Tuesday, May 08, 2007

An easier way to Kitchener Stitch (also called "grafting seams" or "weaving seams")

includes a how-to
click picture
Lord Kitchener, a British general, was concerned about the state of his men's feet--their sock seams rubbed their toes bloody. Accordingly, he invented (or more likely, IMHO, he had an expert knitter invent, and then took the credit for) a way to finish off socks smoothly. This toe-ending maneuver is now called the Kitchener stitch. Other names for this maneuver are: "weaving" or "grafting" seams.

Kitchener stitch makes a very lovely ending--a sort of optical illusion that the knitting just kept going "around the corner." Without the red yarn picking out the weaving for you to follow (little picture) the seam in this sock toe would be completely invisible (big picture). Kitchener stitching is most often used for sock toes, but is sometimes used to graft other "live edges" together. One example of a recent high-fashion pattern which used huge amounts to Kitchener stitching to close the long seams at the top of dolman sleeves can be found here (scroll--fur trimmed wrap).

Now, the thing about Kitchener stitch is that it is usually done with a tapestry needle and a length of yarn, and typically terrifies knitters, being considered an "expert" skill. The needle goes in and out of the live stitches, following the complicated path that a row of knitting would take, and this accounts for the invisibility of the seam--the fabric is actually grafted together with a seam which is structurally identical to the fabric.

click picturebe my guinea pig?
MAKING IT EASIER

For some time, I have been nursing the theory that maybe the reason why some knitters avoid Kitchener stitch is because it is actually a species of sewing. It is my theory that if it you didn't have to dig out a tapestry needle -- if it could be done with knitting needles -- Kitchener-o-phobic knitters might find it more attractive.

After a bit of messing around, this new unvention has emerged--a way to graft seams shut with knitting needles. This TECH-unvention is now ready to spring upon the world.

This post asks you, dear readers, to fill the role of guinea pigs. My fellow blogger, kmkat, was the first guinea pig--she graciously volunteered to be a test-knitter before this post was ever published, and she found that the instructions worked for her. Now, perhaps you will try these instructions out for yourself and see whether you like this new method.

Like the traditional sewing method, this new way is still done with a length of yarn pulled through the loops, but the "stitches" are real knitting stitches (knit and purl) not sewing stitches, and the work is done only with knitting needles--you can leave the tapestry needle in the cross-stitch kit, where it belongs.

SET UP
click picture
K st set up
When you have finished the toe of a sock, you must set up your work as follows: arrange all the front (instep) stitches on one double pointed needle, and all the back (sole) stitches on another double pointed needle--in the instructions which follow, these two needles are called the left needles, both front and rear. The yarn should be coming out of the last stitch on the rear needle--in other words, by the right hand end of the rear left needle, as illustrated above.

For a typical sock toe, about 15 inches of yarn will be more than enough--cut the yarn to that length. This 15 inch length of yarn (illustrated in red, above) is the "working yarn." The work is actually done by manipulating this working yarn, using a third double pointed needle, the "right-" or "working needle." To complete your set-up, you must take this working needle into your right hand, while holding the two left needles in your left hand.

A final note before beginning: Although this method is done with knitting needles, it is different than knitting because it is done with a CUT LENGTH OF YARN--which we are calling the "working yarn." Instead of making endless loops, you are going to do something unusual with your knitting needle--you are going to use it to draw the working yarn ALL THE WAY THROUGH each loop each time. If you look at the illustrations below, you will see that the working yarn (red) passes AS A SINGLE STRAND, through the stitch being worked. In other words, with each of the 4 steps listed below, the working yarn is to be pulled all the way through the stitch until the end of the working yarn has popped free, as illustrated.

HOW TO KITCHENER STITCH with
KNITTING NEEDLES
Step 1:
click picture
K st step1
Wrap (bring) the working yarn around to the front of the work. Insert the right working needle over the yarn and use the working yarn to PURL the first stitch (green) on the left front needle. Draw the working yarn backwards all the way through this stitch until the end of the working yarn pops free. The loose end of the working yarn (red) will now be in the area between the left needles. This stitch (green) you were working is fully bound off--push this stitch off the left front needle.

