Working in too-short ends: a classic dressmaker's trick, handy for knitters

Is there a knitter anywhere who has not had to work in a too-short end? The fix often smells faintly of desperation such as a dot of glue, or spells a lot of hard work, such as undoing the knitting to lengthen the end. Here is a classic dressmaking technique which may save the day next time you're faced with an end too short to work in by conventional means.

In illustration 1, there are two ends waiting to be worked in: one green and one pink. The green end is long enough to work in by the ordinary "skimming in" method, so first we'll see how that works. Then we'll look at the variation on this method which is a clever dressmaker's trick to work in the very short pink end.


Illustration 2 shows threading the green end through the eye of the needle.


Illustration 3: Pierce the needle through one or two plies of each underlying stitch, as shown.


Illustration 4: Draw the needle up all the way, which draws the end through the piercings you have made. Once the yarn is all drawn through, remove the needle from the yarn end by working the end out of the needle's eye. This leaves the yarn "skimmed in" to the back of the work. (For more information about the skimming-in method, click here.)

With the too-short end, this simple technique will not work, because the end to be worked in is shorter than the sewing needle. So, as shown in Illustration 5, if the yarn cannot be brought to the needle, the needle must be brought to the yarn. This is done by using the unthreaded needle to pierce through one or two plies of several stitches, as shown.


Illustration 6: Stop the needle when the eye is just opposite the too-short end. Without moving the needle, use some form of sewing ingenuity or employ some tiny tools such as a tiny crochet hook, or a needle-threading hook, or a wire threader for hand sewing to draw the too-short end through the eye of the needle.


Once the needle is threaded, draw up the needle, and keep drawing it up. As the needle travels through the fabric, the too-short end be drawn out of the eye, and will come off in the fabric.In other words, the needle will come out naked, but along the way, the too-short end will have been worked in to its fullest possible length, and illustration 7 shows the finished result.

One final note and two final links: The sort of needle to use for this job is a sharp pointed needle, and this is because you want to pierce through the underlying yarn. For more info about the two different types of sewing needles, click here. And, just in case you missed the link above for more information about the "skimming in" technique, click here.

--TK

You have been reading TECHknitting on: "working in short ends in knitting"

Matching your cast-on to your bind-off

Knitters often ask about making the cast-on edge match the bound off edge. ("Bind off" is also sometimes called "cast off," the two terms are interchangeable.) Making matching edges is especially important for knitting with lots of long edges, where the edges are close together: this scarf, for example.

Although this blog has touched on this issue in other posts, today's post puts it all together in one place: a TECHknitting round-up of how to match cast-on and bind-off. At the bottom of each method are the links to the illustrated how-to's.

Method 1: Provisional cast on
Do a provisional cast on. Knit your garment. Bind off using any method you like. Go back to the beginning of the work and remove the provisional cast on. Now, bind off the live stitches using the same bind off method you used at the garment end. The two ends HAVE to match because they were done exactly the same way.

• LINKS--

COWYAK provisional cast on
Crochet hook chain method of provisional cast-on

Method 2: Rolled stockinette edges
Cast on, using any method you like. Knit at least 5, and perhaps as many as 10 rows in plain stockinette. This makes a rolled edge to your garment. Start the garment according to the patten such that the stockinette roll rolls to the outside of the garment. At the end of the garment, knit the same number of rows of stockinette--again arranging matters so that the stockinette roll is to the outside. Bind off using any method you like. The stockinette rolls at the beginning and the end of the garment will hide the casting on and the binding off--the garment edges will therefore match: even though the cast on does not necessarily look like the bind off, no one will ever see them.

• LINKS--

Rolled edges (scroll to bottom of post for gallery)

Method 3: chained (cable) cast on matches stitch-over-stitch bind off
The chained cast on (also called the cable cast on) looks a good deal like an ordinary stitch-over-stitch bind off. If you use the cable chain cast on and the stitch-over-stitch cast off, you will have two edges which match closely.

• LINKS--

Chain cast-on, also known as "cable cast-on" or "knitting on"
Chain bind off

Method 4--tubular cast-on, tubular cast-off
A tubular cast on exactly matches a tubular cast off. So good is the match that they are, literally, indistinguishable, even for the person who knit them

• LINKS--

Tubular cast-on
Tubular bind-off

Method 5: Hemming
When an item is hemmed at both the cast-on and the bind-off, the edges look identical because they are identical.

