Simplicity with a twist...

I'm a fan of simple items with an interesting twist such as my current WIP, which I'm calling the buttoned sleeve top (at least until I figure out a more grammatically pleasing name). Basically, it's a seamless raglan knit in stockinette from the bottom up. The twist? The tops of the sleeves are button-up. The main problem I encountered was how to actually do the sleeves. The solution was to knit the body in the round, divide for front and back, then knit the sleeves "backwards" (i.e. the edges would be the top and the center would be the inner arm "seam"), join the sleeves to the body, and knit the front and back yokes separately flat.



Hopefully this diagram helps show the construction details better. The sleeves would be divided lenth-wise into front and back with the fold being at the bottom. The blue line marks how the front would be worked and the red line for the back.

Then a 2x2 ribbed button band will be picked up and knit along the neck and outer arm edges.



So what does this all look like in reality?


Left: The front completed. Right: The back.

Kind of funky at the moment. I had to take into account the button band so the circumference of the sleeves and the height of the yoke needed to be a bit smaller or shorter for the main part of the knitting.

And in case anyone is curious, the sleeve:



It's basically a rectangle (er...trapezoid, actually) with a few increases going up the center for some shaping. It also helps mark the inner arm "seam".