Set-in sleeve

Moving right along on my summer braids (www.cabinfever.ca/P403.html). I thought I would show you how you can put a set-in sleeve in any drop shoulder sweater. It does improve the look of the sweater for most women. It brings the drop shoulder line closer to your real shoulder and gets rid of some of the bulk under the arms.

This sweater is worked in one piece from the bottom up. When I got to where the underarm is I put 4" worth of stitches at each underarm onto spare yarn to hold until I was ready to work the sleeves - 2" from the Front and 2" from the Back, plus one side seam stitch in the centre. Work the 2 Fronts and the Back flat to the shoulder and attach the shoulder seams.

To work the sleeve: I threaded the underarm stitches from the spare yarn onto my short circular needle. Then with the right side facing, I picked up & knit 1 stitch, placed a marker, picked up & knit 3 stitches for every 4 rows up the vertical side of the Front to the top of the shoulder and then down the other side, placed a marker before picking up & knitting the last stitch. Reality Check: You have the 4" of underarm sts sitting on the needle, plus one picked up stitch on either side of them, then the markers.

I work BACK & FORTH around the sleeve between the markers as follows (do not work across the underarm stitches). The pick up & knit row was with the right side facing (you would be at the clear marker after the pick up row). Now *Turn and with the wrong side facing, slip 1 stitch, slip the clear marker, work in pattern around the sleeve to the white marker, slip marker and P2tog (1 picked up stitch and 1 underarm stitch). Turn and with right side facing, slip 1 stitch, slip white marker and work in pattern around sleeve to other (clear) marker, slip marker and SSK (1 picked up stitch and 1 underarm stitch). Repeat from * until all of the underarm stitches have been used up except for the centre one (you are on a right side row). Remove the markers and work a M1 before the centre underarm stitch, place new marker for beginning of round for sleeve, knit centre stitch, M1 (this mitigates any holes) and now work round and round, working your decreases on either side of the centre underarm stitch. I've got about an inch done in the photo above.This is the side view. You can see where you have worked the attachment (the P2tog and the SSK) which works the stitch past the marker with one of the underarm stitches.

Kinda fuzzy but you can see I have attached the 2" worth of stitches and have started working round and round.
That's what the underarm looks like. I might be tempted to walk around with my arms up just to show off this bit of trickery.

Hey, that's what it's all about right - trickery!
-Deb