Basics of Modified Drop Shoulder Sweaters // Technique Tuesday

[@rawrierawrrawr]

I've knit a few things, but usually followed a pattern. I recently saw an image of a cardigan that was made on a knitting machine, so I've had to figure out how I need to make it. These videos have helped me understand the construction and the visuals are absolutely perfect. Thank you so much for your help!!!!

[@normaneville5596]

Thanks!

[@jennifersanders4165]

It may not be feasible for you to do, but I would be very interested in purchasing patterns for your mini sweaters to knit and better understand the different sweater constructions. I'm already learning so much from these tutorials. TY!

[@RoxanneRichardson]

That's an interesting idea. I'll see if I can find a way to do that.

[@theastewart6721]

I agree! I’d love to make mini sweaters to learn the techniques!

[@woolrules]

Maybe you could knit newborn sized sweaters with different construction techniques?

[@jennifersanders4165]

@@woolrules I've been thinking about your suggestion & if possible I'd love to knit Roxanne's mini sweaters to put in a notebook with notes. At the moment I'd have to use acrylic yarn for baby sweaters. Thank you for giving me an alternative idea

[@loisczerkies6621]

I'd love it too!!!

[@teacheraprilrogers]

For some reason your videos have not been showing up in my feed. I have also been very busy with school starting, so not much time to watch. But today just seeing your video pop up made my day. Thank you for all the great videos and tips. I always tell my knitting students when they need help with something and they can't get a hold of me to check out your videos or go to the Ravelry group.

[@RoxanneRichardson]

If you rely on seeing them from the KZbin home page, that might be less reliable than checking from your subscription feed.

[@michelleellis1290]

I’m thoroughly enjoying this series and those adorable little sweaters. Your channel has taught me so much. Thank you

[@KarriOnYouTube]

I am at 7:01 and exclaiming: That is brilliant! So brilliant! I will be working that method [of shaping in the middle of the sleeve] into my very next piece. Thank you for showing this! :)

[@helenramsey9395]

Loved the cabled sleeve and how the decreases at the top completely changed how the sleeve hangs. I will definitely use this gem of a technique 😍

[@pippi11000]

I love your technique lessons. It gives an understanding for all the sweaters I have knitted from a pattern.

[@holly4kid]

Thank you for all you do to promote knitting knowledge in such a great and understandable way.

[@Alaska2446]

The way you break things down is just amazing and the mini sweater examples are spot on. Thanks

[@sonjanordahl3158]

I am loving this series.

[@xbaczewska4197]

Duh! What a great idea to move the sleeve/armhole shaping UP. I am sure there are many patterns that incorporate that, but abstractly the idea is sort of brilliant. And again, love the teeny weeny sweaters.

[@SuddenUpdraft]

Thanks for this video . Very informative and helpful. For some reason I can’t figure out how to actually sew on a sleeve for a modified drop shoulder sweater. There’s plenty of info about sewing on set in sleeves, but I haven’t been able to find anything about modified drop shoulders.

[@catherinewallace1175]

Lovely clarity!! By golly. This is superb teaching.

[@mathswithmrzuber1259]

Loving this series. Counting off the days for the Raglan!!!

[@nicolelafontaine1720]

Such great explanations ! Thanks ! I am always amazed at the claritiy and efficiency of your teaching. I'd love to learn how to modify my sweaters to fit my more busty shape.

[@anikundason370]

Thank you for the very informative video. I would love to see a video comparing drop shoulder designs (standard, modified, with shoulder slopes, without shoulder slopes) in terms of fit and how it may work with different body types/sizes.

[@sierranicholes6712]

i love your channel. i'm so glad you still post regularly and everything is still SO useful!! it's truly hit after hit.

[@louiseanne9653]

So much great information in here - thank you for sharing your expertise like this :)

[@elizabethscott3218]

Thanks! I'm going to be seaming in my first set of sleeves and wasn't sure which side was the top or the bottom.

[@LVXMagick]

This video is incredibly helpful!🙏😊 Thank you! (Doing smaller versions is a really great idea too!)

[@goswamigeeta]

Thank you for your detailed explanations.

[@fiberlotl5087]

I'm making my first sweater and this video really helped me understand how I want to construct my sleeves! For the shoulder shaping around the neck for a modified drop shoulder, do you have a video on how to do that? Thank you!

[@daliamcclintock1491]

Since January I have been knitting 24 (!) mini turtleneck sweaters for an Advent calendar for my grandsons: they are designed by #arneandcarlos. The bottoms are closed for holding little gifts. They have cousins at your house! The sleeves and bodies are knit in the round, separately, with a few stitches bound off for the underarm seams. Then the live stitches are joined in the round and decrease to a fold over turtleneck. They have cousins at your studio, Roxanne! Thanks so much for your detailed explanations. PS: today I am completing the last sweater! I have become great at color work as a result.

