Thank you for this tip to measure. I have never knit a drop shoulder garment, with or without sleeves as I feel a boxy garment will not look good on me. I have been tempted to try but then draw back as I would rather use my knitting time at something I am sure of liking. I would welcome any advice on not shying away from drop shoulder construction.
To save knitting time, I'd suggest to carefully look for drop shoulder sweatshirts / tees / store-bought sweaters you or a loved one might already own. I designed Niyat after I found that a store-bought sweater I constantly wore to death is a drop shoulder. That is the time I also realized a cropped style suits my body shape somewhat better. The answer is in your wardrobe among the clothes you already love. I am also slowly getting used to this idea. :) Once we know what we want, as knitters we have more control over things than we realize.
I could not agree more. Sometimes we are hung up on what we think looks good on us and do not venture out of our comfort zone. Cropped tops is another such zone for me. I have been meaning to try one but haven’t. I like your suggestion of trying out store bought garments for style and if we think we like it we can make similar ones. Encouraged by what you and Lori have to say, I think I will give it a shot.
I think drop shoulder doesn't have to mean "boxy" or "shapeless", as Kavitha's Fluens Tee demonstrates. Another example is the Three Season Cardigan by Wool and Pine. Or the Alpaca no miru yume sweater by eri shimizu, especially this tester's version:
I think it depends a lot on the amount of ease and the size of the shoulder drop, and then you can also use waist decreases in the body ,to make it a bit tighter there.
Gorgeous gorgeous examples, Jo! For a basic one, I love Joji's Granito. And you are right, there is also the possibility of waist shaping, for those who like it.
The hint about the armhole vs upper arm measurement is good, thank you! I'm certain I made that mistake at least once.
I have been knitting a few drop shoulder garments, and one of my design wips is also drop shoulder. One thing I noticed is that above a certain ease and a certain upper chest measurement (depending on the shoulder vs chest circumference, though) there is quite some fabric bunching at the underarm. So despite drop shoulders requiring less shaping than set-in sleeves, I think something needs to happen to that excess fabric. I haven't quite figured out yet what, but I think something approaching a C shape of the armhole could be appropriate, where the upper end of the C is slightly longer to keep the drop shoulder. Or maybe something like the opposite of a sleeve gusset: two lines of decreases on the body and on the sleeves ,one coming from the front and one from the back, meeting (or not meeting) at the underarm.
Or, with less ease overall, adding a shoulder gusset. I have seen that in ganseys and found it quite interesting.
Thank you! Yes, unsightly armholes are often seen in drop shoulder garments.
However, like you said 'something' needs to be done to prevent them from getting out of control. So far, I have implemented the following in my designs and they seem to help.
(1) In general, shoulder shaping short rows at the back and front of the garment helps lift up and remove some fabric from the armhole area. Additionally, I stop the short rows at the actual shoulder and avoid working across the whole garment. This IMO helps avoid some more bulk and garment bunching at the armhole.
(2) I have implemented mix and match scheme in my Niyat Pullover - where you get to choose body and sleeve sizes separately and knit your garment. This doesn't directly address the problem but there is a lot more freedom to knit the body and sleeve with desired ease on each.
(3) Unfortunately, with the short row color block detail in Fluens Tee, I am unable to implement mix and match with this design. But I fully intend to continue that one in further designs. It is a great way to increase the possible sizes that can be knit from a pattern.
(4) I am not sure of C shape. I think of set-in sleeve more like a J. For drop shoulders, "modified drop" is a construction scheme where you reduce stitches at the end of the armhole. Sort of L shape.
(5) Overall, the goal is to achieve good fit around the neck, armhole and shoulders, first. We can play around and tweak other factors to fine tune things.
Thank you for this tip to measure. I have never knit a drop shoulder garment, with or without sleeves as I feel a boxy garment will not look good on me. I have been tempted to try but then draw back as I would rather use my knitting time at something I am sure of liking. I would welcome any advice on not shying away from drop shoulder construction.
