theraineysisters knitting and so much more

July 11, 2018

From Susan — Circle(t) Back

Filed under: Updates — lv2knit @ 11:18 am

Circling back on a project.  Have you ever had to do that?  Almost every project?  Okay, then you’re like me!! 😉

This time around the circle I revisited my Circlet Shrug.

I loved the theory of the Circlet as described in this previous post, “What gives the Circlet its style is the seaming — you sew it so the armholes are relatively fitted.  It gives the illusion of an actual sleeve cap when worn.”

Okay, that’s great in theory.  Especially if you are a 20-something with pretty, thin arms.  I have old grandma arms.  When and how this happened is a mystery to me and quite horrifying!  I used to be known for my skinny arms!

I do not show my arms.  Ever.  At all.  Even in 90+ degree weather.  So that means wearing a shirt under my Circlet.  Wearing a shirt meant that the armhole opening was too tight – causing the sleeves to bunch in an unattractive manner.  I decided to open up the seam a bit to allow for the sleeves.

That created wings!  Because the Circlet has absolutely no shaping and is quite a dense fabric, the shoulders looked like a 747 on approach!!  Ugh.

So, I did a little pick up/cast off to tighten the top of the armhole opening:

It needed a little more tightening, but when I tried that it looked “gathered” at the top.  This is a workable compromise.  So Circlet is now wearable and arms discreetly covered.  Yay!!

PS to Alley – I picked up all the way around the armhole but at different rates.  I marked off the armhole into quarters.  Starting at the bottom of the armhole opening (with a size 4 needle), I picked up 3 sts for 4 rows for the 1st quarter, 1 st for every 2 rows for the 2nd and 3rd quarters, and back to 3 for 4 for the last quarter.  Then I just bound off as to purl using a size 5.

PS to Barbara: This won’t necessarily fix your wing problem.  With many vests with standard fit, the problem is that the shoulders are too wide.  If you tighten the circumference of the armhole, it will pull the vest down over the shoulder, but that will not give it the traditional fit you might want.  For that situation, the shoulder shaping needs to be cut in more.  That is a really common problem!!

7 Comments »

  1. Thanks for this interesting post! It sounds like you’re addressing a problem I’ve often had, that of wings on the shoulders of vests or cap-sleeve garments. I’m interpreting from your comments that picking up a short row of stitches and then casting them off right afterwards tightens that edge? Is that what you meant? Please elaborate! Your techniques are so helpful.

    Comment by Alley — July 11, 2018 @ 1:23 pm

  2. The arms, the arms! How does this happen? (lol) Love your solutions to the shrug.

    Comment by annie — July 11, 2018 @ 2:41 pm

  3. Brilliantly done!

    Comment by Kathy W. — July 11, 2018 @ 7:23 pm

  4. I’m so impressed, and not a little intimidated, by all the math, and the end result looks perfect. I’m with you on the grandma arms which I had no idea had replaced my old ones until I saw what I thought was just an unflattering photograph and then, to my horror, realized that all my arm photos looked the same 🙁

    Comment by Pru — July 12, 2018 @ 3:03 pm

  5. “747 on approach” – love that simile. I usually just call it my “samurai armor” look.

    Comment by Gretchen (aka stashdragon) — July 13, 2018 @ 11:12 am

  6. Thanks for the solution to the “wing” problem I’ve experienced with vests and cap sleeves. I’ll try your solution with the next vest I make.

    Comment by Barbara — July 13, 2018 @ 8:01 pm

  7. Susan, thanks so much for the additional info! Both types of adjustments are useful to know about. I hope I remember them when I need them!

    Comment by Alley — July 20, 2018 @ 5:44 pm

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