decreasing armhole for sleeve

[Raeven]

I am almost finished crocheting the back panel of a sweater which started out on the sleeve edge. i am now approaching where the next sleeve should be but am not sure how to decrease on this side, since i started out on the sleeve on the opposite side and then increased. not sure how to do the reverse... any help would be very much appreciated!😃

[Granny Square]

So, worked side to side, cuff to cuff?  Are you 'winging' this?  Meaning, I'd think if you were following a pattern it should spell out how to work to the position the other sleeve needs to 'sprout' from, and explain how to to about it.  I assume you mean, by 'sleeve edge', the cuff?  So the piece is going to look like a giant plus sign, more or less +less if the pattern is worked in 1 piece, or T if it is worked in 2 pieces and seamed at the shoulders, and underarm to hem.

Assuming no pattern, you are going to count stitches, row by row, in reverse, of the other sleeve--by 'in reverse' I mean armpit to cuff, if the first sleeve started at the cuff, and also make sure the armholes/sleeve positions line up across the sweater.

 

[Raeven]

I am actually following a pattern , its from the 1940s. it is worked in one piece.. the pattern just says to "decrease at shoulder edge and under arm to correspond". the problem I'm having is i started off with about 30 sts, once i got to the under arm on first sleeve, i chained 8, did my next row and then chained 30 for the length of the sweater and have been working that til i got to the other side and started decreasing at shoulder.. i guess i just don't know the technique on how to make that slant at the under arm and go back to crocheting 30 sts for the sleeve. Does that make sense? I hope it does..   this is my first sweater in crochet so the answer may be obivous but I am new at this so not familiar with all of the techniques yet!

[Granny Square]

Here is a pattern with a pattern with a diagram of the + shape variety, but as a cardigan so the front is split in 2; maybe this helps to visualize what I was trying to describe above?

[Raeven]

Yes that helps.  Mine is a "blouse", so it has cap sleeves and then there will be two front panels with a collar.

[Granny Square]

Ok so instead of a 90° angle between body and sleeve, there's a gradual slant to transition, makes sense.  

Good luck, vintage patterns can be challenging, and I'd think especially wearables; yarn and hook and 'dress size' nomenclature might be hard to translate to modern ones.  I haven't worked any vintage clothing patterns, but those that I've seen haven't been ... modern sizing friendly.

 

[NCcountrygal]

"decrease at shoulder edge and under arm to correspond".  Sounds like mirror imaging.  I dislike patterns with mirror imaging.  You'll be reversing beginning at armpit moving to cuff.  

[Raeven]

23 hours ago, NCcountrygal said:

"decrease at shoulder edge and under arm to correspond".  Sounds like mirror imaging.  I dislike patterns with mirror imaging.  You'll be reversing beginning at armpit moving to cuff.  

ok so i get that for the shoulders..I'm supposed to  decrease where I increased before on the other side..but i've been racking my brain trying to figure out the armpit/cuff! So by reversing, what exactly am i to do? It has to involve decreasing, right? I am puzzled on how to go about doing it.. I apologize, its just not registering in my brain i guess 😂

[Granny Square]

So you have something 'kinda sorta' like the diagram I linked to earlier, relinking .

Since you are making a blouse, I hope the body and sleeves look roughly like the diagram.

You have  worked, lets assume, from the diagram's left wrist, finished that sleeve, (the left horizontal line of the plus sign, the green part here -|-) and the body, (the vertical part of the plus sign) (so you have -| so far) and are poised to start the right side of the plus sign (the red part here -|- ). You are approximately at the point where the measurement 'D' is, if you scooted that pink line right where the body stops and the second sleeve starts.

Are you with me?  OK.  D has X stitches.  On either side of the measurement 'D', there is a measurement "B', and it has Y stitches--you can count how many on your piece, if not by looking at the instructions.  Grab 2 stitch markers, I like to use bobby pins but 2 safety pins would work, or some people put a short length of scrap yarn in a stitch as a marker. What would be logical to me, since you are starting with 'D' which is at the edge (and you know where the edge is!) is to mark the first and last stitches of 'D' with your marker.

Look at your fabric and figure out what side should be facing you so you don't interrupt the appearance when you reattach the yarn.  If you are unsure, it will, or should be, obvious when you start crocheting, the new row won't exactly match what went before.  Then, you will be stitching one sleeve across the 'D" number of sts until you get the length to the cuff.  Repeat for the other side.

This is a lot of typing, but really the hardest thing is counting the number of stitches on either side of the sleeve that you did earlier, and marking the spot the sleeve should start and stop on the first row; plus figuring out which side should be facing you when you start the first row that's all it is.  

Oh!  The diagram above has straight sleeves from armpit to (almost) wrist, if your sleeves are tapered as I imagine they are - there is one wrinkle, you will have to work the rows of the sleeves in backward order -- the first sleeve you made started at the wrist with (say) 30 stitches, and ended at the armpit with (say) 60 stitches with a scheme of increasing along the way -- you are going to have to start with 60 and work the instruction rows backwards, and decreasing.  It sounds harder than it is; it might help to re-write the sleeve instruction, from the last row to the first.  

The mirror imaging thing isn't hard, or difficult math, it's just....disorienting, I guess, a little, so I TOTALY get the 'not registering in my brain' thing.  I hope my trying to spell it out a little didn't make your brain want to run away screaming!

Edited March 31, 2022 by Granny Square