Step 2:
click picturek st step2
The working yarn should now be in the area between the left front and left rear needles. Insert the right working needle into the next stitch (purple)--which is the second stitch on the left front needle. Use the working yarn to KNIT this stitch. Draw the working yarn forward all the way through this stitch until the end of the working yarn pops free of the stitch. The loose end of the working yarn (red) will now be in the front of the work. The stitch (purple) you were working on is only half bound off--you must leave this stitch on the left front needle.

Step 3:
click picture
Wrap the working yarn around to the back of the work. Insert the right working needle into first stitch on the left rear needle (blue) and use the working yarn to KNIT this stitch. Draw working yarn forward all the way through this stitch until the end of the working yarn pops free. The loose end of the working yarn (red) will now be in the area between the left needles. The stitch (blue) you were working is fully bound off--push this stitch off the left rear needle.

Step 4:
click picture
The working yarn should be in the area between the left front and left rear needles. Insert the right working needle into the second stitch on the left rear needle (teal) and use the working yarn to PURL this stitch. Draw the working yarn backwards all the way through this stitch until the end of the working yarn pops free. The loose end of the working yarn (red) will now be at the back of the work. The stitch (teal) you were working is only half bound off--you must leave this stitch on the left rear needle.

These four steps are repeated again and again to create a Kitchener stitched seam. If you want to chant the steps to yourself as you work, here is the mantra:
  • Step 1: Purl front, push the stitch off
  • Step 2: Knit front, leave the stitch on
  • Step 3: Knit rear, push the stitch off
  • Step 4: Purl rear, leave the stitch on
(When my kids hear me chanting like this, they know to stay away until the muttering ceases.)

TENSION and SPEED
Resist the temptation to give the yarn a good yank as you pull it through. Instead be mild in your adjustment--remember, when you're drawing the working yarn through the stitches, you don't have a knitting needle around which to form your loop. Therefore, if you want your Kitchener stitch to look like the rest of your fabric, you've got to leave enough extra slack to approximate the loop the working yarn would otherwise make around a knitting needle. Some instructions have you adjust the tension at the end, but that is really only possible with a smooth yarn over a short span. The hairier your yarn (or the longer your span) the more it pays to learn to adjust the tension as you go.

This work goes MUCH slower than you expect, because each set of 4 steps only re-creates what amounts to 1 knit stitch. In other words, even if you could do this as fast as actual knitting, it would take four times as long. Since kitchener stitch actually takes a good deal longer than actual knitting, progress seems glacial. Persevere, however, and you will have lovely toes (or at least, your socks will).

(Many thanks again to kmkat for her behind-the-scenes willingness to test-knit these instructions before publication, and also for her valuable feedback. If you would like to volunteer to be a TECHknitting test-knitter, please contact me at "techknitting@hotmail.com" Thanks. )

--TECHknitter You have been reading TECHknitting on: A new way to Kitchener stitch, also called "grafting seams" and "weaving seams."

49 Comments:

Blogger Airhen said...

Sometimes I think knitters think something is hard just because they're told it's "an expert" technique. I'm new enough not to know any better and find that most things can be fingured out with a little patience. I do hate digging out the tapestry needle, though. It's all the way on the other side of the room!

May 8, 2007 10:38 AM  
Anonymous kmkat said...

My real problem with Kitchener stitch, no matter what method I'm using, is that if I look up from what I am doing without remembering exactly which step I was on, I'm lost. Sometimes I can figure out what I just did and hence what I need to do next, sometimes not. My test-Kitchenering has a wonky couple stitches halfway across where I did that last thing. What I do that works, assuming I remember, is to never, ever stop unless I have just completed step 4. Then I know to just start over at the beginning.

If someone could do a tutorial on how to read Kitchener stitch in progress it would be a great help :-)

May 8, 2007 12:47 PM  
Blogger Micki said...

Even though I'm one of those mutants who has always enjoyed doing Kitchener stitch with a yarn needle, I think your unvention is bloody brilliant!

May 8, 2007 5:21 PM  
Anonymous marjorie said...