[@valeriepoole1535]

Hi thank you for a very informative video. I would like to ask, when you take in the stitches to eliminate the bulk on the main sweater, do you nee to add stitches to the sleeve to compensate for this? Also how do you reduce the shoulder slope, and how does this affect the width of the garment? Many thanks Val

[@theastewart6721]

Hi Roxanne. Great video. You always explain things so clearly. It would be great to have patterns for these little sweaters. I have one sweater that I haven’t finished because it’s so big, lol. I will only make baby sweaters at this point unless I shrink, lol! Your sweaters are stunning! Works of art! Thanks for another great video!💕

[@xbaczewska4197]

Thea, i hear ya re: baby sweaters! I am trying to speed up and have a couple of things on needles for self--maybe by 2050 (will leave in my will ha há.)

[@theastewart6721]

I hear you! I have 10 grandchildren so I’m sure somewhere along the way they will fit someone. No more big sweaters for me except maybe a crochet cardigan. I love Roxanne’s tiny samples!! Too cute and perfect for dolls!!

[@KnitHappensGR]

Thank you!

[@pinknoisegaming]

I love your vídeos. Your drawings illustrate what has been boggling my mind so well. Do you think it would be possible to add a couple of short rows at the top of the sleeve for sloping down the sleeves instead of making those decreases? The sleeve I’m working on now is plain stockinette. I’ll try this out tomorrow but wanted your opinion of you see my comment. 😊

[@RoxanneRichardson]

The decreases are done to reduce the circumference of the sleeve. They're typically used, regardless of the sleeve type. For a modified drop shoulder, placing the decreases at the top side of the sleeve, instead of the under side, refines the fit a bit. Short row shaping would be used on a top down sleeve to form a sleeve cap if you were knitting a set-in sleeve construction. In a drop shoulder construction, short rows would create a bit of a puff at the top.

[@pinknoisegaming]

@@RoxanneRichardson a puff is definitely not what I'm going for! Thanks for your reply!

[@marydecker6197]

Love the idea of moving the sleeve shaping to the top of the sleeve. Brilliant! Would you always need a cable or something else to use for a central motif with the decreases on either side? I am thinking that with plain stockinette, the decreases would show and not look good. Thankyou so much for your helpful videos!

[@RoxanneRichardson]

You'd have to do some swatching to see what sort of decrease you'd want to use, and how far to space them. The effect would certainly be visible, but whether or not they look good is what you'd learn from swatching.

[@anepictree]

This course is really superb Roxanne. your presentation is so clear and concise and the models you show inspiring. Thanks again (I did end up ordering the Vogue book you recommended in part 2) I have a project to knot a Gansy stule sweater and I'm nt quite sure how it fits into the 'family of five' that you introduce us to? I guess it is most like the drop shoulder but I understand stitches are picked up at the shoulder and sleeves are knitted shoulder down to cuff. Anyway once again your channel is just the best! :-)

[@RoxanneRichardson]

Ganseys are a type of drop shoulder sweater. The body is knit bottom up, and the shoulders are joined while creating a saddle. It has a much closer fit than most drop shoulder sweaters. Rather than having a lose, casual fit with a deep armhole (which creates a sleeve with a lot of ease) the body and sleeves are closer fitting, and there is a diamond shaped gusset that starts a few inches below the armhole, and hits its maximum width at the underarm. This provides the needed room to maneuver the arm without creating a lot of excess fabric. As the sleeve is knit top down, the other half of the gusset is decreased out, and then the sleeve is shaped further along the "seamline" as it extends toward the wrist.

[@anepictree]

@@RoxanneRichardson Hello Roxanne, and thanks so much for this, I have purchased several books on the subject for study purposes but watching your series (and other videos) is really going to give me the confidence to actually get started. Many thanks :-)

[@adamkirkham810]

This is really informative, thank you. The explanation of modified drop shoulder shaping makes me wonder - perhaps to achieve a fit with less bulk at the armpit, could short row shaping be added at the shoulder of the arm to better shape around the human shoulder and change the direction of knitting - like the heel of a sock (but on top of your shoulder).

