BEGINNERS DROP SLEEVE JUMPER
by
Cher Riley
With or without ribber, and some knowledge of how to set your
machine to 'hold 'I thought I would do this for all those out
there who have just bought machines, and have got past the stages
of doing rows and rows of practise.....Don't you just get fed up
with that? We all know cos we have all been there, and whilst I
don't proclaim to be anywhere near an advanced
knitter, I am able to do some really quite simple jumpers... So
c'mon then join me ...
Wipe down the machine and get that dust off and gently brush out
all those bits of fluff and yarn, check the little brush wheels
are all free of debris, now, re-oil your machine, wipe it clean
with a soft clean cloth, make sure that all needles are aligned
properly, and that all is working correctly. Next choose your
yarn. For this Jumper you will need a lightweight not chunky
yarn, and a standard machine, a ribber would help, but don't
worry if you haven't got one, I've included a mock rib with
this...
I used a Knitmaster Standard Gauge 260L with a ribber Bramwell
4ply in a Lemon shade Contrasting colour to be used as waste yarn
So here we go.......
Sizes: To fit Bust: 86[91: 96:101:106]cm: 34[36: 38: 40:
42]inches
For those who have got the hang of their ribbers, set it up and
make sure it is running smoothly, next;-
BACK
Push forward 77[81:85:89:94] needles at either side of the centre
'0' on the main bed to working arrange needles for 1x1rib,and
match with those on the ribber bed, now do your 3 circular or
tubular rows to cast on, not forgetting to hang the weights onto
the ribber comb.. now with the carriage at your right hand side,
and both tension dials on both carriages set to 4,
rib 40rows.....transfer stitches to main bed.
154[162:170:178:188] stitches????...good!
NON RIBBER's quick MOCK RIB
Using waste yarn, push forward 77[81:85:89:94] needles at either
side of the centre '0' on the main bed and arrange these to 1x1
rib, that is every other eedle out of working order.. now thread
machine and using tension 6 knit ONE row, hang on the long hook
type comb, and place some claw weights evenly along it... change
the tension dial to 4 and knit 11 or more rows,
carriage should now be at the right, now break off the waste
yarn, and thread up the main yarn you are going to use..make sure
row counter is at 000 now knit a total of 38rows, now change the
tension dial to 6 and knit one row, change the tension dial back
again to 4 and row counter to 000 again and knit 38rows. Now
remove the comb and the weights, and look at the beginning of
your work, next to the end of the waste yarn where you joined in
the main yarn you will see a row, of the main yarn that looks
like this - - - - - - - - - - - - - pick up these main yarn
loops, with a transfer tool, and hang this loop onto the needles
that are out of work, they are the ones that are still pushed to
the back of the machine, do this to every loop, until all the
needles that were out of work are now back in work again...That
is all there is to it, you will see that the one row you
did at a larger tension, has made a neat little crease where you
folded the work up to hang the loops on the needles....... and
you still have the same needles on the machine as you first
started with 154[162:170:178:188] Well that's the rib done!
Now look at your row counter, make sure it is at 000, change the
tension dial to 6, knit until row counter shows,
152[152:154:154:154], place a marker on each end to do this,
break off a bit of the waste yarn, and hang it around the end
needle, do the same at the other end, now carefully knit a row,
hold the waste yarn tail, as you go over the stitch with the
marker yarn on it, don't remove these markers they will show you
where to stitch in the sleeves later on, now just continue
knitting until your row counter reads:- 246[246:254:254:254] and
the carriage should be on the right hand side.
Good, now you've done great so far, and I know that shaping isn't
easy, but the more you do the easier it becomes, trust me, I've
made every mistake in the book, somewhere along the line, so if I
can do it you can...
Right so, with your carriage as I said at your right hand side,
set it to 'HOLD' now I want you to be able to work on a part of
your work at a time, so look at it, and starting at your
Righthand side of the machine push 103[107:113:117:122]needles to
hold, (this is usually as far forward as they will go, but do
check with your manual) now these needles will NOT knit, so
forget about them, returning to the needles that are left at your
right hand side - 51[55:57:61:66] which are still in the working
position, decrease 1 stitch at the neck edge, that the edge
nearest to the needles that are on hold, just take the stitch
onto a transfer needle and put it onto the next working needle to
it, now push the empty needle right back out of working position,
work two rows, and do this again (4 times in all) until
47[51:53:57:62]stitches remain, knit one row, if need be to make
your row counter read 254[254:262:262:262]... great, now just
break off the main yarn you are using, and using waste yarn knit
a few rows, then break off and push work out of the way....Push
empty needles back out of work! TIP: Do make sure that the
needles that the work has just come off of, are pushed back out
of the way, and when you join up the waster yarn here, just
push the first couple of needles forward, a little bit, not right
forward, or they won't knit at all, but if they are pushed
forward a bit, it will stop the work falling off before it is
knitted, this sometimes happens when you are new to it all, (It
sometimes happens anyway...ggg)
Right that is one shoulder shaping done, now for the neck
shaping......simplicity itself!
