It occurred to me after my last project (Crazy Knit-in-the-Round Cardigan) that one might start a sweater anywhere one wants. And, I generally prefer the look of a decrease to that of an increase. But I like to work top down so that I can try on the almost-finished sweater and fine-tune the length. But I also like to come at the neckline from the bottom-up so that I can shape the neck with some short rows.

So here’s what I’ve done: started a good-old raglan with a provisional cast-on just below the joining of the sleeves and the body, then worked up to the neck. And then gone back to the cast-on to pick up and knit down to the bottom hem.

One more quirk: I like the look of a square neck as opposed to the rectangle neck opening of a traditional raglan. Yet the sleeves need to be smaller than that would give us in proportion to the body of the sweater. So what I’ve done is adjusted the direction of the raglan decreases to accommodate these needs.