke is separated into body and sleeves;

and finally short rows placed at intervals within the yoke.

 

That's all fine and good but it still leaves so many questions!

 

Question One:

Do you start with the longest or the shortest row? 

 

Well let's find out!

Longest row first.

In this sample I have begun with a 'neckline' of 24 Dc (Sc-US) before beginning the short rows with increases. I have worked the zig zag method (see below) making each subsequent row a few stitches shorter. The final pink row is a smoothing row. The 'smoothing row' is simply a row which smooths out the steps left by the short-row ends. After this you would work the yoke.

Shortest row first.

This sample is worked the same but in reverse. After the 24 Dc I have started with a short row which covers a third of the stitches. Then working in a zigzag I have increased the length of each row.

While both methods work, making the shortest row first means that each subsequent short-row acts as a smoothing row.

 

Question Two:

How many rows should there be?

It is usually considered to be about 1 to 2", 2.5 to 5cm. You could also try looking at your favourite garments to see what the difference is between the front and back of the neckline. Obviously it depends on the size you are making and how low you are intending the neckline to be. You will need to make a gauge swatch for whatever stitch you are intending to use to determine how many rows this is. 
 

 

Question Three:

How long should the rows be? 

 

As a general rule, it is understood that the back and front of the sweater are each represented by one-third of the circumference of the yoke, while the sleeves are one-sixth each.

The theory is that the shortest row of shaping should cover the back one-third section of the sweater and the longest row should cover two-thirds of the sweater. Divide the number of stitches in between these two points by the number of rows of short-row shaping remaining to work out where they should start and finish. 

 

Question Four: 

How are they worked in practice?

 

There are two methods which you could use.

Method one:

is worked from the centre outwards in paired rows. 

Start in the centre of the back, work out to the first point and back to the centre. At this point step down to the base row and copy the paired rows to the second point. When you return to the centre join to the top row. This procedure is repeated stepping around to the 2/3rds point on either side.

The next row or round can now be begun from the centre. 

 

Method two:

is worked in a zigzag.

Starting from the centre back, work a short row to the first point then back to it's opposite point. Continue to work in short rows zigzagging from one point to it's opposite pair until reaching the final 2/3rds point on either side.

You can now return to the centre before beginning your next row or round.

 

Question Five:

How do I hide the rows within the yoke? 

You could do this by increasing the height of the stitch you are using over the area you want to raise. In this case you're not actually using short rows.

For instance, if you are working in the round you would mark where the first short row should be. Over this area you work a stitch just a little taller and at the end of that section you would return to making the shorter sized stitches. You would continue to do this in each round until you have worked sufficient rows. 

 

Question Six:

Is there a simpler method?

I'm not sure if it is simpler but straight rows can be added to the base of the yoke on the back only, just before dividing for the sleeves. This is certainly an easier method if you are working a raglan yoke.

In this image the pale pink is worked as a raglan yoke, while the dark pink are the short rows which lift the neck line.

Here the yoke has been folded in half and the sleeves and body begun. From the back view, below, you can see that the short rows are now part of the yoke.

Question Seven:

Can I use any size of stitch?

 

Yes. But it would be advisable to finish each short row with increasingly smaller stitches so that the step at the end of each row is smooth. So for instance, if you are using Trebles (Dc-US) you might finish each short row by stepping down, Hrt, Dc. You would begin the row Dc, Hrt

 

Question Eight:

Do I need to add increases to these short rows?

 

If you are working short straight rows at the end of the yoke, no you don't. 

But in all other cases, then yes. You may have to experiment to see how and where to increase. On the shortest rows you may not need increases at all but on the longest rows they are certainly needed. You might consider how many increases you are adding in the main body of the yoke and work out the number needed as a percentage. For instance, if you are using 12 increases per row in the yoke you might use 4 increase on the shortest row and 8 on the longest row. That is, if the shortest row covers a third of the sweater then 12 divided 3 = 4.

 

Question Nine:

How do I work short rows? How do I 'step down' at the end of a row'?

 

I have never covered that topic on this blog having been taught by our friend Anna over on Mmatildas Virstadt so I am going to send you to her excellent tutorial HERE. She begins with slip-stitches but scroll down and she covers other sizes of stitch. Don't forget to hit the Translation button and select your language!

 

I hope this answers some of your questions. My best advise would be not to worry about the numbers, but just experiment to find out what works best in your design.

 

Fastening off...