I've never tried Kitchener as you show it (I've used a tapestry needle), but it always has been an obstacle. I still need to practice before I do it on the actual project. My initial problem arose because my stitches are not oriented on the needle as you show. Being a combined knittter, I have to reposition them so they are. (And the "knitwise" and "purlwise"' instructions of conventional knitting make my head spin.) My second problem is starting the first stitch, and I think your directions will solve that problem. After that, it is reasonably smooth sailing, but it is definitely an advantage to use knitting needles. I'll try your method on my next pair of socks.

The first time I had to close a sock using Kitchener stitch, my husband accused me of using language that would make a sailor blush.

primetimeknitter.typepad.com

May 9, 2007 6:45 AM  
Blogger MaryjoO said...

I'm 2/3 finished with a sock at the moment, so I will get back to you in a few days with my attempt! Sounds intriguing ... Maryjo

May 9, 2007 8:16 AM  
Blogger Kathleen said...

I KNEW there had to be a way to do this! Can't wait to try it on my next pair of socks.

May 10, 2007 4:30 PM  
Blogger Ilene said...

Just bought yarn for the first socks I'llhave knitted in almost 30 years! Now I have what looks like a great way to finish them. Thanks.

May 13, 2007 3:06 PM  
Blogger catsmum said...

I don't mind doing kitchener stitch with a tapestry needle but that doesn't mean I'm going to ignore your unvention. On first read through it makes sense so I'm going to try it next time I need to graft toesies.
[ and a slightly belated happy half-blogversary ]

May 13, 2007 8:52 PM  
Blogger noricum said...

I think the problem a lot of people have with kitchener stitch is that they try to memorize steps, instead of simply understanding how a strand of yarn moves along a single row.

I noticed that the first two stitches only end up with the yarn passing through them once. I think if you add the following two steps to the very beginning, then repeat the four step process, you'll have the yarn pass through every loop twice:
preliminary step 1 (Step 2): Knit front, leave the stitch on
preliminary step 2 (Step 4): Purl rear, leave the stitch on
(I haven't tried it to double check if it will work or not.)

May 14, 2007 11:28 PM  
Blogger --TECHknitter said...

Hi Noricum--

I was wondering whether anyone would bring this up! The thing is, the first two stitches start off with a yarn already through them--it is what ties them to their neighboring stitches, and that yarn was put there when you did the original knitting. So you actually can just start right off in pattern. Same with the last two stitches.

Thanks for writing, (and hello, Winnipeg!)

--TECHknitter

May 15, 2007 7:36 AM  
Anonymous Zoe said...

I'm wondering if you have any hints on grafting lace? I've made three lace shawls now and the very last step is grafting the start and end rows of the lace edging together. I've tried three different things so far: a standard graft (looks like a sewn seam, yucky!), a very loose graft that I go back and adjust the tension on to simulate the pattern(okay but not great) and a three needle bind off that still looks like a seam but not as bad as a standard graft. The problem is the lace yarnovers - a standard kitchener puts a full stitch where a yarnover would maintain the lace pattern.

Anyway, any tips or insights you might have would be so appreciated!

May 15, 2007 9:40 AM  
Blogger --TECHknitter said...

Hi Zoe: I wish I could see the problem. From a long distance away, and using only words, the easiest thing I can think of is to add an extra row of plain knitting before trying the grafting, so the YO's aren't at the edge--then do the Kitchener L-O-O-S-E-L-Y adjusting the tension as best as possible afterwards. An extra row of knitting is probably going to be less obvious than having a row which interferes with the pattern.

Another trick along these lines would be to make the YO one row early, and then you'd have a plain stitch to work at the grafting edge--a plain stitch where the YO ought to be. Having the YO one row early will distort the pattern, but again, it is a lesser of two evils situation--that distortion might well be less obvious than a frank seam.

You could also try "manufacturing" a YO where you need one, by working off two stitches together--but play with that in scrap yarn first.

A different sort of solution might be to find an edging pattern which has points which wane all the way down to the fabric edge--a sort of repeated "V" shape where the points of the lace come all the way down to the fabric edge-this sort of edging completely eliminates the problem. If you want a more elaborate edge, work a round and round edge first, THEN put the points on, side to side over the first edging.

One final thought--you KNOW where to look--your eyes go first to the graft, ignoring the rest of the beautiful lace work. No one else's eyes do that. What looks horrible to you is probably never going to be noticed by any other eyes--so take heart!

