No-brainer yoke cropped top

Top-down raglan or yoke construction, especially with provisional CO (so that you can make up your mind later on neckline) is highly versatile and fun to knit. You can try it on as you knit and make adjustments in stitch and row counts, and can stop at your desired length or when you run out of yarns. This is one of those – I only had four 50g skeins of this yarn and wanted to make something meaningful out of them as a solid color piece.

I also wanted to experiment with “naturally” increasing yoke without having to keep track of where to increase how many stitches. So ribbings here change every few inches – starting out as 2-1 around the neckline, then 2-2, 3-2, and finally 3-3 at the end of yoke. While it does not subtly contour to your body as it would have if you used a more fine-tuned pattern, this method gives me a comfortable enough fit and it was very fast to knit! Sleeves are cap sleeves simply created by loose BOs while you are dividing sleeves and body. Regarding casting on underarm stitches, there are

The “dots” (or bobbles) are entirely optional – I wanted to add a whimsical element and found this technique (and actually didn’t do a very good job here!). If you want to include them, you can find a very helpful tutorial on “5 Stitch Garter Bobble” at Purl Soho.

This can be worn by itself or over long-sleeve shirts and will carry you over well into the fall.

Hope you enjoy knitting and wearing it.

Knitting chart and instructions

CO – cast on; BO – bind off

SM – stitch marker

st – stitch; R – row

RS – “right side; WS – “wrong” side

k – knit on RS/purl on WS

p – purl on RS/knit on WS

M1L – increase one knit stitch by knit into loop on left side between two stitches

M1P – increase one purl stitch by inserting into loop between two stitches

Yoke

Knit top-down from Neck until you separate cap sleeves and body.

1. Loosely CO 99/108/117/126 sts (multiple of 3), place SM1 and join.  
2. Start 2/1 rib: R1&2: “k2, p1” until SM.
3. Optional bobble at R3: “k2, 5 Stitch Garter Bobble (above), k2, p1, k2, p1″ – repeat until SM1. 
4. R4 to 8/10/12/14: repeat “k2, p1” rib until SM1.
5. Switch to 2/2 rib starting R9/11/13/15: “k2, p1, M1P” until SM. Continue through R22/26/30/34.
6. Switch to 3/2 rib starting R23/27/31/35: “k1, M1L, k1, p2″ repeat until SM1. Continue through R36/42/48/54.
7. Switch to 3/3 rib starting R37/43/49/55: “k3, p1, M1p, p1” repeat until SM1. Continue through R47/51/56/60.
8. Optional bobble: at R48/52/57/61, insert5 Stitch Garter Bobble at every 2nd purl st of 3/3 rib, i.e., “k3, p1, Bobble, p1”.
9. Finish Yoke: Knit in 3/3 rib in two more rows at R50/54/59/63 with 198/216/234/252 sts. 

Separate Cap Sleeve and Body

BO Cap Sleeves, separate from Body, knit 1R of Body, CO Underarm sts and continue to knit Body in round.