Now look at the machine, at the needles left on it, using waste
yarn, we want to get the centre neck off now, to do this, put the
centre52[52:56:56:56]needles back into the working position
either using a transfer tool, put them all back into the right
position, leaving the other needles still in the holding
position, OR just slightly push them back abit, so that the
stitches don't come off, and using Waste Yarn, knit a few rows,
break off, and take off of machine.
Now this just leaves the other shoulder, do exactly the same, but
in reverse to the other shoulder,
Using main yarn, decrease 1 stitch at neck edge every alternate
row, as before, until 4 stitches have been decreased, knit one
row, then using waste yarn knit a few rows and take off of
machine.
Now fold up your work, that is the back finished for now, don't
forget, leave those little markers on them! Place work in a clean
polythene back for now...
FRONT
Do exactly the same as you did for the BACK, mark the armholes at
the correct row counter reading, and then work on until the row
counter reads 218[218:224:224] and the carriage is again at your
right hand side.
SHAPE NECK and SHOULDERS
Push87[91:96:100:105]needles at the left hand to holding
position, make sure the carriage is set to 'Hold' now turn to the
67[71:74:78:83]needles/stitches left in the working position at
your right-hand side of the machine. Now decrease 1 stitch at the
neck edge on EVERY row, 10 times.
Decrease 1stitch at neck edge on EVERY FOLLOWING ALTERNATE row
5[5:6:6:6]times.
Now decrease 1 stitch at neck edge on every 3rd row, 5times, and
you should have left47[51:53:57:62]stitches left
now just carry on knitting straight on these stitches until your
row counter reads254[254:262:262:262] change to Waste Yarn, and
knit a few rows, then take it off of the machine, but don't
forget to push those needles back!
The MIDDLE BIT OR THE NECK SHAPING
At your right hand side of the machine, slightly move
20[20:22:22:22] needles back abit, so that they are no longer in
the hold position, (thus leaving the 67[71:74:78:83] at the left
of the machine in the holding position) Using waste yarn, knit a
few rows and remove from the machine.
The Last Shoulder
Using Main Yarn, RESET your row counter to 218[218:224:224] then
Decrease 1 stitch at the neck edge(This is now side nearest you
Right) 10times.
Decrease 1stitch at neck edge on EVERY FOLLOWING ALTERNATE row
5[5:6:6:6]times.
Now decrease 1 stitch at neck edge on every 3rd row, 5times, and
you should have 47[51:53:57:62]stitches left
now just carry on knitting straight on these stitches until your
row counter reads254[254:262:262:262] change to Waste Yarn, and
knit a few rows, and that is the front completed....
SLEEVES KNIT 2 OF THESE EXACTLY THE SAME
With Ribber in position push 45[45:48:48:48] needles at the right
and left of the '0'
set them to 1x1rib, and arrange the ribber needles so that they
correspond.
Using Main yarn cast on and knit 3 tubular rows . Set both
tension dials to 4 and rib 30 rows
NON RIBBER's quick MOCK RIB work as indicated in the section for
mock rib, but using the same amount of stitches and rows as
above, not forgetting you have todouble the length to fold over
of course.
Transfer to main bed, and with Carriage at your righthand side,
row Counter 000 main tension 6. Knit increasing 1 stitch at each
end (Pull a needle forward at each end) of the following
5th[5th:4th:4th:4th]row 22[22:31:31:31]times and then on every
following 4th:[4th:5th:5th:5th]row, 16[16:10:10:10]times.
Now keep on knitting straight until your Row Counter reads:- 184
and there should be 166[166:178:175:178]stitches on the
machine.place a marker on the centre '0' needle and ..cast
off...Your machine manual will tell you the best way to do this.
Now knit another one exactly the same.
NECKBAND...Dont get worried about this, it will come with
practise...
Put the Back and the Front, face up on a table, so that both
sides are showing the wrong side uppermost...Now you can see a
design there, now look at where you used waste yarn at the
shoulder edges, graft the right shoulders together, there are
numerous ways of doing this, you can either put both main yarn
bits back with the right sides together on the machine
together on the same needles, knit one row, then cast off, or ,
with it may be easier to sew them together, you will be able to
see against the contrasting yarn used, a row of stitches in the
main yarn that look like this- - - - - using a needles sew them
together neatly, so that the seam is on the inside.
Next
With the wrong side facing you, rehang the neck edge onto the
machine, so that you have 156[156:166:166:166 needles in use,
using tension 6 knit 19rows, cast off as loosely as you can.
Release from machine...
Now to MAKE UP>
Join the other shoulder seam, join side seams up to the markers,
fold down neckband and loosely slip stitch in place, fold sleeves
in half and sew up, find the middle marker of the sleeve top, and
stitch this to the shoulder seam, sew up around armholes, remove
all markers, and turn in the right way, and hey
presto.......YOU'VE DONE IT well done!
Once you get into all the tuck and stitch patterns, this one
won't matter too much then , but you can add a fairisle border to
it, if you feel you need some punch card practise. Do please let
me know how you get on, it is great for all of us to know that
these skills aren't going to waste