a foolproof way to create the V of a V-neck pullover?

Hi guys,
UGH. I need to knit a couple of doll-sized V-neck sweaters. My only
experience there was with a human-sized one that flummoxed me so badly
at that point I quit making it. Sigh. I really need to do better this
time. Any ideas on how I can convert a regular pullover to a V-neck
pattern without blood and tears?

Wendy
A Knitting Fool in CT
mysmt=at=sbcglobal.net

This is not at all difficult! I'll tell you how on a people-sized
sweater . . . At the point where you begin armholes, go ahead and
knit over to the center one (or two) stitches and put it/them on a
holder. For simplicity, then put the rest of the stitches on a second
holder to deal with later. Now, to shape the v-neck opening, decrease
one stitch at the v-neck side every other row. I do that by doing
"purl 1, purl 2 together" at the beginning of every back row. As to
how many to decrease on that side, that number is HALF the total
number of stitches you will use for the neck opening at the back minus
the one or two center stitches you are holding for the center. For
example, if you will hold 45 stitches for the neck at the back of the
sweater and have 1 stitch held for the center of the v-neck, you will
decrease 22 stitches on that side of the v-neck (45 minus 1 center
stitch = 44, divided by 2 = 22). Naturally, you are doing the regular
stuff at the armhole side while you do the v-neck stuff. For the
other half of the v-neck, leave the center 1 or 2 stitches on their
holder and attach a ball of yarn. For the decreases, there are several
ways to do it, but I prefer doing "knit1, knit 2 together" at the v-
neck side at the beginning of every front row, which is not too
visible. Use the same number of stitches to decrease, and continue on
the armhole shaping for that side as usual. When the piece is
finished, you have a v-neck all ready to finish! By the way, the
reason you always have a regular no-decrease stitch at the v-neck edge
is to make the picking up of neck edge stitches easier later on, to
have a neat edge, and to avoid holes. It's important!

By the way, doll heads are really very large in relation to their
bodies compared to peoples' heads and bodies, and you need to account
for this or the sweater will never fit over the dolls' heads! When I
made doll sweaters I added perhaps 30% to the neck sizing, put one-
stitch button holes all around the neck edging, and threaded a very
fine ribbon through so it could be snugged up and tied in a pretty
little bow after the sweater was on the doll. The kids thought I was
a genius. Or, you can forget increasing neck hole sizing entirely
and NOT sew up one or both shoulder seams and add some snaps or
Velcro at the shoulder, which works very well and is much simpler to
do until you have made several doll sweaters and are really
comfortable messing with neck designing.

On Jan 27, 1:19*pm, Mary wrote:
This is not at all difficult! * I'll tell you how on a people-sized
sweater . . . * At the point where you begin armholes, go ahead and
knit over to the center one (or two) stitches and put it/them on a
holder. *For simplicity, then put the rest of the stitches on a second
holder to deal with later. *Now, to shape the v-neck opening, decrease
one stitch at the v-neck side every other row. *I do that by doing
"purl 1, purl 2 together" at the beginning of every back row. *As to
how many to decrease on that side, that number is HALF the total
number of stitches you will use for the neck opening at the back minus
the one or two center stitches you are holding for the center. *For
example, if you will hold 45 stitches for the neck at the back of the
sweater and have 1 stitch held for the center of the v-neck, you will
decrease 22 stitches on that side of the v-neck (45 minus 1 center
stitch = 44, divided by 2 = 22). *Naturally, you are doing the regular
stuff at the armhole side while you do the v-neck stuff. *For the
other half of the v-neck, leave the center 1 or 2 stitches on their
holder and attach a ball of yarn. For the decreases, there are several
ways to do it, but I prefer doing "knit1, knit 2 together" at the v-
neck side at the beginning of every front row, which is not too
visible. *Use the same number of stitches to decrease, and continue on
the armhole shaping for that side as usual. *When the piece is
finished, you have a v-neck all ready to finish! *By the way, the
reason you always have a regular no-decrease stitch at the v-neck edge
is to make the picking up of neck edge stitches easier later on, to
have a neat edge, and to avoid holes. *It's important!

