Topic: nordic knitting
Jenny wants to know how to make all the yoke decreases happen and still keep pattern chart continuity.
It's relatively easy to figure it out for one size. It gets harder to make it work for all sizes.
Yoked sweaters (traditionally)only require 3 rounds of decrease spaced equally from the midway depth of the yoke to the neck. However, having made a number of these, a la, Elizabeth Zimmermann, I know they do not fit as well as they could. So, going with Meg Swansen's altered method, 5 rounds of decrease will be employed. This last shaping allows for a more gradual stitch number change, and better fit, IMO. My Sheep-In-The-Round and Icelandic Flecks and Diamonds sweater patterns are made that way and I adore wearing them.
I have fallen in love with the look of the traditional "liced" Sedestal sweater. Most of them are drop shoulder, steeked affairs, and that will be an added step that goes beyond the scope of this pattern. But that does not mean we cannot borrow the wonderful stitch patterns that we find on them! Putting Sedestal row patterns on a yoke sweater design means having the luxury of solid color rounds in which to work non-interfering decreases. Voila! Problem solved. Now only stitch numbers/repeats will be an issue.
The yoke pattern I am working with has the following repeats: section 1: four; section 2, sixteen; section 3, eight; section 4; four. So, after each decrease round (and there will be 5 of them), I need only remember to check that the decrease round results in a number divisible by the following section. However, I have discovered an interesting characteristic of the 16 stitch chart...I can safely eliminate 2 stitches per section about 2/3 of the way through it. This will allow the 5th round of hidden decrease to happen at a nicely spaced spot.