[@RoxanneRichardson]

Improvements/changes in fit come with each style of sweater. The next sweater style that has shoulder seams will be the set-in sleeve style, which has a sleeve cap. If you haven't seen the first video in the series, which introduces the five styles, I recommend you take a look. :-)

[@joygreen9323]

Thank you, this was very interesting 😊 😊

[@carolhansen4657]

I like the idea of putting the increases for the sleeves (knitting bottom up) at the midline of the sleeve rather than at the side edges. Rather than a panel, could this be done by putting a "raglan line" up the center of the sleeve with the increases branching to the sides? Also, I have the same "Scandinavian Knitting Designs" book that you have on your shelf. I was just looking at the sweater patterns at the back of the book, all modified drop shoulder. They are extremely simple! Bind off 9 stitches at the beginning of the armhole, then straight up to the shoulder line. No shoulder shaping. No front neck shaping. Just a bound off slit at the top for a neck opening. Is this a traditional design?

[@RoxanneRichardson]

When sweaters were athletic garments, back in the late 19th century/early 20th century, it was common to have drop shoulders, no shoulder shaping, a slit for the neck, and then a ribbed turtle neck. The sweaters could be worn with either side facing front. So, yes, very much traditional. Women's sweaters often had elements of a fashionable silhouette, but the necks were still rectangles with a turtleneck and no shoulder shaping (just with buttons down the sides and along the shoulders to facilitate pulling them over hairdos), or buttons up the front.

[@allisondobbie2375]

Such a useful series, thank you. Any tips please for managing where the drop shoulder seam falls? I guess the schematics are the answer but I think sometimes the amount of ease at the shoulders is too much in a drop shoulder jumper relative to the rest of the body and that makes the underarm clumping even worse. Several failed attempts here so any tips much appreciated. Thank you

[@renatehaeckler9843]

I'd love to see a video on how to change the neck of a cardigan to a shawl collar. I love your tiny sweaters! Do you finish them and give them to a kid for their dolls? :)

[@RoxanneRichardson]

None of them are finished! :-)

[@paulagrnsy]

I'm interested in how to get the shoulder slope "right". (My shoulders slope more than standard sewing patterns.) Have you addressed this in another video?

[@RoxanneRichardson]

I haven't addressed it in a video, at least, not yet!

[@paulagrnsy]

@@RoxanneRichardson, here's hoping.

[@DCrockZ131]

Hi Roxanne...instead of giving rectangular shape at the armhole, there are other various shapes sort of curves shaped at the armhole...could you explain how this shaping is done?

[@RoxanneRichardson]

The modified drop shoulder sweater has that rectangular armhole. Set-in sleeves (the next style of sweater in the series) have more shaping at the armhole, and the sleeve has an actual sleeve cap.

[@susanhutchinson888]

How do you attach a knitted sleeve to the body of a drop shoulder sweater

[@benzicraig2697]

Hello Can you please teach how to knit a raglan sweater square neckline I thank you

[@daphnemazuz3232]

This video is fantastic! I have large biceps and narrow shoulders so a regular drop shoulder is awkward on me, and I wanted to do a modified drop on a sweater I am working on. This helped me feel more confident about making that change. I was especially excited by your sleeve shaping modification, but the sweater I am working on is bottom-up seamed and I'm having trouble picturing whether that shaping is doable. At first I thought, easy, I'll just flip how I position the sleeve before seaming...but of course, that makes it difficult to seam the sleeve into the notch because the opening is at the top instead of the bottom. Do you know of any seamed patterns that have this kind of sleeve, or have any shaping recommendations?

[@RoxanneRichardson]

Are you talking about the modification where you place the decreases along the top of the sleeve, rather than the underside? You could do that with any pattern: just move the location of your decreases. In order for those decreases not to be obvious/visible, it helps to have some sort of panel going down the sleeve so that you can mirror the decreases on either side of that panel.

[@daphnemazuz3232]

@@RoxanneRichardson Thanks Roxanne! I was specifically referring to it with bottom-up sleeves that are seamed, but I could probably knit these sleeves top-down, come to think of it. I’ll have to play around with that possibility:.,

[@doreenannafourie4125]

Thank you so interesting,

[@jasminey1589]

How do you seam the underarm area?

[@kriskrumanaker4315]

Did you use double pointed needles or circulars for the sleeves when you joined in the round? I love your cute little sweaters.

[@RoxanneRichardson]

I typically use a 32'' circular needle for everything. In this case, I would have used Magic Loop to knit in the round.

[@shahilagh]

Can I have front as dropped and back as modified? Can I seam these together ? Please respond thank you

[@RoxanneRichardson]

The shoulders are going to end up being different widths, because the drop shoulder extends to the entire width of the fabric, while the modified drop does not.

[@patchwork9712]

I realise your intent was to help us be self sufficient BUT I really need a pattern. Do you have, or know where I can find, a pattern for a modified drop shoulder cardigan, with the shoulder shaping and the modified sleeve (the one with the cable)? I would love this in a Fingering or Sport weight - it is too hot here for anything heavier. I have my fingers crossed!

