Spring | Will Work For Yarn

As I near the end of my newest shawl/scarf, I have been contemplating: Well, what next? I realized I have not knit myself a cotton tee since before Hurricane Katrina (I ran out of yarn in New Orleans and finished that tee with yarn purchased in the French Quarter). I went over to my shelves and found a nice cabled cotton (no splitting), swatched and the did the math. We are going to knit a TOP-DOWN IN THE ROUND NO-SEW TEE.

Your first assignment is to do the same. Find a cotton you like, knit a four by four square on the needles it’s label indicates. So cast on say 20-25 stitches and work in Stockinette Stitch (knit on one side, purl on the other) for four inches (AT LEAST TWO INCHES). Take a ruler and see how many stitches you have in four inches (do this ON A FLAT SURFACE LIKE A TABLE FOR ACCURACY) AND how many rows you have per two or four inches. I use the tip of a knitting needle to count.

Next step: how many stitches do you have in four inches? _________________
Divide that number of stitches by four: _____➗ 4 = _____________

So I had 18 stitches per 4 inches. 18 ➗ 4 = 4.5 stitches to one inch.

Breathe.

Take your favorite tee and measure how wide the neck opening is:_________________inches.
Multiply that by your STITCHES TO ONE INCH NUMBER and you have how many stitches you will need to cast on for the back of the neck. I want the back of the neck to be 9 inches; so 9 X 4.5 = 40.5 — I went with forty stitches across the back of the neck. How many stitches do you come up with? ____________sts

That is the hardest part.

Cast on:
2sts, place marker (pm) = left front, 2sts, pm = raglan seam, 5sts, pm = Rt. sleeve, 2sts, pm = raglan seam, BACK NECK STITCHES calculated above, pm, 2sts = raglan seam, pm, 5sts, pm = Lt. sleeve, 2sts, pm = raglan seam, 3sts (yes this is correct) = right front

So you will have 23 sts plus the number of sts cast on for the back neck. The increases will build our sleeves and vee neckline.

You can begin knitting as follows:
Purl one row — we are not ready to knit in the round just yet AND this counts as the Wrong Side (WS). Then:

Row 1 (RS): knit to one st before next m and kfb (knit into the front and back of the next st) = LEFT FRONT, sl m, k2, sl m, kfb, k to one st before next m, kfb = LEFT SLEEVE, sl m, k2, sl m, kfb, k to one st before next m, kfb = BACK, sl m, k2, sl m, kfb, knit to one st before next m, kfb = RT. SLEEVE, sl m, k2, sl m, kfb, knit to end of row = RT. FRONT.

Row 2 (WS): PURL, slipping markers to working needle as you come to them.

After you work these rows for a total of twenty rows, increase the rate of vee as follows:

Row 1 (RS): kfb, knit to one st before next m and kfb (knit into the front and back of the next st) = LEFT FRONT, sl m, k2, sl m, kfb, k to one st before next m, kfb = LEFT SLEEVE, sl m, k2, sl m, kfb, k to one st before next m, kfb = BACK, sl m, k2, sl m, kfb, knit to one st before next m, kfb = RT. SLEEVE, sl m, k2, sl m, kfb, knit to last st, kfb = RT. FRONT.

Row 2 (WS): PURL, slipping markers to working needle as you come to them.

The next question you have to answer is how deep do you want the Vee? Mine will measure 6-7 inches. This is PERSONAL and is measured along the slanting edge of one of the fronts. When your vee is the depth you wish then it will be time to join and knit in the round.

The last question for today is what does your arm measure over your biceps OR how wide is the sleeve on your favorite tee? I am making my sleeve 18 inches around and 18 X 4.5 = 81 sts for my sleeve. THE MORAL: don’t increase the sleeves past the total number of sleeve sts you need.