Heather's Polo Shirt I knit this polo shirt out of Berrocco Cotton 100 in a jade green. I decided on a 5x2 rib for the main body, with trim and collar in 1x1 rib. For the placket, however, I wanted something sturdier, so I experimented with Tunisian knitting, some twist stitch patterns, and various slip stitch patterns to find something appropriate. I ended up unventing a relative of heel stitch for the placket stitch: Wrong-side rows: K1 * slip 1 wyif, k1 * Right-side rows: K across It looks a fair amount like 1x1 rib, with slipped knit stitches on a background of garter stitch. It's sturdy and inelastic, and not visually obtrusive. I was planning on knitting the polo shirt with a conventional shaping, with shoulder seams and all that. I cast on the back and knit for 3 inches. As I was knitting, I started visualizing what was going to happen to all that 5x2 ribbing when the weight of the sleeves pulled on the shoulders. I soon decided that it was time to visit the frog pond, and I re-worked the yoke as a raglan. I knit the placket first in a close relative of heel stitch so it wouldn't stretch out of shape. Then I started in on the raglan, knit down to the length of the placket, and knit across the two halves of the placket to complete the front. After I'd gotten the placket knitted in on that end, I went back and picked up around the neck for the collar. I sewed the sides of the placket in place, and this is what it looked like. I like to knit things from the top down in the round. When it's time to divide the body from the sleeves, I put the sleeve stitches on holders, cast on 2-4" for the underarm, and finish knitting the body. Then I go back, pick up the cast-on stitches on the sleeve side, and knit the sleeves. I use the simplest removable cast-on, where the cast-on stitches sit on a piece of waste yarn. Pick up the stitches, remove the waste yarn, and no one would know you have a cast-on edge there. There's one problem with this cast-on. The picked-up edge has one fewer stitch than the original edge. At first, I thought that this was a problem with my counting, but it happens reliably enough that I'm sure that's the way it works. Not as tidy as I'd like, perhaps, but it's easy enough to fudge an extra stitch, so I don't worry about it. The whole process also leaves small holes at either edge of the armhole. I usually leave an extra long tail when I'm picking up the sleeve stitches so I can go back and close those holes with a yarn needle. I've gotten quite good at weaving those holes together invisibly. As I was picking up the cast-on stitches for the sleeve, I wondered whether there was any way to get rid of those holes. Hmmm, I mused, there are these running threads right here in this hole. One for the picked-up stitch and one for the first stitch of the continuing sleeve. What if I picked up those running threads like I was doing two make-one increases and knit them together with the stitches on either edge of the hole? Wouldn't that be just like closing the hole at the end of a short row? It worked! One more piece of finishing work moved into the construction of the garment. I've taken to following Barbara Walker's advice to do finishing work as you go. I knit the placket for my polo shirt before I started the garment. I attached it, and knit the collar before I finished the yoke. Having the top of the sweater finished when you try it on makes it easier to visualize the fit. It's also a lovely feeling to pick up a garment that has all of its pieces in place. You can see what it's going to be, and so can anyone who stops to admire your work.

Copyright © 2006 by Heather Madrone. All rights reserved.