What Is the Difference Between Raglan and Circular Yoke?

The difference lies in how stitches are increased. Raglan has four diagonal lines from the neckline down to the sleeves (two in front and two in back), while circular yoke increases are spread evenly around the entire round. This creates both a different look and a slightly different fit.

Raglan

A raglan sweater is shaped with four raglan lines, often made up of one stitch each. Stitches are increased on both sides of these lines, for both the body and the sleeves. The most common method is to increase every other round. The result is four distinct diagonal lines running from the neckline down to the sleeves.

Raglan is:
- easy to knit
- simple to adjust as you go
- easy to try on

For these reasons, raglan is often the easiest place to start if you are knitting a sweater for the first time.

Circular Yoke

A sweater with a circular yoke has no visible increase lines. Instead, stitches are increased evenly distributed around the entire round on specific rounds. Between these rounds, several rounds are knitted without increases.

This gives the yoke a smooth, round shape. Circular yoke is often used in sweaters with patterns on the yoke because the increases are spread evenly around the work without forming distinct lines.

Which Should You Choose?

It depends entirely on the look you want and what you want to knit. Raglan is often easiest if you are a beginner. Circular yoke works well if you want to knit a pattern on the yoke.

If you want to make a sweater tailored to your own measurements, you can use the "Create Pattern" feature here on MarenKnit. There you can generate a pattern for a sweater with either raglan or circular yoke, based on your measurements and desired size and fit.

That way, you don’t have to do the math yourself and can start knitting right away!