By the way, doll heads are really very large in relation to their
bodies compared to peoples' heads and bodies, and you need to account
for this or the sweater will never fit over the dolls' heads! *When I
made doll sweaters I added perhaps 30% to the neck sizing, put one-
stitch button holes all around the neck edging, and threaded a very
fine ribbon through so it could be snugged up and tied in a pretty
little bow after the sweater was on the doll. *The kids thought I was
a genius. *Or, you can forget increasing neck hole sizing entirely
and *NOT sew up one or both shoulder seams and add some snaps or
Velcro at the shoulder, which works very well and is much simpler to
do until you have made several doll sweaters and are really
comfortable messing with neck designing.

THANK YOU!!!!! I'm gonna print out your answer so I can pore over it
with my knitting in front of me. Actually, for these Madam Alexander
dolls I knit for, we cheat---the "pullovers" have hooks and eyes or
snaps up the back. LOL! But I will keep your thoughts in mind on that
subject for an outfit where that will work. THIS IS GREAT! Thank you
so much, Mary!

Wendy

Ok Mary,
I'm confused a bit here. First you say :
Now, to shape the v-neck opening, decrease one stitch at the v-neck
side every other row. I do that by doing
"purl 1, purl 2 together" at the beginning of every back row.

Later you say this:
For the decreases, there are several ways to do it, but I prefer doing
"knit1, knit 2 together" at the v-
neck side at the beginning of every front row, which is not too
visible.

I have some other questions besides this please: What happens to the 2
middle stitches that I put on a separate holder at the beginning?
Where do they come into this?

Also, right after that, you say this: Use the same number of
stitches to decrease, and continue on the armhole shaping for that
side as usual. ==Do you mean, decrease the armhole edge at the same
rate as the V-neck? That doesnt sound quite right.

Also--my biggest problem is that I am pretty much designing this as I
go and making notations on what I'm doing. I'm just working on the
front of the sweater, for starters. I have no idea how many stitches
will be at the back of the neckline yet.

I commonly create my doll sweaters in this fashion and then save the
patterns I create for future use as well, but this is my first attempt
(obviously!) at a V-neck, and I'm a bit lost here. Thank you for all
your help!

Wendy
A Knitting Fool in CT
mysmt==at==sbcglobal.net

Wendy
A Knitting Fool in CT
mysmt==at==sbcglobal.net

Wendy i didn`t join this Dolls` sweaters discusssion since i saw you
got good advice ,,,
Now that i see you have some questions i think i can join my
experiences ,,,
Knitting dolls sweaters i always use thin threads ,,,
i former years i made them in parts like a bigger sized sweater, but
later started to knit them seamless ,,, in the round or at leat with
only one side seam
for a V i always make the front in an UNEVEN number of st, ,, this
helps me to make the middle st a purl st ,,, , decreasing the `side
` stiches of the front in purl looks less complicated than doing a
knit decrease that leans either to lest or right .. thus in a Dolls
sweater this is even more helpful.
As i knit all in one piece i started to knit the neck band as a
complete part of the sweaters thus i do the decreases 4-5 stiches
before and after the side/edge of the opening in Big size decreasees
are mostly happening every 4th row [ could be 5th or 3rd depends on
wool thickness ] in such cases i make the neck band either of ribbels
or Seed st ,,,,it is a very neat edge and if you feel it won`t sort
of pull the neck in [ in big sized sweaters you could always decided
that at a certain point[s] you won`t knit the side edge for one row
[short row], and thus it becomes a bit tighter than rest of the
knitting .
for doll , make the front uneven and purl the knitted rib in the under
st ,,
mirjam

On Jan 30, 4:04*pm, myswendy wrote:
Ok Mary,
I'm confused a bit here. First you say :
Now, to shape the v-neck opening, decrease one stitch at the v-neck
side every other row. *I do that by doing
"purl 1, purl 2 together" at the beginning of every back row.

Later you say this:
For the decreases, there are several ways to do it, but I prefer doing
"knit1, knit 2 together" at the v-
neck side at the beginning of every front row, which is not too
visible.

You are working first one one side of the V, and then on
the other here. No matter which side you happen to be working on, you
want to decrease 1 stitch at the V side every other row. Whether you
do it with a decrease at the beginning of a row or the end of a row
doesn't matter for the shaping, but will make a difference in
appearance. Why not make a small test swatch and see?

