2025 Round Yoke Pattern Drafting Class
What Does This Class Include?
We will draft round yoke pullover sweaters in this class, beginning with the percentage system that was used for hand knitting patterns, then we will draft patterns that are adapted from raglans. These fit most people more comfortably, and will include short raglan seams below the yoke, curved back, front and sleeve edges below the yoke, and an optional back neck extension.
The first of these adapted raglan patterns is drafted using paper and pencil. No special skills or prerequisits are required, but there is math involved, so a calculator is recommended. The second class will use DesignaKnit software, and you do need the software to take this class. It will cover the same information as the paper and pencil method.
You will receive PDFs of the lessons, and each meeting will be recorded with Zoom, so you can watch the recording if you are not able to attend. There is a huge amount of information. The PDFs will really make a book-length collection, so I recommend getting a 3-ring binder, or something similar, to keep all of it together.
We will do a Knit Along after the six scheduled lessons. If you wish to participate in this optional step, you will need enough yarn to knit a pullover sweater in the size you choose, and one that is suitable for your knitting machine (standard, midgauge or bulky).
Therefore, the requirements for this class are: pencil with an eraser, paper (plain copier paper is fine) a calculator, a ruler and optional yarn for the knitalong. You might also find an inexpensive french curve drafting tool helpful, but it is not absolutely necessary, since the curves can be drawn in freehand.
Pattern Drafting Classes Zoom Meeting Schedule
February 17, 2025 11 am – 1 pm Arizona/mountain standard time, USA
Lesson 1: A Brief History of the Round Yoke Pullover and Using the Percentage System to Draft a Round Yoke Pullover
This is the oldest drafting method, made popular by Elizabeth Zimmerman in the 1960s. It is still being used by many hand-knitting pattern designers, though the percentages have changed over the years. We will draft a garment in class using this method as inspiration then altering the pattern to make a machine knitting pullover pattern. We will cover using the Magic Formula in this class and I will also provide a spreadsheet calculator that does the math for you.
February 24, 2025 11 am – 1 pm Arizona/mountain standard time, USA
Lesson 2: Drafting a Round Yoke Pullover From a Raglan – Paper and Pencil Method
We will use a quarter scale raglan pullover pattern in class, cut it apart, and turn it into a round yoke pullover. A raglan pattern is provided for you to use in this class.
March 3, 2025 11 am – 1 pm Arizona/mountain standard time, USA
Lesson 3: Drafting a Round Yoke Pullover From a Raglan – DesignaKnit Method
DesignaKnit does not have a round yoke pattern at this time, so we must make our own. We will start with DesignaKnit’s raglan pattern, cut it apart digitally in the software, and convert it into a round yoke pullover. This covers only how to draft the garment itself and does not include stitch patterns.
March 10, 2024 11 am – 1 pm Arizona/mountain standard time, USA
Lesson 4: Adding Stitch Patterns to the Yoke Tiers
This lesson covers how to adjust length and width of the tiers to accommodate stitch patterns. This will include “how-to-do-it” in DesignaKnit, but we will also discuss how to do it with punch cards. Punch card machines have much more rigid requirements to get patterns to stack vertically, so we will cover this in detail.
March 17, 2024 11 am – 1 pm Arizona/mountain standard time, USA
Lesson 5: Converting Hand Knit Patterns to Machine Knit Patterns
Some patterns are easy to convert, some are not. We will cover what to look for, then work through converting a difficult one.
March 24, 2024 11 am – 1 pm Arizona/mountain standard time, USA
Lesson 6: Converting Hand Knit Patterns to Machine Knit Patterns, Part 2
Finishing what to look for in hand knit patterns, converting the pullover pattern into a cardigan, and any thing else necessary to complete this class.
Zoom meeting dates/times for a KnitAlong to be determined at the end of this class.
The fee for this class is $35 US funds. For an invoice click PayPal
This link takes you directly to PayPal’s website. I do not store your payment information here. Please note that you can use PayPal, Venmo, debit or credit cards for this transaction using this link.