This is utterly fascinating - as someone who was a teen knitting batwing sweaters in the 80s (in electric blue mohair, no less) I can relate to so much of this. The big sweaters of the 80s were something else.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of bad raglan designs out there. With women, there are two shapes, broad shoulders and narrow shoulders. When the raglan is designed for broad shoulders, and worn by someone with narrow shoulders, you get a big gaping neck. Saddle shoulders work best for that body type. Knitters Guide to Sweater Design and Ida Riley Duncan's Knit to Fit have ways to calculate the correct raglan slope. Ankestrick has some nice designs but they just don't fit right on me. I won't mention the designer that gave me the unwearable one.
Churchmouse is one company that still designs sweaters as pieces. It's easier to work this way, as you aren't dealing with the weight and bulk of the full sweater. But people hate to sew them up. (Churchmouse also tends to drop shoulder designs. The patterns are well written and tested. I've never had a problem with one). Cabled sweaters seem to be designed o be knit flat. I wonder if that's why you see fewer patterns for them.
People on Rav definitely have pack mentality, which is why you'll see some pattern with thousands of projects. It's interesting that we finally had knitting abbreviations standardized, and then Rav designers decided to make up their own. Maybe we'll sort it back out again.
I'm with you on the mixed quality of raglans out there. There's a trap of sticking to the standard increase formula no matter the fit, gauge or grading. And a lot of patterns tagged "unisex" don't really work for a typical male build. That's part of why I wanted to understand sweater construction in the first place, so I could design and modify my own.
I don't much like working cables in the round. Flat, you get the return row where you just knit the stitches as they appear. In the round you have to keep track of which row of the pattern you're on. The lower bulk is a real advantage though. My seamed sweaters do drag on, so I try to treat each piece as its own project.
And yes, some of the abbreviation definitions out there go badly against the standard. It seems unfair on knitters, especially from designers who ought to know better.
This is fascinating! I was just thinking about this very thing recently. Back in the day, I knit many colourwork yoke sweaters (late 1980s, early 1990s). In 1998 I started a sweater that has set in pieces and drop sleeves. Fast forward 25 years 😳 and I am not interested in finishing the pieces and having to sew it all together. I am so much more interested in knitting seamless pieces. Isn’t it neat to see how patterns and motivation evolves in knitting.
Thanks! It sounds like a lot of people share your experience with seamed garments. Seamed and seamless knitting have such a different rhythm, and I wonder if the popularity of seamless reflects a wider shift in society that has filtered into how we knit.
I’m yet to get a pieced raglan but I can see how the seams would be quite intuitive. I need to get my knitting machine back out and maybe give it a go.
Most of the sweaters I make are with set-in sleeves. Maybe it just seems easier to me because I see a lot and am used to making blouses and shirts with set-in sleeves. And I like doing cables, which I think work best with set-in sleeves. I’d like to try something with a round yoke, though, because I like the look.
Very interesting! I remember the 80's boxy mohair sweaters that were variations of 1960's mohair sweaters. I made those sweaters in both decades (and last winter) to show what a push over I am for fashion. I am a collector of vintage knitting patterns and the charts you have made are right on the trends I see in my patterns. Lots of fashion detailing in 1940s-60s designs - very elegant. I also remember that quality yarn and fashion forward patterns were hard to find for the average knitter during those years. The local Ben Franklin store and Red Heart yarns were what was easily available to me as a beginner. A trip to a Yarn Shop in the late 60s opened a whole new world! Yes, I agree, Ravelry is amazing. I can lose hours browsing......
Thank you! It's really nice to hear the charts match what you see in your own pattern collection. Boxy mohair in three different decades is a great track record 😄 That’s a great point about how much what people knitted depended on what yarn and patterns they could actually get locally. That's something the Ravelry data can't show at all.
Raglan shaping is my favorite! I hate sewing though, so I work modularly. I make the sleeves first and then figure out how I want them connected later. Sleeves first. Will it be a cardigan? A sweater? Or just a shrug? Let’s find out together!
💯 Excellent. An economical shoulder style for growing children is the round or circle-shaped yoke on a loose-fitting sleeveless top. They are roomy enough to grow with the child.
What a cool analysis. I think it's possible that set in sleeves had a comeback in the 2000s because vintage (60s and earlier) silhouettes were popular at the time -- they were a feature of the twee style. In the past 15 years we've moved more towards pulling inspiration from the 70s, 80s, and 90s, I think.
This is utterly fascinating - as someone who was a teen knitting batwing sweaters in the 80s (in electric blue mohair, no less) I can relate to so much of this. The big sweaters of the 80s were something else.
Oh wow I can just picture that 😂 Looks like mohair’s has made a comeback, but we’ll have to see about batwing sweaters.
