If you've been reading this thread, you know that one of my mantras is "when you're done knitting you should be done." You should have a piece ready to wear unless you believe in washing and blocking first.
What I did on a recent jumper is inside out of what you do knitting bottom up with steeking at the armholes. You put the underarm stitches on a holder, then when it's time to work the sleeves, you pick up the underarm stitches, cut the steeking and use a crochet hook to pull yarn through the stitches next to the steeking, then work the sleeve.
For a top-down raglan, when you are ready to close the body, you cast on stitches for the underarms and put the sleeve stitches on holders.
First, use the cable cast on for these stitches and make sure there are 10 for worsted, 12 for sport/DK and 14 for fingering.
When you finish the body, move the sleeve stitches from the holder to a circular needle.
Make a slip knot and put it on the working needle, then pull the last sleeve stitch over it.
Use a crochet hook. Put it into the stitch under each cast-on stitch, pull the yarn to the outside and put it on the working needle. When you've picked up all the cast-ons, put the crochet hook between the last stitch and the first body stitch, put that on the working needle and then the first body stitch. Pass the last stitch over, put the body stitch back, and work the sleeve as usual.
Now you don't have to sew an underarm seam or close it with Kitchener stitch. All you may want to do is close up large or stretched stitches.
You only need this if your raglan increases haven't given you the right count of stitches in the body when you've done enough rows to reach the armpits. If you do have enough stitches, just cast on one, put the next sleeve or body stitch on the same needle, pass the cast-on over that, and keep knitting.
The PSSOs help close gaps.
When you do bottom up raglan, as far as I can tell, you will still have to close those armpits with Kitchener stitch. If you have an alternative, let us all know.