--TECHknitter

May 15, 2007 11:37 AM  
Blogger alt.ayu said...

Thank you so much for posting this! I tried this out and it's worked well on my socks! :) I really appreciate this!

June 6, 2007 8:27 AM  
Blogger --TECHknitter said...

Dear alt.ayu-- I'm glad it worked for you--it is kind of you to write and let me know. As you could tell by the little guinea pig with needles, this is a new trick, not as well field-tested as some others. so feedback on this one is especially valuable.

--TECHknitter

June 6, 2007 7:29 PM  
Blogger Ashley said...

Worked great for me, and I found that it took care of one problem I always have with tapestry-needle Kitchener: the little "ear" that sticks out from the first couple of stitches, if you know what I mean!

June 12, 2007 10:11 PM  
Blogger Kathy said...

Wow! That is so much simpler than the sewing method. I came to your blog looking for help with Kitchener because I was almost done a pair of slippers and I knew the toes would be obvious if they weren't right and I've never been happy with my sock toes. Thsi worked so well.

Thanks!

June 15, 2007 12:15 PM  
Blogger fleegle said...

Dear Tech Knitter--

I wonder if you could translate these directions for garter stitch. I have just spent hundreds of hours finishing a Shetland shawl. I have the beginning stitches of the border on one needle and the ending stitches of the border on a second needle. They need to be joined with a purl row.

After 14 hours of trying, I gave up and threw the entire gossamer shawl in the trash bin. If you can explain how to graft these two rows together, I will fish it out and give it one more try.

I usually have no trouble grafting anything, but I made the terrible mistake of trying to use someone's brilliant suggestion for doing this. Unfortunately, it turns out that only someone who can easily visualize tesseract construction could follow his directions.

I am at a loss. Help?

October 11, 2007 9:25 AM  
Blogger Lisa said...

Thank you! I bookmarked this back in May for the next time I needed to graft and just used it yesterday. My previous attempt at grafting left me in tears (and I KNOW that it should not) and it was only 4 stitches on each side! This was not only easy to follow, it was FUN. It made finishing seem like less of a chore and just more of the fun knitting part.
Thanks again! I love all of your techniques but this one is literally a life changer ;)

October 14, 2007 8:57 AM  
Blogger TussahSilk said...

Thanks so much for this tutorial. I found you through Ravelry, and now you are book-marked as my go-to reference. Being left handed, I found Kitchener impossible to do. But your instructions were wonderfully clear. Now I can't pretend that my first attempt came out perfectly, but it is heads and shoulders above the nonsense I was doing before. Thanks for sharing.

December 3, 2007 5:54 PM  
Blogger katharine said...

So I should have read the 'Don't yank' part before I started but it really was clear to follow and worked out great.

January 29, 2008 2:19 PM  
Blogger Cynthia A. said...

Bloody Hallelujah! Thank you, Thank you - you are clever, and my sock is done! On to #2...

January 30, 2008 9:58 PM  
Blogger Patti said...

I'll try this on my next sock (just now turning the heel). I feared Kitchener too, but after about 10,000 sock toes grafted I finally got the hang of it. (as you have no doubt deduced, I'm a slow learner) thanks for your great blog, I love learning new knitting tricks!

January 31, 2008 3:14 PM  
Blogger knitknots said...

Tried it and liked it. Kudos to your illustrator and congrats if you share that talent too!

I'm stuck trying to make the last 2 stitches work. When I have 1 stitch on the left front, and 1 on the left rear, I can't complete step 2.

Thanks, Knitknots in Kananaskis

February 9, 2008 3:21 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Simply Brilliant. I am using it and I love not having to thread a needle
-Socker in California

March 3, 2008 2:44 PM  
Anonymous dulcian said...

Thanks for unventing this technique! I found it more intuitive than the tapestry needle method as I was going along, since whether one must knit or purl the next stitch is indicated by the position of the working yarn relative to the stitch in question.

It was also easier to keep the correct tension using your knitting needle method. I tensioned the yarn around my hand for each stitch as if I were knitting normally, which I think helped. I ended up with a gorgeous sock toe with a minimum of futzing after the fact.

March 9, 2008 3:12 PM  
Anonymous Tilly said...

