Tips for Knitting Sleeves Faster

I don't know why, but sleeves seem to take longer than the rest of a sweater. Maybe you have heard the term Sleeve Island? You sit down to work on a sleeve and an hour later, the sleeve appears to measure the same length as when you started.

My favorite way to make sleeves is to choose a sweater that is made in pieces and do the sleeves first. I even knit them two at a time so that the decreases match exactly. An added bonus is that sleeves are a good way to check your gauge. Work on your sleeve for a while and then measure your stitches per inch. If they match your pattern requirement, you are golden, if not you rip out and start again. Better than ripping out the body of a sweater.

However, these days, seamless top-down sweaters are all the rage. It is hard to find a sweater made in pieces. So, I've adapted. 

Here are three things I do, to make sleeves move along faster when I'm making a top-down sweater.

1. As soon as I separate the sleeves and the body of a top-down sweater, I abandon the body and start my sleeves. To do this, I run a Try On Tube through the body stitches to hold them. Then I grab a new ball of yarn, look for the "sleeve" section of the pattern and follow those directions. 

The reason this makes it go faster is that you have less fabric to "flip" as you go round and round on the sleeve. 

2. Knit your sleeves flat instead of in the round. To do this you will need to add one stitch on each edge. This will be your seam allowance when you seam them up. 

I know you are thinking that this will take more time because now you have to sew a seam and admittedly, you do have to purl on the wrong side. But, sleeves knit in the round get twisted and I'm constantly stopping to straighten them out. Also, as the sleeve decreases towards the wrist you need to switch to double-pointed needles or figure out magic loop. A quick mattress stitch zips together in no time.



3. Mark your decreases as you make them. Using a removable marker or one of those mini rubber bands (that you can cut out later) mark the decreased stitch. 

Sleeve decreases are often every 4 rows, but then sometimes every 6 and sometimes both. And I can't tell you how many times, I'm cruising along and forget to decrease altogether. 

By marking the stitches, you can tell at a glance where your next decrease should be and how many in total you have made. So much better than stopping to identify the decrease and then counting rows.

Do you have tips for avoiding Sleeve Island? Please let me know in the comments below.