I have loads more ideas for more stats I could look into, Ravelry really is an amazing resource.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of bad raglan designs out there. With women, there are two shapes, broad shoulders and narrow shoulders. When the raglan is designed for broad shoulders, and worn by someone with narrow shoulders, you get a big gaping neck. Saddle shoulders work best for that body type. Knitters Guide to Sweater Design and Ida Riley Duncan's Knit to Fit have ways to calculate the correct raglan slope. Ankestrick has some nice designs but they just don't fit right on me. I won't mention the designer that gave me the unwearable one.
Churchmouse is one company that still designs sweaters as pieces. It's easier to work this way, as you aren't dealing with the weight and bulk of the full sweater. But people hate to sew them up. (Churchmouse also tends to drop shoulder designs. The patterns are well written and tested. I've never had a problem with one). Cabled sweaters seem to be designed o be knit flat. I wonder if that's why you see fewer patterns for them.
People on Rav definitely have pack mentality, which is why you'll see some pattern with thousands of projects. It's interesting that we finally had knitting abbreviations standardized, and then Rav designers decided to make up their own. Maybe we'll sort it back out again.
I'm with you on the mixed quality of raglans out there. There's a trap of sticking to the standard increase formula no matter the fit, gauge or grading. And a lot of patterns tagged "unisex" don't really work for a typical male build. That's part of why I wanted to understand sweater construction in the first place, so I could design and modify my own.
I don't much like working cables in the round. Flat, you get the return row where you just knit the stitches as they appear. In the round you have to keep track of which row of the pattern you're on. The lower bulk is a real advantage though. My seamed sweaters do drag on, so I try to treat each piece as its own project.
And yes, some of the abbreviation definitions out there go badly against the standard. It seems unfair on knitters, especially from designers who ought to know better.
This is fascinating! I was just thinking about this very thing recently. Back in the day, I knit many colourwork yoke sweaters (late 1980s, early 1990s). In 1998 I started a sweater that has set in pieces and drop sleeves. Fast forward 25 years 😳 and I am not interested in finishing the pieces and having to sew it all together. I am so much more interested in knitting seamless pieces. Isn’t it neat to see how patterns and motivation evolves in knitting.
Thanks! It sounds like a lot of people share your experience with seamed garments. Seamed and seamless knitting have such a different rhythm, and I wonder if the popularity of seamless reflects a wider shift in society that has filtered into how we knit.
I like Raglan as it is easy to join the pieces and looks fine. Interesting article as some styles I wasn’t aware of
I’m yet to get a pieced raglan but I can see how the seams would be quite intuitive. I need to get my knitting machine back out and maybe give it a go.
I haven’t done a raglan recently myself, plain too, the seams are straight and as long as the shaping is a good fit, it is easier.
Definitely get the machine out and have ago.
With my machine someone has created a beta design where each piece has the neckline done, I want give that a go.
Most of the sweaters I make are with set-in sleeves. Maybe it just seems easier to me because I see a lot and am used to making blouses and shirts with set-in sleeves. And I like doing cables, which I think work best with set-in sleeves. I’d like to try something with a round yoke, though, because I like the look.
Nice, yes I can see how set-in sleeves must seem very natural if you do a lot of sewing.
I encourage you to give a round yoke sweater a go. They can be great fun to make, especially with colourwork.
Very interesting! I remember the 80's boxy mohair sweaters that were variations of 1960's mohair sweaters. I made those sweaters in both decades (and last winter) to show what a push over I am for fashion. I am a collector of vintage knitting patterns and the charts you have made are right on the trends I see in my patterns. Lots of fashion detailing in 1940s-60s designs - very elegant. I also remember that quality yarn and fashion forward patterns were hard to find for the average knitter during those years. The local Ben Franklin store and Red Heart yarns were what was easily available to me as a beginner. A trip to a Yarn Shop in the late 60s opened a whole new world! Yes, I agree, Ravelry is amazing. I can lose hours browsing......
Thank you! It's really nice to hear the charts match what you see in your own pattern collection. Boxy mohair in three different decades is a great track record 😄 That’s a great point about how much what people knitted depended on what yarn and patterns they could actually get locally. That's something the Ravelry data can't show at all.
Raglan shaping is my favorite! I hate sewing though, so I work modularly. I make the sleeves first and then figure out how I want them connected later. Sleeves first. Will it be a cardigan? A sweater? Or just a shrug? Let’s find out together!
💯 Excellent. An economical shoulder style for growing children is the round or circle-shaped yoke on a loose-fitting sleeveless top. They are roomy enough to grow with the child.
What a cool analysis. I think it's possible that set in sleeves had a comeback in the 2000s because vintage (60s and earlier) silhouettes were popular at the time -- they were a feature of the twee style. In the past 15 years we've moved more towards pulling inspiration from the 70s, 80s, and 90s, I think.
That’s a great point, thanks! I remember from TV shows at the time, tight-fitted cardigans ending just below the waist seemed to be pretty popular.
Trends seem to be pretty circular so maybe this will make a come back.
Very random question, but how did you make your graphs? They look beautiful!
Thank you! I used Python for these, with the Matplotlib and Pandas libraries.