• LINKS--

Sewing hems shut
Knitting hems shut

Have you got a match-matchy method you like?

--TECHknitter

Knitting from the center: "Belly buttons" and the umbilical waste cord method

includes 6 illustrations. click any illustration to enlarge

Why another method for center-started knitting?

Knitters complain that starting from the middle is fiddly, that their needles fall out, that tension is difficult to maintain. Yes, this is all true.

Nevertheless, there are lots of good reasons to start projects from the center. A center-started hat can be tried to check the length as you go. The concentric rings of lace in a center-started shawl are beautiful.

Until now, the two main ways of starting from the center have been

• "Emily Ocker's cast on,"(via the late, great Elizabeth Zimmermann) and
• Disappearing loop

In today's post, we have a third method:

• umbilical cords/belly buttons

Umbilical cords are simple--no needles will fall out--yet the end result is identical in looks and structure to the lovely, yet fiddly, disappearing loop.

Belly buttons start with an "umbilical cord" of waste yarn which is later removed. The cord gives you something to hang onto, making knitting easier. Once removed, you get a neat little rosette of stitches--the "belly button." All the beauty points of disappearing loop but far easier.

How to

To make the umilical cord, you have two choices. Either you can follow the waste-tube method shown here. (Follow steps 1-8) or, an even easier way to start the little tube with I-cord from a mill. Same idea, only the I-cord mill makes the umbilical cord.

Once you have the umbilical cord made by whatever method, divide the loops evenly onto two dpn's. If you made the umbilical cord yourself, you will have the right number of stitches for your starting round of garment yarn. If you are using I-cord from a mill (4 sts) then cut that yarn long, and follow the below instructions to knit increases into the first few rounds of the I cord, using the I-cord yarn. Once your umbilical cord has been increased to the correct number of stitches, you switch to the garment yarn.

With the stitches divided onto 2 dpn's, and holding the tube flat (both dpn's held in the L hand, but only knitting off the front one), knit a row--in garment yarn if you made your own umbilical cord--in umbilical cord yarn if you did not. Flip the dpn's over and knit another row. One round knit.

Illustration A, below, shows the umbilical cord which already has one round (ie: a front and a back row) of garment yarn attached.


The second round of garment yarn as an increase round, and this is shown in illustration B. The increase stitches are colored darker--in real life, of course, they'd be the same color as the other stitches. Illustrated here is a backwards loop increase, but really, any sort of an increase could be put into this second round.


Many center-started flat objects feature an alternating two-round plan: First, a plain round, where there are no increases, then this is followed by a second round, an "increase round" where the increasing takes place. This is the plan we are following here. Illustration A shows the plain (non-increase) round, while illustration B shows the increase round. Center started non-flat objects (hats, mittens) use the same idea, but put more plain rounds between the increase rounds.

Illustration C shows flat knitting increases repeated several more times: increase rounds alternating with plain rounds. If you're working with I cord from a mill, once you have the correct number of stitches increased, you switch to the garment yarn.

After only a few rounds, there will be lots of stitches, ready to pop off the dpn's. Rearrange your work either by the magic loop method onto a long circular needle, or add another dpn or two, so that you are knitting with 4 or 5 dpn's.

You might choose to remove your umbilical cord and create the belly button now. To do this, you catch the free loops of the garment yarn on a blunt-tipped (tapestry) needle which you have previously threaded with the tail of the garment yarn, as shown. Illustration C shows all the umbilical cord stitches removed at once, but this is only to show how the loops are to be gathered--don't try this at home! Instead, remove the umbilical stitches one at a time, catching each freed belly button loop as it pops loose. (Take a look at illustrations 9a and 9b in the previous post for examples)

It's easier to flip the work over so the belly button is up and the needles are down: gives a better view of what you're doing.

After the tapestry needle has been passed though all the live garment stitches, the needle is again passed through the first stitch-loop (and only the first stitch-loop) to prevent a gap from forming. The yarn is then drawn up s-l-o-w-l-y to prevent knotting, until all the stitches are snugged up into a center rosette of stitches. This makes the belly button. Alternatively, you can make an attractive little hole in the middle of your work by not pulling the yarn up all the way when you snug up (photo below).

