sweater sleeves

[GrandmaLori]

I'm just wondering. Seems patterns always start at the cuff, and increase on the way up, then you sew the sleeve into the armhole. Is there a reason why I couldn't pick-up stitches around an armhole and knit down the sleeve, decreasing as I go down? Heck, I could even knit the sleeves in the round (since my sweater is round, with no side seam to do) and have no seams at all. It would make the sleeve length easier to fit.

Does anyone see a flaw in this plan?

[suzeeq]

If the armhole has no shaping, yes that's very easy to do, but if there is any shaping and the original sleeve pattern has a cap, then it's more difficult to do it.

Or you can look at top down sweater patterns (raglan and yoked) and you wouldn't have to do any changes to the pattern. They're also easier to try on as you go to make sure they fit you.