[@RoxanneRichardson]

The previous video, which explained the standard drop shoulder, had a section on resources, including how to search for patterns with specific elements.

[@patchwork9712]

@@RoxanneRichardson thanks Roxanne. I haven’t seen that one as I’ve been waiting for the modified one. I’ll go back and learn from that. Thanks.

[@daviddinca4338]

Hello, I am planning on knitting a regular drop sleeve sweater and I was wondering if it's possible to do the sleeve you showed at 7:00, which has the decreases at the top, for a drop sleeve sweater, or if its only possible for a modified drop sleeve.

[@RoxanneRichardson]

There's no reason why you couldn't do that.

[@daviddinca4338]

@@RoxanneRichardson Thank you Roxanne, I'm just an overthinker and I'm scared of making mistakes, so I wanted to make sure.

[@RoxanneRichardson]

@@daviddinca4338 You're never going to get out of making mistakes. I make them in my own knitting all the time, and then show my audience where I goofed, and what I think my solutions might be. When I see that a decision didn't turn out as I had hoped/imagined, I rip back and do it a different way. You have to make mistakes in order to really understand how and why knitting works. Mistakes make you a better knitter in the long run.

[@muffsmerino]

Hi! Yes I do have an inquiry. Is there anyway to purchase a graded drop sweater and graded raglan sweater excel template so we can begin designing the sweater from a starting point? Do you know where I could find something like this? Thank you! Lori

[@RoxanneRichardson]

There are several resources you can use that allow you to start with a specific size and then customize accordingly. Many are listed in the video description of the drop shoulder video. (Ann Budd's Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns series are useful for this, because they have all the basic styles in a wide range of sizes.) You can find the drop shoulder video in the playlist of the series linked in this video here that commented on. Spreadsheets are typically created by designers who are grading multiple sizes for a specific pattern design. They build them according to their own tweaks to various published standards. In the past, there were programs (not spreadsheets) like Sweater Wizard, or Design-a-Knit that allowed you to plug in modifications to standard sizes, based on the amount of ease, length of sleeves and body, as well as other options like neck style and shoulder/sleeve style, but those have mostly gone by the wayside. (Design-a-Knit might still be available for Windows, I'm not sure.)

[@muffsmerino]

@@RoxanneRichardson Hi Roxanne, thank you so much for your thorough response. I am leaning towards trying out that book. So you are saying that I could use the spreadsheet with the standard sizes, measurements. Then I could create my pattern in the one size, copy that across to the other sizes, then maybe get a tech editor to check all that. It is possible I am also not trusting the spreadsheet. What I am doing now is adding all the measurements for an already made pattern into the spreadsheet to see if the grading matches up to the patterns sizes. Then I can just make changes from there. So far, not everything is matching up, but it should, its just basic math haha. I am thinking their standard sizing is just taken from a different reference then mine. I really like the idea of the spreadsheet. But, I also think I should get that book to start!

[@RoxanneRichardson]

@@muffsmerino What is it that you are trying to do? Are you trying to design across multiple sizes, or are you trying to design something for a specific person? If you're trying to design across a bunch of sizes, I would suggest you refer to multiple sources for building a group of measurements for each of the sizes, and learning how to tweak that grading as you get into each end of the sizing spectrum, as well as learning how to adjust ease and fit based on the specific sweater style. Ysolda Teague has a nice resource on her website for measurements, but you'll also want to look at other guidelines for standards. You might also want to consider taking an online class on grading. At one time, there was one on Craftsy that many people considered to be very useful (she explained how to build a spreadsheet). You might also want to hang out in the Designers group on Ravelry. Many of your questions have more than likely been asked and answered there already, so you can do a search to see how others approach this. Note that Ann Budd's first book on Sweater patterns was for bottom up sweaters knit flat, and sizing was based on whatever the fashion was for ease at that time. Her newer book, on top down design, has different proportions for things like sleeves, because fashions changed. If you're trying to publish designs, you might find that magazines can offer some of the grading help you might need. Knitty is a good example of that. They are looking for interesting designs, and can often help with some of the technical aspects that newer designers struggle with.

[@yethan]

If the actual arm hole depth is 8 inches, what would be the depth of a cardigan knitted with a modified drop shoulder?

[@RoxanneRichardson]

The length of a cardigan is based on how long you want the cardigan to be, i.e., where you want it to hit on your body. A typical total length might be slightly less than 3x the depth of the armhole, but again, it all depends on how long you like your cardigans to be.

[@ireneritter726]

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[@Zeynep-ls8ck]

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