In illustration C, we made the belly button after knitting only a few rounds in garment yarn. This is a good idea, especially the first few times you do this trick--if you mess up, you haven't lost much work and it's painless to start again.To get a better picture of the process, however, illustration D shows what the belly button would look like if you postponed surgery until some way into the project.

Because the cord is taking up quite a bit of room, the fabric is humped up into a kind of a cone in the center. Never fear--when the umbilical cord is removed, the fabric will lay far flatter.


Illustration E shows the umbilical cord removed but the belly button in this picture has not been snugged completely: there's a little open-work circle in the middle--very pretty for lace.


Illustration F, below, shows the same fabric with the belly button snugged up all the way.

Notes:

To prevent a knot, don't work in the tail by winding it around and around through the stitches of the belly button itself. Packing the belly button with yarn this way makes it a hard knot, an "outie." Of course, in lace, there really is nowhere else to hide the tail, but in anything heavier, find another place for the tail--click here for info on weaving in, here for skimming.)

The umbilical cord here shows 8 stitches cast on with an increase of 8 stitches every second round. This is the default formula for a flat circle. However, umbilical cord works for any number of stitches cast on and any rate of increase. Match the number of umbilical cord stitches to the number of stitches you are supposed to cast on for your pattern, and away you go.


ADDENDUM: Due to not googling before chosing this name, it turns out that Rosemarie Buchanan, the inventive author of "Two sticks and some string!" has a prior claim to this name for this technique. I urge you to have a look--Rosemarie's umbilical cords are made a bit differently, using a flat-knit umbilical cord, then going to 4 dpn's right away, and her method is worth knowing, too.  Click here for a direct link to Rosemarie's post on this matter.

--TK
You have been reading TECHknitting on "the umbilical cord waste yarn method for center-started garments, or 'how to make knitted belly buttons.'"

Starting glove fingers, straps, belts and other tiny knitted tubes, with an aside on fruit flies

GOODBYE, FRUIT FLIES!

At ChezTECH it is harvest season and there are paper bags of tomatoes and zucchini and cucumbers standing all over the kitchen floor. Knitting at this time of year has its own distractions, chief among which at this point are fruit flies. So, before any knitting could happen today, the fruit flies HAD to go. Here's how it happened: All the overripe tomatoes were rounded up and put in the outside compost. Then, one last overripe tomato was put into the garbage and the lid left open. One hour later the trash was swarming. The last step was quickly closing the trash, taking it outside and letting the little pests fly away. Success!

Now that the fruit flies have returned to their natural habitat, we resume with our regular knitting content.

HELLO, KNITTING TINY TUBES!

Starting glove fingers, straps, belts cords and other tiny knitted tubes often makes knitters crazy. And once you DO get them started, these tiny tubes aren't all that easy to knit, either. But from now on, these troubles will be behind you.

Today we'll look at a neat trick to start tiny tubes and, once started, to knit them with good tension and no needle trouble. This method depends on two tricks: First, a waste yarn cast-on, and second, double pointed needles (dpn's) used in a bit of a tricky way--only 3 needles are used rather than the usual 4 or 5, with the result that the tubes are knitted flat and the needles don't fall out.

Step 1: Using waste yarn (illustrated in green) and a dpn of the size you will use to knit the tube, cast on the desired number of stitches, in illustration 1, below, eight stitches were cast on. The illustration shows a back loop cast on, but you can use any cast on you like: the waste yarn will be completely removed, so the cast on makes absolutely no difference.


Step 2: Slide the stitches to the other end of the needle


Step 3: Using the same technique as for I-cord, draw the running yarn to the right tip of the needle. Using a second double pointed needle, knit another row or two with the waste yarn. (click here for a tutorial on I-cord)


Step 4: After you've knitted several rows in this I-cord fashion, then on the next row, knit only HALF the stitches.

Step 5: In illustration 5, below, half the stitches have been knit off the yellow needle onto the purple needle. The next step is to FOLD the purple needle BEHIND the yellow needle, as illustrated by the fish-tailed arrow.

