It's not so difficult when working with a pattern for a drop-shouldered sweater since the only shaping on the body is for the neck, and if you have another pattern with the same number of stitches you can follow that for the neck instead. The sleeves can be slightly trickier, but in many patterns you find that sleeve increases often leave you with the same number of stitches as the back. Once you know how many stitches you want to finish with, and what you need to cast on for a comfortable cuff, the calculations aren't too complicated. I might use the other pattern for sleeve shaping too.
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It's not so difficult when working with a pattern for a drop-shouldered sweater since the only shaping on the body is for the neck, and if you have another pattern with the same number of stitches you can follow that for the neck instead. The sleeves can be slightly trickier, but in many patterns you find that sleeve increases often leave you with the same number of stitches as the back. Once you know how many stitches you want to finish with, and what you need to cast on for a comfortable cuff, the calculations aren't too complicated. I might use the other pattern for sleeve shaping too.