Tips and Tricks: Convert a Sweater from In the Round to Flat

Sweaters in the round have been a popular method of construction for years. In the early-mid 00s, everyone was knitting top down raglans, then colorwork yokes from the bottom or top were all the rage, and over the last decade or so, top down garments with fully fashioned shoulder shaping have really taken hold. 

With the exception of a colorwork yoke, I pretty much exclusively knit sweaters in pieces with side and sleeve seams, regardless of how the pattern was written. We've had quite a few requests for a how-to on this approach as I've shared some recent WIPs, so I wrote up a tutorial for those of you who also love a sweater with good bones!

The inside seams on my Dagmar Zip in Lucky

Why Do It?
The short answer is: Sweaters with seams are better.

The long answer is: Sweaters with seams have better structure, last longer, are less prone to sagging, and are easier to repair. Working flat allows you to hide ends in the seams, reduces the volume of knitting you have to carry around and hold in your lap. Also mattress stitch is magical and fun.

Belmullet Pullover in Hamelton Tweed 1 worked from the top down with a drop shoulder

Part One: Converting Top Down Sweaters

Yoke Changes:
The past few sweaters I've made and converted have been worked from the top down using a fully fashioned shaping technique. The most common ways to work the sleeves on this type of sweater are either set-in or drop shoulder. It is much easier to convert the drop shoulder method to separate pieces, but possible to do the seamless set-in sleeve if you work the sleeve flat after completing the yoke.

Most of the time, you will work the yoke exactly as written, either with or without the sleeves. The modifications happen once you reach the armholes.

As an aside, I don't enjoy working a raglan from the top down (I know, I know), and converting this method to seamed from seamless is surprisingly complicated. Instead, I recommend adding a faux purl stitch seam and seaming that, or working a raglan from the bottom up in pieces. 

Body Changes:
• Convert the front and back from one piece (in the round) to 2 pieces flat
• Add seam stitches if necessary

Instead of joining for working in the round as written in the pattern, you will put the stitches on one side (typically the back) on hold, cast on one stitch on either end for the seams, and then work the front to the hem back and forth. If the sweater is drop shoulder (like my Belmullet pictured above), you may opt to not cast on the sleeve seams 

Once the front is complete, work the back as you did the front, making sure to count rows so the pieces are an exact match!

The sleeves on my Lakes Jacket in Manos Wool Clasica are picked up from the armhole and worked flat to the cuff

Sleeve Changes:
Top Down Set-In:
If doing a top down set-in sleeve and you already have your sleeve stitches from working the yoke, instead of joining and working the sleeve in the round, cast on one stitch on each end and work back and forth to the cuff. 

Drop Shoulder:
You have two options here, either casting on the sleeve stitches separately or picking up and working back and forth to the cuff. I much prefer casting on and working the sleeves separately (who wants to lug around a whole sweater when you can throw a single sleeve in your bag?), but this does require seaming the sleeve into the body. (Of course we have a tutorial for that!) That said, I have picked up sleeves from the body (most recently on my Dagmar Zip), and the picked up stitches act much in the same way as a seam would.

If you've picked up from the body, again you need two stitches more than called for in the pattern. Instead of casting on, they should be picked up in the seam stitches on the corresponding front and back. If you've opted to cast on the sleeve separately, make sure you cast on two more than called for, and work these in stockinette for seaming. 

When done correctly, mattress stitch is invsible from the right side, as shown on this sleeve

Part Two: Converting Bottom Up Sweaters:

Body Changes:
• Convert the front and back from one piece (in the round) to 2 pieces flat
• Add seam stitches

When working from the bottom up, the body is converted in the same way regardless of the yoke style (raglan, set-in, or drop shoulder). You will first take your cast on stitches, divide the number in half, and then add 2 for the seam stitches. 

As an example, if the in-the-round pattern has you cast on 240 stitches, the cast on for working flat is (240/2)+2=122 stitches each for the back and front.

Simply cast on the new number of stitches, and work back and forth up to the armholes. If the sweater has a stitch pattern, work the first and last stitch of every row in stockinette - these are your seam stitches for working mattress stitch. 

Yoke Changes:
• Determine shaping method
• Calculate decrease rate for front and back

If the pattern is written for working the front and back separately, you can follow it as written. Be sure to bind off one extra stitch at each end of the armhole to match the stitch counts as the pattern now has the seam stitches included.

If the pattern has you join the sleeves to the body to work the yoke, you will need to convert this portion to working flat as well. The key to modifying the yoke is to identify the decrease rate. I'm going to go out on a solid limb and assume all drop shoulder sweaters are knit with the front and back in pieces, so let's focus on raglan or set-in sleeves. For both, you will need to separate the decrease instructions for the front and back from the sleeves, keeping in mind you will always have 2 more stitches than written. In other words, you need to maintain the 2 extra stitches calculated at your cast on. This is simple to d, just work the bind off and decreases as written!

The sleeves on this marled pullover in Cricket are worked flat from the bottom up and then set-in to the armhole

Sleeve Changes:
If the sleeve is worked from the cuff up and joined, you will follow the same methodology as you did the sweater body (arm) and yoke (armhole and cap).

• Convert the sleeve from one piece in the round to flat
• Add seam stitches
• Determine armhole and cap shaping method
• Identify decrease rate for cap

As an example, if the in-the-round pattern has you CO 40 stitches, you will cast on 40+2=42 stitches and follow the same technique for the arm as you did for the body. The cap shaping is then worked on its own with the decreases as written, again keeping in mind as you did the front and back that you will have 2 more stitches than written in the pattern. 

You will most likely encounter bottom up sweaters that have sleeve stitches picked up and worked from the top down. If this is the case, you can follow the same steps as working the sleeves from the top down.

The beauty of mattress stitch

Finishing (Both Top Down or Bottom Up):
Things may have changed, but the number one reason knitters give us for not wanting to knit sweaters in pieces is they don't like seaming. Yes, it takes a little bit longer than not seaming, but all knitting takes time when done well and with intention, and there is no reason not to finish with the same level of care. 

Before seaming, you want to wet block your pieces. This ensures the seams are the proper length and aren't puckered or loose. I prefer to seam using a completely separate yarn, especially if my knitting is anything above an aran weight (As an example, if kitting a sweater in Lucky, I seam using Scout). Once all seamed, any ends from the working yarn are woven into the seams, hiding them in the edges. 

Final Notes:
As with most things, a large modification like this makes more sense in practice. If you're motivated, go for it, and I promise it will all work out!