Step 6: Using a third (red) dpn, knit the stitches off the front (yellow) needle. The back (purple) needle will be acting as a holder--you won't need to hold onto it as you knit with the yellow needle and the red needle, because the loops of knitting which are around that back purple needle will hold that needle in the work, and this is especially true if you use a "grabby" dpn, such as one made of bamboo.

Once you have knit the remaining stitches off the front yellow needle, flip the work and continue in the same manner, using a third needle to work the stitches off the front needle, while allowing the back needle to act as a holder for the other half of the stitches.

Step 7: After working an additional few rows (each row is 1/2 a round), you will see that the loopy mess of the original I-cord-type rows are at the bottom of the work, and that the tension is improving. Work as many rows as you feel you need to to get the tension under control, and the work firmly settled. Of course, as you become more experienced in this trick, you will need fewer and fewer rounds of waste yarn, but for a first attempt, 6 or 8 or even 10 rounds are not too many.


Step 8: Now it is time to switch from waste yarn to garment yarn. To accomplish this, you simply drop the waste yarn and start knitting in garment yarn.

Two quick tips about this process: First, yes, there be big loop and some loose messy stitches right where the two yarns change, but these are easily tamed when the time comes for removing the waste yarn. If it bothers you, you can LOOSELY knot the two yarns together, remembering to unknot them before you perform step 9. Second, leave enough of a tail of the newly attached garment yarn to finish the work off--preview step 9 for details.

Once the waste yarn has been dropped and the garment yarn started, you simply knit the garment yarn in the same manner as for step 7. Again, as shown in illustration 8, below, you are knitting a flat tube, half a round at a time, using dpn's.

* * *

(Pssst--have you come from the post on belly buttons? If so, you can return quickly by clicking here)

* * *

Step 9: After you have worked at least a few rounds in garment yarn, you can remove the waste yarn, or you can choose to wait until the end of the project to remove the waste yarn. To remove the waste yarn, the easiest way is to pick it out, stitch by stitch, from the garment end--there is a loose end right where the waste yarn ends. Alternatively, you can simply cut the waste yarn tube with a scissors, making sure to leave 2 rounds intact, and then pick out these last two rounds carefully.

How you treat the newly revealed loops of the garment stitches as each pops loose of the waste yarn depends on how you want the end of your tiny tube to look.

If you simply want to snug the end of the tube up into a tiny rosette of stitches, then follow illustration 9a, below. A blunt-tipped (tapestry) needle has been threaded with the tail of the garment yarn (and this is why you were clever and left the tail somewhat long back in step 8). As each stitch-loop of garment yarn (blue) pops loose of the waste yarn (green) it is caught onto the sewing needle. After each garment stitch-loop has been caught as per the illustration, the needle is passed through the first stitch-loop (and only the first stitch-loop) again to prevent a gap from forming. The yarn is then drawn up s-l-o-w-l-y (this prevents knotting) until all the stitches are snugged up into a center rosette of stitches and the tube is thus closed.


If, however, you want to keep the stitch-loops of garment yarn live, the follow illustration 9b, below. As each stitch-loop of garment yarn pops loose of the waste yarn, it is caught on a double-pointed needle.


An example of where a dpn pick-up might be appropriate is when you might want to Kitchener stitch the end of glove fingers together--the Kitchener stitch makes a smoother, flatter finger-end than the little knot you'd get with the drawn rosette of stitches resulting from step 9a.

Another example of where a dpn pick-up might be appropriate is when you want a square end to a belt or strap you might make by this method.To get a square end, you'd cast OFF these live stitches, and this is why you left a long tail when you attached the garment yarn back in step 8. One thing to remember is that when you work DOWN from a cast on edge, you have one less stitch than you were expecting (click here for an explanation) so you either have to fudge OR cast on an extra stitch at the outset to avoid this problem.

A couple of final notes:
1. If you making glove fingers, consider making the very ends of the fingertips on a needle one size smaller than for the rest of the glove finger/glove body. This will make for a better fit and denser material right where you need it--on your COLD fingertips.

2. Use waste yarn of the same weight as, or thinner than, the garment yarn. If you use thicker yarn, your first row of garment stitches will be larger than the others, and that will make it difficult to have a nice finished product.

The very next post about "belly buttons" expand on this trick. It shows how to use a tiny tube of waste yarn as the start for a center-out item, such as a hat or a center-started blanket--click here to go to that post.