Hi TechKnitter
Thanks for your amazing resource, you are an absolute treasure to the knitting community.

I finished my first pair of socks about a month ago, and the only bit I was unhappy with was the toe seam.

Your unvention has encouraged me to go get the socks back (they were a gift), frog the seam out and try again.

Thanks!

April 15, 2008 6:06 AM  
Blogger Suzanne said...

I have tried kitchener several times with a yarn needle unsuccessfully. Your directions were easy to follow and mine came out beautiful this time. I did it on purse handles. I can't even tell which row is the grafted row. Thanks so much!

June 14, 2008 4:25 PM  
Blogger lababla said...

I had tried that tubular CO for my socks, but it was with a tapestry needle and all stitches on one needle. I love the "3-needles" style, it makes it clearer where we stand.
Now my variations are : I do only 2 prep rows instead of 4, during the last row/round and immediately use the 2 circular needles so that I skip the slip-stitches-only round...Ok,well it saves maybe only 2 minutes in the process. I will try the last part with a crochet next time.
I also found a good mnemotechnic to remember what to do for the "chanting" : knit stitches as they appear (knit in RS and purl in WS), however I intentionnaly make a mistake every time I start on a new needle: RS should be knit ?...ooops I did purl, so I drop the stitch off the needle, then I knit and keep it. WS should be purl?...ooops I did knit, so I drop the stitch off the needle, then I purl and keep it.

July 23, 2008 4:50 AM  
Blogger andrea.at.the.blue.door said...

Doing kitchener this way has CHANGED MY LIFE!!! I've been knitting for over 25 years and hated doing kitchener with a tapestry needle and could never get comfortable with it, but this evening I finished off two socks without having to think about it very much and they look great. I'm a southpaw, so I did reverse the entire set of directions.

August 2, 2008 1:39 AM  
Blogger Ms. Packrat said...

What about the last stitch on each needle? That seems to be a little problematic to me or am I just freaking?

August 21, 2008 6:20 PM  
Anonymous Pam Murphy said...

Dear TECHknitter,

Oh. My. Gosh. I love your brain! I applied for a position as "Stunt Stitcher" for Stitch Diva.com (what a tough test!) and one of the techniques was tubular bind off. Ouch! Never did so many hard techniques at one time in my life and never have done tubular CO or BO. And so, thank you! I am putting you in my faves.

A note to Kmkat. I joted down where the yarn is at on each mantra step techknitter wrote.

Step 1: Yarn from back to front.
Step 2: Yarn between neeldes.
Step 3: Yarn from front to back.
Step 4: Yarn between needles.
(I think that's right)
This way if you need to stop the process you'll be able to figure out where you left off.
Hope that helps ya'!

I'm pretty good at sewing but, to be honest, my kitchener with a needle, is ugly. Makes me wanna get out the shears to stab out my eyes! lol But with a knitting needle it's great. With a little practice I should get my tension nice.

Thanks again.

Have a nice day.
Pam Murphy

August 25, 2008 3:03 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi, I found this tip by googling. Thanks goodness! I learned to knit in 1959 and have always had a dread of grafting. I just did your method and it was easy! Thanks for the freedom after all these years! Kathi in Calif

November 7, 2008 12:46 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thank you!

November 9, 2008 5:35 PM  
Blogger Lucy said...

This sounds great and very logical to me. I've used a similar method of drawing the yarn end right through live stitches many times when I need to, for example, put thumb gusset stitches on waste yarn and don't have a darning needle with me. It's useful to know how to do things without some tools! Don't you have to get the needle out to weave in the ends though?

November 18, 2008 4:19 PM  
Blogger --TECHknitter said...

Great question, Lucy! You're right, to weave in the ends you will need a needle--I use a sharp - pointed sewing needle (not a dull pointed tapestry needle) and skim in the ends. Good point!

--TK

PS:

Cut and past this into your browser to find the post on skimming:

http://techknitting.blogspot.com/2007/07/part-1-of-working-in-ends-with-sewing.html

November 19, 2008 8:59 AM  
Blogger Leonie said...

