It’s been a long time since I’ve posted here. I wanted to show you my finished Humulus sweater. I completed it during the snowy winter, and it was just right for wearing in cold weather. I really like it!
As you may remember, I added structure to the sweater by creating “built in” shoulder seams and adding the neckline ribbing from a cast-on round.
I used the mattress stitch to create a shoulder seam, using the extra stitches I’d added to the shoulders when I started. Here’s the shoulder seam, about halfway done, worked here in a contrasting color just to make it easy to see:
When the seam had been worked all the way to the end (where the extra shoulder stitches were decreased out) I gently pulled the seaming yarn, closing the stitches so the seam is invisible. On the inside of the sweater it looks like this, while on the outside you can’t see it at all:
I absolutely love the stability this seam gives to my sweater. In the past I’ve been disappointed when my top-down seamless sweaters stretch out over time, drooping farther and farther down my shoulders. Not a good look! By inserting this easy little seam, my Humulus sweater has retained its shape.
My next beef with some top-down sweaters is the neck stretching out. The neck has to carry the weight of the sweater, so if its worked all the way from the ribbing down with no reinforcement, it’s bound to sag. To cure this I casted on the sweater at the place where the bottom of the neck ribbing would have been. I made sure I added a round that would be used later to pick up stitches for the ribbing to be worked upward. I tested the cast on to make sure it’d go over my head. When I finished the rest of the sweater I came back to the neck and picked up stitches for the ribbing. You can see I picked the stitches up just below the cast on.
I made sure to pick the stitches up into the right-side-up “v” of the stitch so when I knitted the stitch it smoothly continued the column of stitches.
The result is a neckline that looks lovely while also serving the practical purpose of keeping its shape.
Maybe you’ll try these techniques next time you knit a top-down sweater!