Have fun with this--TK
You have been reading TECHknitting on: knitting tiny tubes: glove fingers, straps and belts.

I-cord tassels

(No posts for a long time because I broke my ankle.  It's better now, though!)

 Although similar in concept to regular tassels, I-cord tassels have fewer, thicker strands, for a different look.

1: Make several lengths of I-cord. The photo to the right shows 2 tassels, each made from 2 double-length cords and folded over.

2: The lengths are attached at the point of the garment by tacking them down (several stitches) using matching yarn threaded onto a blunt, large-eyed (tapestry) sewing needle.

3. As you can see, a short length of yarn is wound around the cords, perhaps 1/2 or 3/4 inch down from the connection point. This joins the separate lengths of I-cord and prevents them sticking out in all directions, while creating a small bobble above for the winding for the classic "tassel look."

4. For shorter tassels, a simple wind at the top to hide the tacking is all that is required, as the shorter cords look well sticking out in different directions.

5: For added effect, the ends of each length of I-cord is knotted in a simple overhand knot.

One final tip: The ends of all the sewing and winding yarns are simply hidden in the center tube of the I-cords, making this an easy-peasy project, indeed.

--TK
You have been reading TECHknitting on "I cord tassels."

Jogless stripes redux, coming May 5, 2009

update, February 2011: The article previewed below is now serialized in TECHknitting blog, beginning here. 

* * *
TECHknitting hits print!

Among the wonderful articles and patterns in the upcoming Summer 2009 issue of INTERWEAVE KNITS, there will be an article by TECHknitter (that's me!) on the subject of Jogless stripes.


Parts of the information covered has been seen before, but in a different format and with different illustrations (click here). In the magazine, this information is re-presented with all-new illustrations. Not previously covered on TECHknitting blog and new to the magazine is instruction on jogless barber-pole (aka helix) stripes, with a neat trick for making this kind of stripes easier (much easier!) as well as a trick for making the elusive single-row jogless stripe. Pick up a copy and see for yourself--on sale May 5th, or by subscription (click here).

I'm excited about this debut, and hope you will like TECHknitting in this new medium (print!)
--TECHknitter

Crossing stitches: one way to avoid a hole on a vertical opening in knitwear

On the community knitting board Ravelry, the subject has twice lately come up of crossing stitches to avoid a hole where a vertical opening (pocket slit, buttonhole, sleeve opening, division for the heeltab of a sock) is being made. Although it is not the only method for avoiding holes in this area, crossing stitches is a decent utility method for solving the problem and deserves a post of its own.

Illustration 1 shows the nature of the problem. Specifically, when two columns of stitches are to be separated, the only thing holding the fabric together under the separation is a single stand of yarn (illustrated in green). That single strand tends to stretch out, and will eventually leave a hole in this area.


Illustration 2 shows that by crossing the stitches in the row just under the separation, there will now be five strands of yarn to take the strain (green) rather than the single strand in illustration 1. (As to how to cross the stitches, the easiest way is probably to spear one stitch with a bobby pin and let it hang on the back or the front of the work, knit the next stitch, and then replace the stitch from the bobby pin onto the left needle, and then knit it. Whether you allow the bobby-pinned stitch to fall to the back or the front determines whether the front stitch of the crossed pair slants right or left)


Illustration 3 shows an application of this principle at the heel tab of a sock.


Illustration 4 shows crossed stitches at the bottom of a vertical opening such as a pocket slit or a vertical buttonhole, or at the bottom of a sleeve opening.



Illustration 5 is the same as illustration 4, but shown "in the wool." As you can see, the stitches are crossed differently in illustrations 4 and 5, and it is up to you to decide which way you like better--structurally, it makes no difference at all.


Crossing stitches makes a sturdy utility reinforcement--very good for socks, buttonholes, glove fingers, sleeve openings and children's clothing. However, this method makes a noticeable pucker in the fabric, and therefore is perhaps not so wonderful for a v-neck sweater, where (depending on the further edge treatment) the pucker created by crossing the stitches might be on very obvious display.

