Am I a fool to ignore the pattern?

[SDTGisAJubilantWolefGenius]

I'm knitting a waterfall cardigan, and have finally got as far as the sleeves - only to find that I am supposed to knit them on double pointed needles - which I can't do. So would it be very foolish to knit ordinary sleeves and bodge adjust them to fit as best I can?

weeeeeeeeeeellll.....
you can do that, but you'd want to be sure where the sleeve starts, ie the seam could be on the outside.
Are the sleeves knitted seperately to be joined on when finished or are they all part of the cardigan? Is the pattern on ravelry? You could see if others have it in their projects, and what adaptations they have made?

The pattern is a Drops one - this one. I don't think it's on Ravelry, unfortunately. The sleeves are knitted seperately and sewn in afterwards.

I go to a knitting group were there are several people who make up their own patterns - I will ask their advice (I really, really don't want to have to knit them on dpns).

So what would you do, SDTG? Knit them in and down from the shoulder seam but instead of in the round, do them flat? Then just seam up under the arm?

This might look slightly strange in an otherwise seamless garment, although I have thought about doing it myself (on smaller items) because I find doing the sleeves in the round very tedious. However, I have found the two circular needle method to be good, with the added advantage you can do both sleeves at once.

Sorry, cross posted.

It is on Ravelry although some of the project notes are in Russian! You could always ask for help there.

So they're knit in the round separately and then added in after - you could do them flat although adjusting the pattern might be a bit tricky, or have a go at knitting them in the round in one of the ways potentially less painful than DPNs. You could always do one however you think is best (or adapt it to be a short sleeve so you get the basic idea without knitting the whole thing) and then see how it looks.

Lovely pattern, btw!

Oh....It's lovely. DPN's are fine once you're used to them though. If you struggle through one you'd have it nailed.
Can you use google translate on the Russian? I've done that with crochet stuff, and has worked out ok?

What is it about DPN that you don't like?

So long as you put a place marker at the beginning of the row so you know how many times you have been round the rest is just knitting- literally! No purl rows (except for the rib on the cuff) which for some reason take me longer than knit ones so that makes me happy.

Honestly, just go for it and you'll surprise yourself and have a lovely cardi with no seam. I had a thing about knitting socks - didn't think I could manage the heel but in the end when I had a go it was fine. Be brave. Practice on some old spare wool to begin with if it bothers you. The hardest part is the first 2 rounds and making sure you don't twist the first row when you start the second but if you can manage that you'll be away.

If you do knit it on 2 needles the difficulty would be where start the row - you wouldn't want the seam going up the front.

BBB, if I was going to do them flat, I'd knit them into the garment as I was doing them (i.e. cast on to the shoulder edge and knit whilst attached) to be sure of getting the sleeve under the arm.

You're right, however, that knitting them in the round separately and attaching them after means making sure the first row isn't twisted. If the OP isn't a confident circular knitter this is something to else to worry about too.

OP could also maybe make it sleeveless and just knit a rib on to the arm holes (or indeed sew one on, if the arm holes have been cast off already).

That's a good idea tribpot but that would freak me out more than using DPN! I'm not so good at making up my own version of a pattern.

DPN, on the hand, I find easy. The first thing I ever made when I was 8 or 9 (after a few rows of practicing) was a pair of gloves with a cable back and using DPN for the fingers. We all have our knitting bete Noir though. Like I say - the thought of turning a heel freaked me out for ages but I managed it in the end. It's all just knits and purls at the end of the day.

I just wondered why SDTG appears to dislike them so much and if it was something we could 'fix' because it would be easier than changing the pattern which could go wrong.

Agreed, BBB. Although I can do circular knitting on DPNs, I do prefer a circular needle (and the 2 needle method makes it even simpler).

If SDTG isn't confident in circular knitting, however, it might be a bit daunting to have two full-length sleeves to do with decreases and all sorts. The scary thing about using DPNs is having four or five of them on the go at the same time - it seems utterly baffling at first :)