Before you work the body for Brookdale, it’s a good idea to decide if you want to adjust the length. Or if you’re thinking of omitting the A-line shaping, then you should decide on this before you cast-on. First let’s talk about length adjustments.

Omitting the A-line shaping

If you just want a straight body shape and no A-line shaping, it’s actually quite easy! Here is what you do:

• Step 1: Cast-on for 1 size smaller. For example, if you want to knit size 5, cast-on for size 4.
• Step 2: In “A-line body shaping” sections 1 & 2, just omit the “ssk” and “k2tog” you see on the decrease rows.
• By omitting those decreases, you’ll notice that after “A-line Body Shaping-section 2” that your stitch count will match that of the size you intended to knit.

Adjusting length of Brookdale

If you may just want to add 1-2” of length

As written, Brookdale’s underarm to hem length is 13.5”, with a total garment length from shoulder down to the hem of 20.25 (20.5, 20.75, 21.25, 21.75) (22.25, 22.5, 23.25, 23.5)”. If you just want to add 1-2” of length to this, then I would suggest following the pattern as written, but in the “Remaining Body” section, simply working rows 1-2 until you reach your desired length (instead of just repeating them 5 times). This is the area right under the underarms, after all of the body decreases have been made.

If you want to add 3”+ of length

To add significant length, I’d suggest adding rows in 2 places:

• Adding 1-2” of the desired extra length in the “Remaining Body” section (just like you would do above). This is the area right under the underarms, after all of the body decreases have been made.
• Adding the remaining inches in the “A-line Body Shaping – Section 1”.
  • At this point, it’s easier to break things down by rows, so let’s say you want to add 4” of length. Let’s add 1” of this to the “Remaining Body” section which means I have 3” worth of length to add in-between my body decreases. I multiple this by my rows-per-inch (which is 6) and I get 18 rows. Make sure this number is divisible by 6 – if it’s not then just round up or down.
  • Take this 18 rows and divide it by 6. I get the number 3 – this is the number of extra times you will repeat rows 1-2 in this “A-line Body Shaping – section 1”. So in the pattern it says to repeat rows 1-2: 5 more times, but instead I will repeat them 8 more times (I’ve added 3 repeats). This gains you 6 extra rows, and then when you are instructed to repeat all of section 1 2 more times, you’ll wind up with your total of 18 extra rows added.