A note to knitting geeks: there is one additional application of crossing stitches which is quite lovely. When you KNOW you are going to use a Norwegian sleeve "psuedo-steek" (no additional stitches added for the steek) you can cross the stitches in the row UNDER where the cut for the sleeve steek is going to end. In other words, after you have secured the two columns of stitches on either side of the intended cut, then when you come to cut the "ladder" between the two columns, there will be a nice pair of crossed stitches at the bottom of the ladder, just waiting to take the strain at the bottom of the newly-made opening.

--TECHknitter You have been reading TECHknitting on "crossed stitch reinforcement for the bottom of a vertical opening in knitwear."

Casting on additional stitches at the end of a row or over a gap by the loop cast-on method: a trick for beautiful fabric

Today's installment of TECHknitting shows a trick for casting on (adding) stitches at the end of a row, such as where instructions state to "add X stitches at the end of the row." This trick works equally well over a gap, such as over a peasant thumb on a mitten, or over a pocket opening, or over a buttonhole.

Way back, in the fourth post ever released on TECHknitting blog, the looping-on method of casting on was introduced, with that post indicating that this method is fragile and of limited usefulness. Yet, there are some times when this cast-on, so unsuited to ordinary duty, simply shines--a real Cinderella of a cast-on. Specifically, when done right, the looping-on cast-on turns out to be ideal for adding stitches at the end of a row.

Now, the experienced knitters among you may be shaking your heads, and well you might: the loop cast-on at the end of a row usually ends up making an untidy mess of loose, loopy foundation stitches--a sad embarrassment at seaming time, and a truly terrible looking mess on an exposed edge. Yet, with all its faults, the loop cast-on can very easily be made directly from the running yarn of the adjoining row, and this ease of construction is simply not true of the alternative methods.

What if the advantages of this looping-on (ease of construction) could remain, but the loose mess could be eliminated? Well, here is a TECH-trick to do that--a trick which will tighten up this easy, yet messy method into respectability and true usefulness.

Step 1: Let us suppose that you have piece of stockinette fabric (illustrated in light blue) and you need to add four stitches at the end of a row of knitting. In this trick, we will get to four stitches eventually, but we are actually only going to start by adding only three loops. These three loops are illustrated in lavender. (To learn how to do the looping-on cast-on, click here.) The yarn connecting the garment stitches and the three newly-made loop st is illustrated in dark purple, and we will come back to that connector shortly.

Step 2: Turn the work.


Step 3: Knit the first stitch of the loop cast-on. This can be frustrating because the loop keeps wanting to untwist as you try to knit into it, but persevere. In the illustrations below, the first loop has been knitted, and the stitch knitted is illustrated in green.

Step 4: Knit the remaining 2 loops. You will now have on your right needle, three stitches plus a horrible, nasty, long length of yarn (illustrated in purple) connecting these 3 stitches to the rest of the knitted fabric, as shown below. Do not despair! This has been foreseen and will be eliminated in step 5.

Step 5: We will now preform the trick which will remove that extra slack, smarten up the loop cast on, and raise the stitch count to the proper number. Here's how: grasp the excess yarn (purple) between your thumb and forefinger, give it a half twist in the clockwise direction, and replace it on the LEFT needle.


Step 6: knit this stitch as you have done the previous loops


Step 7: the final result


Do you see what you've done? You've made a new loop, thus using up the excess yarn AND correcting the stitch count.

By this trick of casting on one less stitch than we need, then making the additional stitch out of the inevitable slack on the next row, we have turned the sloppy slack created by the loop cast on from a disadvantage into an asset.

In the example above, we have 4 stitches to add on by the loop method. However, if you have to add on a substantial number of stitches at the end of a row, the ratio to cast on is about 1/3 fewer stitches than the pattern calls for, then pick up the extra stitches by making loops, evenly spaced, all along the return row, with the last added-in stitch occurring just where the cast on is connected to body of the fabric, as shown in illustration 5.

As an example, if you had to cast on 30 stitches at the end of a row, you'd cast on only 20. On the return trip, you would loop up the extra 10 stitches, evenly spaced, all along the row, with the last (10th) stitch coming at the very end of the row of loops, just where the row is connected to the body of the garment.

The illustrations show stitches added at the right side of a stockinette fabric. You can add stitches on the left side just the same way, and you can purl into the loops on the return trip just as easily as you can knit into them.