To save knitting time, I'd suggest to carefully look for drop shoulder sweatshirts / tees / store-bought sweaters you or a loved one might already own. I designed Niyat after I found that a store-bought sweater I constantly wore to death is a drop shoulder. That is the time I also realized a cropped style suits my body shape somewhat better. The answer is in your wardrobe among the clothes you already love. I am also slowly getting used to this idea. :) Once we know what we want, as knitters we have more control over things than we realize.
I could not agree more. Sometimes we are hung up on what we think looks good on us and do not venture out of our comfort zone. Cropped tops is another such zone for me. I have been meaning to try one but haven’t. I like your suggestion of trying out store bought garments for style and if we think we like it we can make similar ones. Encouraged by what you and Lori have to say, I think I will give it a shot.
♥️🤗
I think drop shoulder doesn't have to mean "boxy" or "shapeless", as Kavitha's Fluens Tee demonstrates. Another example is the Three Season Cardigan by Wool and Pine. Or the Alpaca no miru yume sweater by eri shimizu, especially this tester's version:
https://www.ravelry.com/projects/robertapall1959/alpaca-no-miru-yume---a-dream-dreamed-by-an-alpaca
I think it depends a lot on the amount of ease and the size of the shoulder drop, and then you can also use waist decreases in the body ,to make it a bit tighter there.
Thank you so much for these suggestions. I find it reassuring enough to try out a drop shoulder garment.
Gorgeous gorgeous examples, Jo! For a basic one, I love Joji's Granito. And you are right, there is also the possibility of waist shaping, for those who like it.
The hint about the armhole vs upper arm measurement is good, thank you! I'm certain I made that mistake at least once.
I have been knitting a few drop shoulder garments, and one of my design wips is also drop shoulder. One thing I noticed is that above a certain ease and a certain upper chest measurement (depending on the shoulder vs chest circumference, though) there is quite some fabric bunching at the underarm. So despite drop shoulders requiring less shaping than set-in sleeves, I think something needs to happen to that excess fabric. I haven't quite figured out yet what, but I think something approaching a C shape of the armhole could be appropriate, where the upper end of the C is slightly longer to keep the drop shoulder. Or maybe something like the opposite of a sleeve gusset: two lines of decreases on the body and on the sleeves ,one coming from the front and one from the back, meeting (or not meeting) at the underarm.
Or, with less ease overall, adding a shoulder gusset. I have seen that in ganseys and found it quite interesting.
Would be interested in your thoughts on this.
Thank you! Yes, unsightly armholes are often seen in drop shoulder garments.
However, like you said 'something' needs to be done to prevent them from getting out of control. So far, I have implemented the following in my designs and they seem to help.
(1) In general, shoulder shaping short rows at the back and front of the garment helps lift up and remove some fabric from the armhole area. Additionally, I stop the short rows at the actual shoulder and avoid working across the whole garment. This IMO helps avoid some more bulk and garment bunching at the armhole.
(2) I have implemented mix and match scheme in my Niyat Pullover - where you get to choose body and sleeve sizes separately and knit your garment. This doesn't directly address the problem but there is a lot more freedom to knit the body and sleeve with desired ease on each.
https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/niyat-pullover
This is inspired by a blogpost from Victoria Marchant.
https://www.victoriamarchantknits.com/mix-match-sizing-drop-sleeves/
I have implemented the idea in the top-down construction. Check my mix and match size chart here.
https://payhip.com/b/lFRbD
(3) Unfortunately, with the short row color block detail in Fluens Tee, I am unable to implement mix and match with this design. But I fully intend to continue that one in further designs. It is a great way to increase the possible sizes that can be knit from a pattern.
(4) I am not sure of C shape. I think of set-in sleeve more like a J. For drop shoulders, "modified drop" is a construction scheme where you reduce stitches at the end of the armhole. Sort of L shape.
(5) Overall, the goal is to achieve good fit around the neck, armhole and shoulders, first. We can play around and tweak other factors to fine tune things.