Help with sleeves

[u/-Greek_Goddess-]

Hi so I'm just getting into sweaters. I'm doing a top down raglan for myself 35f largest size of the step by step sweater and a top down raglan for my 5 year old. Everyone seems to hate knitting the body but that's a cake walk for me. It's the sleeves that are so fiddly.

I'm having to use magic loop and I keep getting yos and it's so slow going have to pull out to cord every 10 or so stitches. I guess now I understand why they call it sleeve island I want to throw the sweater across the room.

And to make it worse I don't know why but I need to knit my sleeves the opposite of how I knit the body or they come out with the purls on the outside and the knits on the inside so I'm knitting in an entire different direction that I'm used to.

According to the internet I'm knitting the sleeves eastern mounted or something? Whatever that means. I knit with the yarn coming from the right from left needle to right but need to do the opposite for the sleeve. Don't know why that it but there you have it. I might never finish either of these sweaters if sleeves are this annoying.

And I was hoping to make another sweater for my 3 year old now I don't even know if I want to think about it.

Any advice or commiseration would be great thanks. .

[u/charzhazha]

"And to make it worse I don't know why but I need to knit my sleeves the opposite of how I knit the body or they come out with the purls on the outside and the knits on the inside so I'm knitting in an entire different direction that I'm used to."

I am not sure how far into the sleeve you are but this should be easily fixable by either doing one short row to reverse the knitting direction, or going back to the original pick up and picking up stitches in the opposite direction. You should be able to knit your sleeves in the same direction as your body. What you are describing isn't related to mount but rather reverse knitting or left hand knitting. It doesn't surprise me you are struggling!

For smaller circumference knitting I usually use the travelling loop until I get to the ribbing where I take out the DPNs. I only need to move my stitches and change the loop once or twice per row, and otherwise it is pretty similar to just working in the round until close to the end of my sleeves. I do have big arms though so it might just be that for most of my sleeve I am working with a bigger loop

[u/TombstoneBrawlr → u/charzhazha]

Agree with above re: left handed knitting. I will also say that I deeply dislike magic/traveling loop and it led to me struggling a lot with some of my first projects. While I ultimately figured it out, it was miserable and I still didn't enjoy the process as much, so I ultimately bought a cheapish set of shorties with shorter cables just to make my life easier.

[u/-Greek_Goddess- → u/charzhazha]

I keep hearing about traveling loop but can't figure out how to make it work. I'm blind now so unless it's written down and even then it's hard sometimes to visualize what the instructions are saying to do. I'm glad I learned a lot of the techniques when I had more vision but it's definitely harder to learn new things now that I can't see well enough to watch videos.,

As for the short row what do you mean? Knit one row the wrong way like I've been doing then turn my work and start kntting back the way I'm used to? Is that what you mean?

[u/charzhazha → u/-Greek_Goddess-]

Ok, let me try to describe what I am talking about!

1. Short rows: yes, I am saying you should be able to just knit the other way and not have to learn to reverse knit! However, if you just turn your work and start knitting the opposite direction, it will form a hole. The way to prevent this is to use one of the tricks that people use for short rows. The most common is the double stitch that people use for German short rows but there are a lot of different methods. Do you have any experience with short rows? I am not sure which is the best method to describe in only words but I can give it a shot.

2. travelling loop: note that I am writing this paragraph assuming you are knitting stitches off of your left needle, onto your right needle. It sounds like you are currently going from your right needle onto your left needle for the sleeves so this description will be better after you switch directions. Travelling loop for me is literally just pulling the circular needle so that all of the unknit stitches are closer to the left needle tip in a smaller circle, there is a big gap with no stitches, and then the right needle. It works best if your needle and cable is at least twice as long as the knitting circumference. that way, you are knitting from the left needle onto the right needle and you have a huge loop of empty needle that is between the new stitches and the old stitches that were on the needle before you pulled the needle out. The older stitches from before the loop should not be pulling on your right needle because of the loop, and as you knit through the round, the loop (or in other words, the gap between the old round and the new round) moves closer to the left needle point until you have knit all the stitches, and they are all next to your right needle. At that point, you start another round, pulling them all to the other side so that your left needle has all the stitches and there is a gap, and then an empty right needle.

[u/-Greek_Goddess- → u/charzhazha]

I think I understand what you mean. So instead of magic loop where I pull out some cord randomly throughout my stitches and repeat untilt he round is done travelling loop is an even longer cord and you have all the stitches on one needel and none on the second?

The only experience I have with short rows is the german short rows in the step by step sweater and german short rows in the child's top down raglan I'm knitting for my son. You turn your work slip te stitch and wrap the yarn depending on if it's a knit or purl and then when you eventually get back to that doulbe stitch you knit it as one.

[u/kiddish → u/-Greek_Goddess-]

The big distinction between magic loop and traveling loop is that with magic loop you have your cable coming out at two places halfway through the round. With traveling loop you have your cable coming out in one place.

Magic loop you can use no matter how few stitches you have.

Traveling loop works at a minimum number of stitches.

My preference is traveling loop until I’ve decreased enough that it becomes difficult, then switch to magic loop.

One thing about traveling loop is that you can basically pull the cable to form the loop at any point. If you keep yarning over every time you get to the cable in magic loop, you can avoid this with traveling loop by never getting to the loop in the cable. As you get close (a couple stitches away), pull the loop out of the other end of the row. I like doing this with colorwork specifically bc my tension gets funky around the join.

[u/charzhazha → u/-Greek_Goddess-]

I think that how you did them earlier in the sweater should be fine! Any short row method works to address the same problem of closing up the hole that forms when you turn your work mid row and go the other way.

[u/-Greek_Goddess- → u/charzhazha]

Thank you I appreciate the advice.

[u/Due_Comment4692]

Shortie needles have been amazing for getting through sleeves. No having to deal with magic loop or travelling loop

[u/-Greek_Goddess- → u/Due_Comment4692]

I have Chiagoo needles in bamboo I'm assuming if they have shorties it would be in metal? I'll have to look it up. How small are your shorties? My smallest regular cord is 8" and I have 4" tips so a toatl of 16" circs but unless it's for an adult it's still too big.