One of the things that can make or break a sweater is your armhole depth. If it’s too tight, your sweater will bunch under the arm (not to mention be very uncomfortable), if it’s too loose your sweater can look sloppy.
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Choosing the right size is the most vital step to a happy sweater, and a very important element of that is understanding . . .
How to Measure Armhole Depth
One of the best things to do to get a great fitting sweater is to measure a sweater that fits you well. However, that does not mean curving the tape measure under the arm.
- Put a straight edge under the armhole
- Measure from the shoulder (where the sleeve is seamed into the sweater) straight down.
Here is the small of the Corcoran 2.0 and you can see the armhole depth is 7 1/4″.
This is a finished garment measurement that is your body measurement + ease. The biggest mistake knitters make is in measuring their body. I often see knitters put the tape measure at their shoulder and wrap it around into their armpit. This is not armhole depth, but 1/2 an armscye measurement.
When I do this, I get a measurement of 7″ (not my real armhole depth)
How to take your body armhole measurement
- Put a needle under your arm
- Put the tape measure on your shoulder (where the sweater front would seam to the back)
- Drop the tape measure straight down
When I do this I get my actual armhole depth, a little under 6″
So why do we curve around the top of the shoulder, but not under the arm. The answer is in our knitting.
Here’s a tiny sample of an armhole. Notice how the curve of the under the arm is in our knitting
But the curve along the top of the shoulder is in the seaming of the two straight armholes together.
To prove the point . . . when I curve my 7 1/4″ armhole depth sample around and put the tape measure around the curve. It measures 8 1/4″
So . . . if I had measured “armhole depth” by curving the tape measure under my arm and got 7″ and then added ease to that I would choose an 8″ – 8 1/2″ armhole depth – and it would be WAY too big on me.
When I measure the armhole depth properly and get a little under 6″ and then added ease to it I would choose a 7″ – 7 1/2″ armhole depth and it will fit me perfectly.
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