An Easy Sleeve for Summer Sweaters

I enjoy knitting sweaters and tops, but I will admit that I’m not a huge fan of knitting sleeves. For one thing, I always seem to knit one a few rows longer than the other, even when I’m counting carefully. For another, getting the sleeve to fit into the armhole is not always an easy feat.

Lately I’ve been knitting top-down style sleeves on just about everything. You pick up stitches all the way around but then work short rows across progressively longer sections of the top of the sleeve to form the cap that goes over the shoulder. Then you join in the round and work the rest of the sleeve down as long as you need it to go.

But this idea from Jordana Paige is also intriguing. She calls it the Magic Sleeve and says it works for drop shoulder, modified drop shoulder and set in sleeve patterns. It starts with picking up stitches and knitting flat for half the armhole width, and then is worked in the round for the remainder. You have to sew up the underarm seam when you’re done but it’s pretty simple and makes a nice little casual sleeve for a summery top.

Looking for more summer top knitting patterns? Check these out.

How do you deal with sleeves? I’d love to hear your favorite methods.

[Photo via Jordana Paige.]

I love the look of mesh tops for summer, but I don’t know that I would ever actually wear one that’s full of giant holes, even though I admit they look cool (in both senses of the word) on other people.

What I would wear, though, is something that’s still lacy but maybe a little bit more subdued, like this chevron lace knit top from Yarnspirations.

This easy to knit T-shirt style top is worked flat in two pieces from the bottom up, using and easy lace pattern that’s a repeat of 10 stitches and four rows (though the wrong side rows are just purled, so there’s only two rows you need to learn the pattern on).

It has little cap sleeves that are worked as part of the top by casting on stitches where you need them.

If you’re new to lace knitting this is a good one to try because the pattern includes both written and charted instructions, and the only skills you need are yarn over, knit two together, slip slip knit and slip 1 knit 2 together pass the slipped stitch over (which makes a centered decrease).

There are four size options available (which they claim is enough to cover XS to 5XL), with finished chest measurements ranging from 38.5 inches (that’s 98 cm) to 59 inches, or 150 cm. The amount of ease would vary widely depending on your size and the size garment you choose. For example the largest size is said to fit a chest measurement from 5258 inches/132-147.4 cm, which gives you a range of ease from 1-7 inches, or 2.5 to 17.78 cm, depending on your size. Just something to be aware of when you think about how you want it to fit.

The project calls for Red Heart Cotton Breeze yarn, which isn’t a yarn I’ve tried yet, but it’s a DK weight acrylic and cotton blend, which should make a lightweight top that’s great for summer.

Grab the free pattern from Yarnspirations.

[Photo: Yarnspirations]

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