On my first pair of socks which I knit top down, I went looking on Ravelry for a hint on binding off the toe and found this link. Godsend? Yes absolutely. My sock knitting friends were impressed with the grafting and it was simple enough that when I went on holidays the next week and had to graft the second toe, I did it from memory! I then showed the method to a sock knitter from way back, again from memory and she had the hang of it from the second set of 4. It is a fabulous method which I will always use. Thank you for having such a clever brain and for releasing it's cleverness upon the knitting community!!!

November 30, 2008 4:24 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Clever. I have to hurry and knit up another pair of socks to try it out. Thanks!

December 16, 2008 5:43 PM  
Anonymous mbcpacat said...

Hey, that really worked! Didn't make sense while I was doing it, but the finished product looks great. The other instructions for Kitchener stitch always made me feel like a bumbling moron. Thanks!!!

December 30, 2008 9:37 PM  
Blogger Suzie said...

Thank you Techknitter. I have been doing this for years (never can find those tapestry needles, it's KNITTING not sewing). Aside, I have dozens of tapestry needles, as I usually have to buy a new package if I really need one, then have three or four which I lose before the next time I need them.)

You explanation is so clear. I never could explain what I was doing. I just called it knitting together, and I knew it was a variation of Kitchner stitch, but now I have a way to tell others about it.

It is fairly easy to tell where you are, if you just trace a line of yarn through regular knitting, you will see that you are just pulling the yarn through the live stitches in exactly the same way. I even do it with two by two rib, although the ribs will NEVER NEVER wind up meeting exactly so don't expect them to.

This exact technique can be used to mend knitting which has had a stitch torn or broken and unraveled a bit. It is so very useful.

I am thrilled to have found you blog today. Thank you for all your hard work in teaching us these techniques.

Suzie Volksknitter

January 15, 2009 1:05 PM  
Blogger Debbie said...

Do you have directions for your grafting method for left handed people and/or for grafting cables (moving between knit and purl stitches - cables and background)?
Thanks,
Debbie

February 4, 2009 12:49 PM  
Blogger --TECHknitter said...

Hi Debbie--The directions you want will be posted on the TECHknitting blog someday--but not soon, I'm afraid. Stay tuned--maybe next year!

--TK

February 4, 2009 8:37 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks very much for posting this. It worked great for me! maggie

February 28, 2009 5:40 PM  
Blogger Judy said...

I just tried this technique and found it much easier than using a tapestry needle. Another commenter asked my question: what about the last stitch on each needle? What do you do with them?

March 20, 2009 10:19 AM  
Anonymous Benjamin said...

I tried that, and it was faster than with a tapestry needle, but it didn't.... hold? if that makes sense... like, i tried using a contrasting color and 2 swatches, and they didn't turn out quite so hot. i suppose i need more practice with it, but i've actually tried something similar to this with weaving in ends on a hat. love your blog and the traveling jogless stripes, too. you are BRILLIANT!

April 29, 2009 6:19 PM  
Blogger PenCraft said...

I'm leaving a comment in response to Zoe and the lace grafting. Mind you, I haven't tried this, but it sure seems like it would work. Would it be possible to work a few rows after the row to be grafted in pattern with a waste yarn in a contrasting color. I suppose you would have to do this on both ends. Then, could you replicate the path of that waste yarn for your graft? Just a thought.

May 7, 2009 1:04 PM  
Anonymous Margie Watkins said...

I, too, have trouble with lace grafting (and my edging has YOs and k2tog's every row) and the last two stitches in grafting a sock toe. I would love to have TECHknitter's input!!

May 12, 2009 9:11 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I don't think you have ANY idea JUST how helpful this was to me! I have searched the internet many times over trying to find a successful site that has accurately and intricately described this damn stitch! I bow to you.

June 20, 2009 8:34 PM  
Anonymous GardeningWitch said...

Hi,

I just found your blog after hearing about it on the Electric Sheep podcast. I'd just like to say how helpful your blog is, and how immediately useful the article about Kitchener Stitch is in particular! The instructions and diagrams are excellent.

Thanks very much for sharing your knowledge.

GardeningWitch.

September 24, 2009 8:47 AM  
Blogger Agness said...

Just tried this for the same time, and on mohair lace to boot (the alpine section of "Wrapped in Tradition"). Works like a charm!

October 20, 2009 6:01 AM  

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