Knitting Saddle Shoulders: 7 Things You’ll Wish You Knew First

When you put a saddle on a sweater, it just looks cool. Take this cabled Vintage Maple Cardigan designed by Lisa Lloyd.

Where’s the saddle? The fabric that extends from the top of the sleeve over the shoulder to the neck edge is what we call a saddle shoulder in knitting.

Lisa put a cable on the saddle, which creates a strong visual line up the arm. This element is primarily a design choice, but it does have structural effects on the whole sweater, and it impacts the measurements in other parts of the sweater.

The Vintage Maple Cardigan's saddle shoulder allows a gorgeous cable to run uninterrupted from sleeve cuff to neckline.

Let’s take a look at how saddle shoulders change a knitted sweater, and some things you should consider when knitting them. Take it from a knitter who’s been there.

7 Considerations for Saddle Shoulders:

1) Fudge the swatch at your own peril. Achieving the pattern gauge will be key to making the saddle and body work together. This includes row gauge! Make sure you swatch for stitch and row gauge in pattern.

2) Know your armhole. The Vintage Maple Cardigan is a drop-shoulder construction with saddle shoulders.