For this sweater you will be knitting from the top down, starting with the neck and increasing to make the back, front, and sleeves seamlessly. It may seem tricky at first but once you begin to understand what is going on it becomes truly magical! The cast on and increases are the hardest part of knitting this type of sweater so once you get past this section you’re home free!

Today you will cast on and begin your increases to create the rest of the neckline. However, before you can cast on you will need to determine how many stitches to cast on and in which order.

How It Works

During the cast on you will be using a fairly small number of stitches. As you begin knitting you’ll use strategically placed increases to build the sweater from.

As you cast on you will be placing stitch markers to divide the total neck stitches into portions for the front back and sleeves.

Cast On Order

Fill in the blanks from the calculator in the previous lesson to determine how many stitches to cast on and in which order to cast them on. You will cast on in the following order:

1. 1 stitch (this stitch will be used to create the right side of the neck front)
2. Place marker
3. 2 stitch (these stitches will be the right front raglan seam)
4. Place marker
5. Sleeve stitches: _______
6. Place marker
7. 2 stitch (these stitches will be the right back raglan seam)
8. Place marker
9. Back stitches: _______
10. Place marker
11. 2 stitch (these stitches will be the left back raglan seam)
12. Place marker
13. Sleeve stitches: _______
14. Place marker
15. 2 stitches (these stitches will be the left front raglan seam)
16. Place marker
17. 1 stitch (this stitch will be used to create the left side of the sweater)

Example 1: Using the numbers from equations 2 and 3 in the math we did earlier my cast on will be as follows; 1, marker, 2, marker, 8, marker, 2, marker, 31, marker, 2, marker, 8, marker, 2, marker, 1

Example 2: Using the numbers from equations 2 and 3  in the math we did yesterday my cast on will be as follows; 1, marker, 2, marker, 5, marker, 2, marker, 21, marker, 2, marker, 5, marker, 2, marker, 1

What It Looks Like

The following diagram illustrates how the neck is cast on and the positioning of the markers: