Types of sleeves

Sleeves have always intimidated me. I never really made anything with sleeves until fairly recently, except a few baby sweaters with very basic sleeves. As I started branching out though, I got more familiar with some of the different types and found that they all have their pros and cons and all add their own distinctive feel to a sweater design. Here are a few of those sleeve types, and some sweaters I love which illustrate them. Most of these sweaters are from KT & the Squid, I’m a little hooked on her designs right now.

Drop Shoulder

The easiest sleeve I’ve come across is the drop shoulder sleeve. If you do not add any sleeve shaping at all on the body of the sweater, the top will naturally hang off the shoulder, essentially forming the “cap” of the sleeve. If a longer sleeve is desired, it can be added as just a tube or folded rectangle, with no shoulder shaping required. This creates a very casual look and works well for loose fitting sweaters.

A great example of the drop shoulder sleeve is the Garden Gal Top. It comes in girls, women’s, and plus sizes – all the way up to 5x! 

Circular Yoke:

One problem with drop sleeves, however, is that they don’t work well for fitted garments, because they are not actually shaped to the shoulder and tend to create a little extra bulk under the arm. A solution for that is a circular yoke, which is particularly popular in baby and children’s sweaters. It starts from a circular neckline, and once the appropriate length is reached, the edges of the circle are split off and form the sleeve caps. The sleeves can be extended as tubes in the same way as with a drop shoulder sleeve, though a couple of extra stitches may need to be picked up under the arm, depending on the design. This gives a smooth fitting, rounded shoulder, with curved lines at the top of the sweater.

The Bailey Sweater is constructed this way, and I love the little button detail at the shoulder!

Raglan

Having all the curvy goodness at the top can make the shoulders look wider, which is great for some body types, but not so good for others. I tend to be a bit top heavy and prefer sweaters that make me look narrower on top. That’s why I love raglan sleeves. These are created with a sharp angle from the neckline to the bottom of the armhole. Typically, the sleeve caps are worked at the same time as the neckline, similar to the way a circular yoke is worked. Decreases or increases (depending on what direction you’re working in) are used to form the angles and give the shoulders their shape. Again, since the cap is already created, the sleeves can be extended simply, with no shoulder shaping. Unlike the other types though, there is a distinct separation between the sleeve cap and the body of the sweater.

The My Favorite Crochet Pullover has raglan sleeves, and you can see how the lines add to the overall hourglass shaping. It’s a very flattering sleeve for many body types.

Set In

And then there’s the scariest of all sleeves. The set-in sleeve. This is the classic sleeve you’ll see most often in sewn tops, particularly dressier ones like men’s dress shirts. The overall look is fitted and flattering, with the top of the sleeve cap hitting right at the point of the shoulder where it starts to curve. To achieve this, the armhole is cut into the body, and a curved, shaped shoulder is fitted in. This type of sleeve is less common in knitting and crochet, partly because it can be very intimidating to design. Achieving the right angle and length of the curve for the shoulder cap is hard to calculate and takes practice.

The Picots in the Wind Tank is sleeveless, but shows the type of armhole shaping required for a set-in sleeve.

The Mock Cable Pullover by Kim Guzman has set-in sleeves, and you can see how the sleeves are fitted into the armhole opening. It’s a beautiful sweater for the advanced crocheter, and I just love the way she describes the difficulty level (you have to go see).

There are lots of other types of sleeves and variations on these types, but these are a few of the more common that you will see. What’s your favorite type of sleeve to make? Is it the same as your favorite to wear?