Two Yokes going at the same time

I'm knitting two circular yokes and am in exactly the same spot on both of them.

Bust shaping (bust dart) is finished on both.

 On the purple one I'm knitting straight to the waist and then I'm going to do the hip shaping I need.

I'm a little short of yarn for the orange one so I'm trying to decide what to do with a shorty top. It may only come to my waist. Not my usual length at all. Got any suggestions?
Deb
P.S. t_a This is Hempton, a cotton, hemp, modal blend. Very nice to knit with. I think it will be lovely to wear. The purple is Cotton Tweed as you had spotted.

Make It Fit Friday - Moving Markers to widen Front

What do you do if you need more Bust room at the Front. For a Pullover, could we move the Markers to provide a little extra room? This pullover, from the Need A Circular Yoke, has the Front and Back of the Yoke the same width and then below the Divide we will add 2" to the Bust. I'd like just a little more bust room.

At the bottom of the Yoke I set up the Markers (removable ones) in the correct places as written, for the Front & Back to be the same width (same number of stitches). Then I removed and replaced the Markers for each of the sleeves toward the Back by 3 sts. Now the Back is 6 sts narrower and the Front is 6 sts wider than before.
A picture is worth a thousand words.

It's not a huge amount I agree. But every little bit counts. The Bust Shaping which is worked after the Divide Round will add some more fabric to the Front. I'll keep you posted.

Deb

Bust vs Upper Bust measurement to determine finished size

Which measurement do you use to determine the size to knit?

Do you work according to the actual measurement of your bust? The size of your bust then affects the entire sweater. The neckband, sleeves and bottom edge will all be calculated to match your bust. Also, in most patterns, the Front and Back will be the same width, half of your total bust measurement plus ease. Most of the time I think this works for lots and lots of knitters. But those of you who are busty have probably run into problems since your Back is much narrower than your Front.

Or do you take a tape measurement of your upper bust (measure your chest at your underarm level) and base the sweater size on that measurement with some ease added in? Would this work for you? This makes the neck opening smaller, the shoulders narrower and the underbust smaller. If you make no adjustment at your bust, you have a sweater with negative ease (snug across the bust) which might be great for you (especially if you have a smaller bust). Otherwise you must be ready to work some accomodation for your bust since it hasn't come into the equation for size at all.

The concept behind the Need A Plus Cardigan book sizing was a compromise since I don't know your exact measurements. What if you worked the sweater one size smaller at the top of the chest? That would give you an upper chest about 3" smaller. Then add 3" of fabric across the Front Only exactly where you need it.

On the sweater I'm working on now, I was very generous with the amount of fabric I added across the Bust. So now I'm taking away some of that extra fabric as I begin my waist shaping (which I have to start immediately below my bust, have I mentioned that I'm really short?!). I worked 2 sets of extra decreases on the Fronts Only in between my usual waist shaping decreases. This should give me a shapely Front!

Continuing to try out different shaping options. Any thoughts?
Deb
P.S. t_a, I'd love it if you could play the fiddle on my new decking. Wouldn't that be great.
lpm, yes, knitting and swinging a hammer in Northern Ontario, on the shore of Lake Huron.

Bust Shaping

Good question Brenda (from the comments). I continue to look for ideas for Bust Shaping of women's garments. The idea that the Front should be wider than the back seems to make soooo much sense.
In the Need A Plus Cardigan? book we worked Bust Increases on the Fronts below the Divide so that they look like this. The Bust Increases are worked every other row.

For the pullover I have found that I can increase every round and there is room for more increases since it is a flatter dart.

It's interesting to discover more ways to work for a better Fit.
-Deb
P.S. What do you think, Brenda?
T_A, thanks for your lovely comments. I hope there will be some more information for you in the upcoming book. It's really coming along and I'll be posting some more photos as we finish up some more knitting.

Move the Markers to Adjust Sleeves and Body

I'm just writing the custom fit section of the new book Need A Circular Yoke (which should be ready in June). I had an idea for an easy adjustment to get a better fitting sleeve. Thinking out loud here so please wade in with your opinion.

After working the circular yoke, we come to the Great Divide where you put the sleeve stitches on spare yarn to work later and cast on underarm stitches so you can carry on with the Body. You will have placed Markers to delineate the Back, Sleeves and Front for the Divide Round.

Let's say you really wanted a sleeve that is 1" wider than the schematic indicates. You could move your sleeve Markers out at the sides 1/2" on each side to make the sleeve wider when you work the Divide Round.

This makes the Back and Front narrower. Additional width (add 1" on each side of the Front) could be made up on the Front with the Bust Increases to the correct number of Body stitches. The Back would remain narrower.

The new increases in this book give a flater line of Bust Increases which mean you could easily work an extra inch in the bust shaping.
What do you think? Would this work?
-Deb