Using the Spreadsheet Numbers

This has not been updated – This test-knit spreadsheet is fairly simple. It has no back neck shaping and is designed to get your through the conti-rag shoulder development. Once you are able to produce the shoulder reliably we will move on to adding the back neck shaping.

Once you have the spreadsheet, enter your personal measurements into column F and your stitches-per-inch and rows-per-inch in the designated cells. Cell C6 is how much flat space you want at the back neck usually 1″ or 1.5″.

Working numbers for test-knit

Once you’ve enter your measurements and gauge counts into the spreadsheet, the formulas will calculate eight counts. Here is how each of those counts will apply to your test-knit.

Caston the number of stitches calculated in the spreadsheet. This is the most straight forward part of the instruction.

Using the sequence of increases provided in the sampler page, write out your personalized instruction. I intend to develop a program to calculate and provide this. It will take a bit of time. Rather than hold you up while I work, let me show you how to apply the row by row instruction on the sampler page to your numbers for the test-knit.

Knit the start of the row to the double bang (!!). Look at the end of the row to see how many stitches you will need (example, !!, sm, k5, pm, k1 incL, k2, sm, k2 is [5+1+2+2] which is ten stitches). Knit or purl to the last ten stitches and again follow the row instruction. Once you have all the markers set you’ll knit or purl from the first back raglan marker to the second. Fortunately these are the first markers to be set so you’ll be counting end stitches for only a couple rows.

  • Row 0 (RS):CO!! Caston the number of stitches listed for count 1 from the spreadsheet.
  • Row 1:P2, incL, p!!, incR, p2.
  • Row 2: K2, incL, k1, incL, k3, pm, incL, k!!, incL, k2.
  • Row 3: P2, incL, p3, incL, p3, pm, incL, p!!, sm, p6, incL, p2.
  • Row 4: K2, pm, incL, k2, pm, k1, incL, k4, sm, incL, k!!, sm, k5, pm, k1 incL, k2, sm, k2.
  • Row 5: P2, sm, incL, p4, sm, p1, incL, p4, sm, incL, p!!, sm, p6, sm, p1, incL, p2, sm, p2.
  • Row 6: K2, sm, incL, k4, sm, k1, incL, k5, sm, incL, k!!, sm, k6, sm, k1, incL, k3, pm, incL, k1, sm, k2.
  • Row 7: P2, sm, incL, p2, sm, p5, sm, p1, incL, p5, sm, incL, p!!, sm, P7, sm, p1, incL, p3, pm, incL, p1, sm, p2.
  • Row 8: K2, sm, incL, k2, sm, k5, sm, k1, incL, k6, sm, incL, k!!, sm, k7, sm, k1, incL, k4, sm, incL, k3, sm, k2.
  • Row 9: P2, sm, incL, p4, sm, p6, sm, p1, incL, p6, sm, incL, p!!, sm, p8, sm, p1, incL, p4, sm, incL, p3, sm, p2.

When you get through row seven, all the markers are set and the sequence in rows 8 and 9 are repeated until you have completed all your shoulder rows (line #2 in the spreadsheet). The fronts, sleeves and back knit and purl numbers will change every row as in the above row by row. By using markers you can sequence knit this instead of counting stitches. Here is the sequence for knit and purl rows.

  • Knit or purl two, slip the marker, increase in knit or purl,
  • Knit or purl to the first shoulder marker (you’ll be slipping a front raglan marker in this set of stitches), slip the first shoulder marker and knit one, increase in knit or purl,
  • Knit or purl to the next marker (back raglan), slip it and increase in knit or purl,
  • Knit or purl to the second shoulder marker (you’ll be slipping the second back raglan marker in this set of stitches), slip the center shoulder marker and knit one, increase in knit or purl,
  • Knit or purl to the last front raglan marker, slip it and increase in knit or purl,
  • Knit or purl to the end of the row (you’ll be slipping the neck edge marker in this set of stitches)

This sequence is repeated until you have the number of rows indicated for the shoulder line. If you use three distinctly different sets of markers for shoulder, knit side and purl side, it’s very easy to stay on track. Shoulder markers are worked every row (slip marker, knit or purl one stitch, increase in knit or purl), knit markers are worked only on the knit side (slip marker, increase in knit), purl markers are only on the purl side (slip marker, increase in purl).

**Once all the shoulder line rows are knit, move the front and back raglan markers one stitch toward the shoulder line markers (one stitch into the sleeve) and remove the shoulder line markers. For this next section, the raglan markers will be treated exactly like the shoulder line markers were. Knit or purl to the marker, slip the marker and knit or purl one stitch, increase. **This is done with every raglan marker but not every row. The increases for this section need to be spread out as evenly as possible into the number of rows from Point B to Point C. The sequence will be knit and purl rows with increases, knit and purl rows without. I’m working on the spreadsheet now and should have an update on this part by the end of the day. I will get the test-knit done as soon as I can. If you have a test-knit at the end of shoulder line stage and can help me test, let me know. For now, until we see how this plays out, follow the same pattern with the neck edge increases. It will increase the depth of the vneck by a bit. Once the test-knit is done we’ll come back to this.

Depending on your measurements you may get your sleeve stitch count, front stitch count or back stitch count first. They should all come within a few rows of each other so as you get close, keep track of how many increase rows have to be worked to achieve your count. Each of the increase rows is going to give you one increase for each section you’re knitting which makes it easy to calculate how many rows you have left to do in each section. Once your reach your count in any of those areas, stop doing the increases for that section and continue the other increases until your counts match the numbers in your spreadsheet.

Tracking counts, seven rows to go from the marker
Once all the sections have the right number of stitches, the front has been joined and you’re knitting in the round, you need to keep track of your row count. The next target is the number of rows to knit to reach the start of the underarm shaping. This number is different for front and back. When you achieve the front row count, test-fit your sweater and decide if you’re ready to start the shaping for the bottom of the armscye.
One more thing. If you have front end real-estate, use the last section where you are knitting rows to achieve armhole depth to deal with any increases you need to fit the garment to your breast measurements. Where your breasts sit on your chest effects fit. My niece has lovely front end real estate and her breasts sit quite high on her chest. Her front measurement from/to Point C is quite a bit different than her back measurement at the same point.
You can turn this into a garment if you choose but the how-to stops here. I’ll continue to update this page as the test-knit group provides feedback. As always, if you have any questions, ping me. I check my email once a day. I check Ravelry several times a day so if you want a quick response, message me in Ravelry.
Next, test-knitting the conti-rag with back neck shaping.