How to assemble a sweater with set-in sleeves

July 31, 2021

See here for German translation: Pullover mit eingesetzten Ärmeln

Assembling sweaters has gained an undeservedly bad reputation for being extremely difficult. I have therefore created instructions on how to assemble to debunk this myth. Assembly isn't difficult, just very tedious, haha. I want to point out that there are many ways to assemble, but this is how I do it :D

(Image: Åste and her friend hiking in Pasvik with Norwegian forest sweaters knitted in Alafosslopi. They assembled for the first time and they were so, so skilled!! :D)

What you need for assembly:

Knitting needles.
Tapestry needle with a blunt tip.
A little bit of scrap yarn.
Sewing machine. (If you've never used a sewing machine before, practice on newspaper. New sewing machines are very easy to use, and the only skill you really need to learn is to sew forwards and be able to press the reverse button for a few seconds).

Step 1

When you have finished knitting the sleeves, front, and back pieces, weave in the ends. (The sleeves should be bound off, and remember to bind off loosely! Feel free to use a larger needle to bind off. Do not bind off the stitches on the front and back pieces.) When I have bound off the sleeves, I leave about 1 meter of yarn so I can use it to sew in the facing later.

Step 2

Place the front and back pieces on two long circular needles as shown in the picture, and bind off 3 stitches on each side of the front and back pieces to make it easier to access with the sewing machine. Use stitch markers to mark where the neck opening should be. Measure the width of the sleeve and use some scrap yarn to mark where you will sew. Sew around this line as shown in the picture. I usually sew two or three times. I sew with straight stitches. Many prefer zigzag stitch. I have tried both and notice no difference, so I use straight stitches because I feel I have better control when sewing.

Step 3

Turn the front and back pieces inside out. Knit the shoulders together. When knitting the shoulders together, you bind off as you normally would, but instead of picking up 1 stitch, you pick up 2 stitches. Stop when you reach the neck opening.

Cut between the seams and sew in the sleeves. I usually sew them in by hand. Use stitch markers to ensure even distribution.

Use yarn to sew in the sleeves. Knitting is longer in width than in height, so you sometimes need to pick up 2 "bridges" between stitches instead of 1. The rule of thumb is to pick up 2 "bridges" at once for every third stitch, but this varies from garment to garment since no one knits exactly the same. Therefore, it's important to use stitch markers so you always know whether to pick up 1 or 2 "bridges".