Tutorial_LK Regular Template 12/08/2013 09:59 Page 2
From the Top LET’S KNIT TUTORIAL SERIES
Adrienne Chandler introduces you to top-down knitting
T
here are three main ways of knitting garments, from the bottom up, from the top down or from side to side. The first and most common method is where you start at the lower edge and work your way up to the neck and shoulders. When working side to side you begin with the sleeves and cast on stitches for the body. This is normally used when there is little body shaping. The final method is to start at the neck; this is called top-down knitting and is usually worked in the round. In this guide, we break down all the elements to show you how to knit a garment from the top down. Once you've read this tutorial, turn back to page 31 for Anniken Allis's Anita sweater which is constructed in a similar way.
WHY KNIT FROM TOP DOWN? Most of us would have made our first garment using the bottom up method on straight needles. We would then have made a valiant attempt at stitching the pieces together as neatly as we could manage, until we got impatient and rushed through the rest. One of the big sells of working from the top-down is that there is hardly any sewing up. Another benefit is that you can try it on as you knit and make any necessary adjustments – if it's too snug across the shoulders or chest, you can work in some extra shaping as you go. If you need more length between the chest and waist, you can easily add it in. Also, if you're low on yarn you can just make your garment shorter.
Free top-down raglan baby dress pattern at www.letsknit.co.uk
LAINED P X E N IO T C U R T S CON waste yarn – this is more flexible than a Most top-down sweaters begin with casting on in the round for the neck. You then need to increase to shape your knitting over the shoulders. Where you position these increases will depend on the style of your sleeves. The sleeve stitches are then left on
84 www.letsknit.co.uk
stitch holder – and the front and back sections are joined in the round to create the body. You will now start to decrease for the waist. Finally, you will increase for the hips before casting off at the bottom edge. The next step is to pick up stitches around the armhole
and work the sleeves, also from the top down. On some top-down garments, like in our Anita sweater (p31), the front and back are worked separately from the neck to the underarms and then joined in the round, but we have based this tutorial on the more typical construction.