The following question was sent in by Gayle F.
Q: How do you customize a sweater when your upper arms are a completely different size from the rest of you? For instance, my upper arms are a size 18, my torso is a size 12. It makes knitting sweaters hard.
One of the most frustrating parts of sweater fit is finding a size that fits both your torso and your arms. Sleeve fit, specifically armhole and biceps fit, is one more thing we can blame on standard sizing charts. It’s also one of the main issues I’ve tried to resolve with my sizing table, published right here in Digits & Threads.
The first step to modifying a sleeve is to identify the sleeve and armhole construction of your sweater, and to identify what part of the sleeve you want to modify. In every case, making a change to the sleeve or sleeve cap will affect what happens to the armhole, and vice versa, so a good understanding of the construction of your sleeve and how it connects to the body is an excellent start.
In this article, we’ll look at two common sleeve/armhole combinations, each with a unique construction: drop shoulder and circular yoke. We’ll address set-in sleeves and raglan constructions in future columns, as adjusting those requires different strategies.
All images by Kim McBrien Evans.
