Sweater Geometry Sunil Kumar Puri The fully Fashioned Sweaters can be classified in five different shapes, Set-in Sleeve, Straight, Raglan, Saddle Shoulder and Classic. Examples of t hese styles are given in pictures given below. The beauty ofthe garment lies in the accurate fitting of the union points of front back and sleeve. The common mistake is that most of the times, as these panels knitted and not woven, the loops compensate for the deficiencies of the shapes of front, back and sleeves. The garment may measure accurately but the expert eye will always know that because of the inaccuracy of panels, the stitches or knit l oops do get distorted and are not aligned any more. A very nicely made garment when placed on a table shall have all the courses and whales in straight lines, which at times becomes very difficult to achieve and the arms of the sweater shall exte nd at the same angle as that of the shoulder slope. The sleeves shall not puff out at the shoulder joint nor shall they cave in. Therefore the most important measurement in a sweater is the slope of the arm hole as the angle so created shall be the angle of the sleeve joint as well. Surprisingly the shoulder slope is not given the due respect by the knitters that it demands. Set-in Sleeve Straight Shoulder Raglan Sleeve Saddle Shoulder Classic Shoulder Images courtesy M/s Rexel Bit S. L. The calculations of knitting specifications are based on combination of simple mathematics and the Pythagoras theorem of Geometry. I n most of the cases the dimensions given by the customer are as given under in two different sets, the first one where the sleeve length is given as under sleeve length this practice is more common in UK and the other in which the sleeve length is given for the upper part of the sleeve. Set in Sleeve Straight Raglan Sleeve Saddle Shoulder Union Points A sweater is made of Front, Back and Sleeves which have different shapes but correspond to each other to fit perfectly, These measurement shall be exact on these points of union called union points. Classic Shoulder Images courtesy M/s Rexel Bit S. L.