1. Divide Cap Sleeves and Body: From SM1, place SM2 after 30/33/36/39 sts (Right Sleeve), then SM3 after 69/75/81/87 sts (Front Body), and SM4 after 30/33/36/39 sts (Left Sleeve), leaving 69/75/81/37 sts (Back Body).
2. Left Cap Sleeve: From SM1, loosely BO 30/33/36/39 sts to SM2.
3. Front Body: From SM2 carry through k3/p3 rib from Yoke for 69/75/81/87 sts to SM3.
4. Right Cap Sleeve: From SM3, loosely BO 30/33/36/39 sts to SM4.
5. Back Body: From SM4, carry through k3/p3 rib from Yoke for 69/75/81/87 sts to SM1.
6. For Small:
   1. Left Underarm: From SM1, CO 16 sts to SM2. NOTE: Underarm sts will be increase to 18 in the next row by M1 on both ends. We CO fewer sts to account for slacks in Underarm CO.
   2. Front Body: From SM2, carry through p3/k3/p3 rib from Yoke, k 21, carry through p3/k3/p3 from Yoke for Front Center rib, k 21, carry through p3/k3/p3 rib from Yoke to SM3.
   3. Right Underarm: From SM3, CO16 sts to SM4. NOTE: Underarm sts will be increase to 18 in the next row by M1 on both ends. We CO fewer sts to account for slacks in Underarm CO.
   4. Back Body: From SM4, carry through k3/p3/k3/p3 rib from Yoke, k 45 sts, then carry through p3/k3/p3/k3 rib from Yoke to SM1.
   5. Left Underarm: M1 at the beginning and the end to increase st count to 18. Continue with ribbing from Back Body by p3/k3/p3/k3.
   6. Front Body: Continue with ribbing by p3/k3/p3, k 21, p3/k3/p3, k21, p3/k3/p3.
   7. Right Underarm: M1 at the beginning and the end to increase st count to 18. Continue with ribbing by k3/p3/k3/p3.
   8. Back Body: Continue with ribbing by k3/p3/k3/p3, k 45 sts, p3/k3/p3/k3, back to the beginning of Left Underarm
7. For Medium:
   1. Left Underarm: From SM1, CO 19 sts to SM2. NOTE: Underarm sts will be increase to 21 in the next row by M1 on both ends. We CO fewer sts to account for slacks in Underarm CO.
   2. Front Body: From SM2, carry through k3/p3/k3/p3 rib from Yoke, k 21, carry through p3/k3/p3 from Yoke for Front Center rib, k 21, carry through p3/k3/p3/k3 rib from Yoke to SM3.
   3. Right Underarm: From SM3, CO19 sts to SM4. NOTE: Underarm sts will be increase to 21 in the next row by M1 on both ends. We CO fewer sts to account for slacks in Underarm CO.
   4. Back Body: From SM4, carry through k3/p3/k3/p3 rib from Yoke, k 51sts, then carry through p3/k3/p3/k3 rib from Yoke to SM1.
   5. Left Underarm: M1 at the beginning and the end to increase st count to 21. Continue with ribbing from Back Body by p3/k3/p3/k3/p3/k3/p3.
   6. Front Body: Continue with ribbing by k3/p3/k3/p3, k 21, p3/k3/p3, k21, p3/k3/p3/k3.
   7. Right Underarm: M1 at the beginning and the end to increase st count to 21. Continue with ribbing by p3/k3/p3/k3/p3/k3/p3.
   8. Back Body: Continue with ribbing by k3/p3/k3/p3, k 51 sts, p3/k3/p3/k3, back to the beginning of Left Underarm.
8. For Large:
   1. Left Underarm: From SM1, CO 22 sts to SM2. NOTE: Underarm sts will be increase to 24 in the next row by M1 on both ends. We CO fewer sts to account for slacks in Underarm CO.
   2. Front Body: From SM2, carry through p3/k3/p3 rib from Yoke, k 27, carry through p3/k3/p3 from Yoke for Front Center rib, k 27, carry through p3/k3/p3 rib from Yoke to SM3.
   3. Right Underarm: SM1, CO 22 sts to SM2. NOTE: Underarm sts will be increase to 24 in the next row by M1 on both ends. We CO fewer sts to account for slacks in Underarm CO.
   4. Back Body: From SM4, carry through k3/p3/k3/p3 rib from Yoke, k 57 sts, then carry through p3/k3/p3/k3 rib from Yoke to SM1.
   5. Left Underarm: M1 at the beginning and the end to increase st count to 24. Continue with ribbing from Back Body by p3/k3/p3/k3/p3/k3/p3/k3.
   6. Front Body: Continue with ribbing by p3/k3/p3, k 27, p3/k3/p3, k27, p3/k3/p3.
   7. Right Underarm: M1 at the beginning and the end to increase st count to 24. Continue with ribbing by k3/p3/k3/p3/k3/p3/k3/p3.
   8. Back Body: Continue with ribbing by k3/p3/k3/p3, k 57 sts, p3/k3/p3/k3, back to the beginning of Left Underarm.
9. For Extra Large:
   1. Left Underarm: From SM1, CO 25 sts to SM2. NOTE: Underarm sts will be increase to 27 in the next row by M1 on both ends. We CO fewer sts to account for slacks in Underarm CO.
   2. Front Body: From SM2, carry through k3/p3/k3/p3 rib from Yoke, k 27, carry through p3/k3/p3 from Yoke for Front Center rib, k 21, carry through p3/k3/p3/k3 rib from Yoke to SM3.
   3. Right Underarm: From SM1, CO 25 sts to SM2. NOTE: Underarm sts will be increase to 27 in the next row by M1 on both ends. We CO fewer sts to account for slacks in Underarm CO.
   4. Back Body: From SM4, carry through k3/p3/k3/p3 rib from Yoke, k 63 sts, then carry through p3/k3/p3/k3 rib from Yoke to SM1.
   5. Left Underarm: M1 at the beginning and the end to increase st count to 27. Continue with ribbing from Back Body by p3/k3/p3/k3/p3/k3/p3/k3/p3.
   6. Front Body: Continue with ribbing by k3/p3/k3/p3, k 27, p3/k3/p3, k27, p3/k3/p3/k3.
   7. Right Underarm: M1 at the beginning and the end to increase st count to 27. Continue with ribbing from Front Body by p3/k3/p3/k3/p3/k3/p3/k3/p3.
   8. Back Body: Continue with ribbing by k3/p3/k3/p3, k 63 sts, p3/k3/p3/k3, back to the beginning of Left Underarm.
10. For All: continue until you reach about 1-1/2″ shorter than the desired lengths, i.e., about 6.5/7/7.5/8.5″. Switch to k3/p3 ribs all around for about 1-1/2″, loosely BO, and finish!