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

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! :D

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 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

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?

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.

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.

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

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. :D

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:

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

Wendy

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

Thank you! It's a labor of love (and sometimes frustration)! LOL!

I hope the Love and joy OUT WEIGH the frustration mirjam