Sleeve 1, done.
I’m done with the first sleeve on my Rusted Root, hooray!
For the record: the sleeves were really big. If you have thin arms, you will definitely not want to work your sleeves in the same way I did. This just barely passed my tolerance test, and I may change my mind once I block!
When I worked the sleeves, I did equal raglan increases on front, back and sleeves after the initial increases for the puffy sleeve cap. Because of my large chest, by the time I joined in the round, I had 92 stitches on each sleeve. That is a lot of stitches. I picked up an additional 10 stitches from the body under the arm to prevent gapping. The additional stitches were great for the chest measurement, but potentially troubling for the sleeves. This was going to take some thought. I decided that I’d do the decreases as written in the pattern and then 5 rows of 2×1 ribbing, which I thought would end the sleeve at a flattering place on my arm.
Once I picked up the 10 stitches from the body, I put a marker on either side. My instructions below do not include those stitches, and when I got to them, I just knit straight across.
The pattern calls for six decreases spaced out by 3 stitches. I wanted to make sure that the decreases were centered and aligned with the increases at the top of the sleeve, so I did something like this:
k33, (K2tog, K3) 5 times, K2tog, k32
k around
k33, (K2tog, K2) 5 times, K2tog, k32
k around
k33, (K2tog, K1) 5 times, K2tog, k32
k around
start 2×1 ribbing
I did the ribbing on size 4 needles, which is also what I did for the neck ribbing. When I bound off, I didn’t bother going up a needle size or binding off loosely; this sleeve is very generously cut. Again, If you have thin arms, I’d recommend starting the decreases earlier, continuing the decreases longer, or using even smaller needles on the ribbing. Otherwise you’re going to feel like you’re wearing hats on your shoulders!
I bought enough yarn to make a long-sleeved sweater. I bet I’ll have enough left over for a lacy Cotton Fleece tank!