I have some other questions besides this please: What happens to the 2
middle stitches that I put on a separate holder at the beginning?
Where do they come into this?

That stays on the holder until you're ready to do the edging
of the V later on. When you are finished with the front of the
sweater, you will have a little holder dangling in the middle of the
front. As you put the sweater together and pick up the stitches
around the neck hole to make the edging, the stitches on the holder
will be the center (lowest part) of the V.

Also, right after that, you say this: * Use the same number of
stitches to decrease, and continue on the armhole shaping for that
side as usual. ==Do you mean, decrease the armhole edge at the same
rate as the V-neck? That doesnt sound quite right.

No! You handle the armhole edges however the pattern says,
and that will be different whether you are making an armhole for
raglan, standard, or block.

Also--my biggest problem is that I am pretty much designing this as I
go and making notations on what I'm doing. I'm just working on the
front of the sweater, for starters. I have no idea how many stitches
will be at the back of the neckline yet.

The usual method is to make the back of a sweater before you
make the front. However, there is a rule-of-thumb about how many
stitches will be used for the back of the neck, and that is generally
one third of the total number of stitches across the body. For
example, if you are making a sweater with 120 stitches across the
front (or back), you will have 40 stitches used for the neck (1/3 of
120 = 40).


I commonly create my doll sweaters in this fashion and then save the
patterns I create for future use as well, but this is my first attempt
(obviously!) at a V-neck, and I'm a bit lost here. Thank you for all
your help!

Wendy
A Knitting Fool in CT
mysmt==at==sbcglobal.net

Thank you for all that patient explanation, Mary! Funny about the back/
front thing. Since this is a doll sweater for Madam Alexander, they
always "cheat" in that the back is done in 2 pieces with snaps. That's
why I always work on the front first! LOL! I'll let you know how it
goes. Phew.

Thanks again!

Wendy

On Jan 31, 4:31*pm, myswendy wrote:
Thank you for all that patient explanation, Mary! Funny about the back/
front thing. Since this is a doll sweater for Madam Alexander, they
always "cheat" in that the back is done in 2 pieces with snaps. That's
why I always work on the front first! LOL! I'll let you know how it
goes. Phew.

Thanks again!

Wendy

Wendy if you need to make the front first , you still can work in the
round up to the armpits ,,,
Ps how Big is that Doll ????
mirjam

On Feb 3, 12:12*am, wrote:
On Jan 31, 4:31*pm, myswendy wrote:

Thank you for all that patient explanation, Mary! Funny about the back/
front thing. Since this is a doll sweater for Madam Alexander, they
always "cheat" in that the back is done in 2 pieces with snaps. That's
why I always work on the front first! LOL! I'll let you know how it
goes. Phew.

Thanks again!

Wendy

Wendy if you need to make the front first , you still can work in the
round up to the armpits ,,,
Ps how Big is that Doll ????
mirjam

It's about 30% larger than a Barbie doll. It is a fashion doll, not a
baby doll. Here's some of my knitting for her so far: http://tinyurl.com/2cjgpy

I'm currently finishing up another fair isle in red and white and also
working on Harry Potter Griffindore sweaters, doll-sized.

Wendy

On Feb 4, 12:35*am, myswendy wrote:
On Feb 3, 12:12*am, wrote:





On Jan 31, 4:31*pm, myswendy wrote:

Thank you for all that patient explanation, Mary! Funny about the back/
front thing. Since this is a doll sweater for Madam Alexander, they
always "cheat" in that the back is done in 2 pieces with snaps. That's
why I always work on the front first! LOL! I'll let you know how it
goes. Phew.

Thanks again!

Wendy

Wendy if you need to make the front first , you still can work in the
round up to the armpits ,,,
Ps how Big is that Doll ????
mirjam

It's about 30% larger than a Barbie doll. It is a fashion doll, not a
baby doll. Here's some of my knitting for her so far:http://tinyurl.com/2cjgpy

I'm currently finishing up another fair isle in red and white and also
working on Harry Potter Griffindore sweaters, doll-sized.

Wendy- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Thank you Wendy Peeped at those WELL Dressed dolls ,, very nice
work !!!
mirjam