Bottom up raglan sweater on straight needles...HELP!

[marthacates]

Hello! I'm a new knitter and new to this forum. I've recently took the plunge and cast on my first pattern...a newborn sweater for my new girl due in early February.


I've knit the body and both sleeves...all on straight needles. Now I'm on the 'yoke' part of the pattern and completely and utterly stumped. It says to slip on 25 body stitches which I have done and place marker. Then it says to slip on 36 sleeve stitches...did that as well. Now I'm supposed to slip on 47 body stitches. Here's where I am completely lost as to how this works. Earlier in the pattern for the body I was supposed to bind off 4 on each side for the arm holes...which I did. So when I'm slipping on the 25 body stitches the next thing on the body are those 4 bound off stitches. How am I supposed to continue slipping the body stitches when I now have 36 sleeve stitches on my needle? Is any of this making sense? I've googled countless videos, asked knitting friends...even took the pattern to a yarn store, and I'm still lost.

Thanks!

[marthacates]

Here's the link to the pattern:

http://www.gallentine.org/Knitting/F...bySweater.html

[suzeeq]

Rather than slipping the sts all onto one needle, I just knit them on instead. Skip over the 4 underarm sts, they get seamed together later, so ignore them and the hole they leave.

[MerigoldinWA]

I've done quite a few sweaters like this. I see you are using straight needles. It may not be impossible but I'd say highly unlikely and a nightmare to try the yoke on straight needles. I usually knit such a sweater on a circular needle from the start (but the straight needles are not a problem until you get to the yoke) then on the yoke I use 2 circular needles or even move to double pointed needles. There is a pretty tight curve going and it will be very hard if not impossible to do this on straights. If you have a longish circular needle you might be able to swing it with one by pulling up a loop kind of like Magic Loop method but different. Sue knows what it called. Maybe just single loop.

You can slip all the stitches to the one or two needles or double points or knit them on as Sue said. Your pattern says:

Slip 25 Body sts to needle, pm, slip 36 Sleeve sts to needle, pm, slip next 47 Body sts to needle, pm, slip 36 Sleeve sts to needle, pm, slip remaining 25 Body sts to needle.

I see you are having some confusion about this. I'm not picturing exactly what is going on for you, but you need to end up with all the stitches on one needle (or its equivalent) so they can be worked in the correct order. You, of course need one front, one sleeve, the back, the other sleeve and the other front as the order. Just skip the places where you have bound off. If you have have sleeve stitches somehow in the way, move them to another needle or something until you need them to make the correct order of assembly.

[MerigoldinWA]

Cute sweater by the way and congratulations on the upcoming baby girl.