Addendum added 4-7-09: To cast on over a gap (thumb, pocket opening) simply cast on fewer stitches, then pick up the extra stitches out of the slack on your next trip through, just as you would on the return trip after casting on at the end of a row.

A note for knitting geeks:
If you look carefully at illustration 7 (the completed cast on) you'll see that it looks just like a long tail cast on. In fact, a long tail cast on IS a row of loops with a row of knitting inserted. (More details about the long-tail cast-on here.) The reason the loop cast on is so loose when performed at the end of the row is because the foundation row of loops is made around a needle, instead of the way long-tail cast on is usually made, with the foundation loops snugged up around the knitted loops. In other words, by making the loops around a needle, they simply end up too big.

When you start to knit into these too-big loops on the return trip, the slack accumulates and turns into a really nasty-looking loose foundation edge. By casting on fewer stitches and then drawing the slack up to form the extra stitches necessary to complete the stitch count, this slack is eliminated. Of course, you can achieve the same effect by working the cast-on loops onto a much smaller needle, but then you have the problem of holding an extra needle parallel to your left needle, which involves acrobatics and a dexterity not required by the trick shown here.

One final refinement for ultra-perfectionists:
It sometimes occurs that even when the last loop is made at the end of the row, just before the body of the garment, you will STILL find an unacceptable length of yarn stretched there, just waiting to make a horrid mess at the join. If this is the case, create yet another loop to get rid of the slack, place this surplus loop on the left needle, and knit (or purl) this surplus loop away by k2tog'ing (or p2tog'ing) it together with the first stitch of the fabric of the garment.

--TECHknitter You have been reading TECHknitting on: "An improved method of casting on at the end of a row by the loop method."

Ordinary chain bind off, part 3: binding off circular knits

Includes 13 illustrations Click any illustration to enlarge

When using an ordinary chain bind off to cast off a circularly knitted garment, there are several methods of dealing with the last stitches:

• the gappy default
  
• Method 1--an OK method
  
• Method 2--a pretty good method
  
• Method 3--an excellent method
  

The gappy default:

The gappy default is to simply chain bind off all the way around, and then to end the bind-off by pulling the tail yarn (yellow) through the last stitch (blue). In this default method, the knitter simply accepts the gap between the first stitch bound off (green) and the last stitch bound off (blue) as shown on the illustration below.

The OK method (method 1)

To close the unsatisfactory gap left by the default method, a refinement has been added by many knitters, as follows:

1a: After binding off the last stitch (blue) thread the tail (yellow) onto a blunt tipped, large-eyed sewing needle ("tapesty needle"). Insert the tapestry needle up into the blue stitch from underneath, as if you were pulling the final tail through the last stitch in ordinary chain bind off per the default method. Next, insert the needle from the back to the front, under BOTH arms of the first stitch bound off (green). Illustration 1a shows the tail (yellow) worked through the last stitch bound off (blue), and the needle inserted under the two arms of the first stitch bound off (green).

1b: Th needle, which has been drawn through the green stitch to the front, is then re-inserted into the top of the blue stitch, inserting from the top, downwards, as shown.

1c: This method creates a bridging stitch (yellow) between the last stitch bound off (the blue) and the first stitch bound off (green). As you can see, the bridging stitch actually acts as an additional chain bind-off stitch inserted into the top of the bind off. Truthfully, in thin yarn, this extra stitch (yellow) is unlikely to ever be noticed, but in bulky yarn, that extra (yellow) stitch may cause an awkward bump.

The GOOD method (method 2)

In order to maintain the pattern of bound-off stitches around the top without inserting an extra stitch, method 2 has you stop the chain bind off one stitch before the end. Thus, the last stitch bound off (blue) stops when there remains one fabric stitch "live" (not bound off) and that is the orange stitch. Specifically:

2a: To work method 2, the first step is to thread the tail (yellow) onto a tapestry needle. The needle is then inserted purlwise into the last remaining live fabric stitch (orange) as shown in illustration 2a, and next inserted up into the last stitch bound off (blue) from underneath.

2b: The needle is drawn through the top of the last stitch bound off (blue) and next inserted from the back to the front, under BOTH arms of the first stitch bound off (green).

2c: The needle, which has been drawn through the green stitch to the front, is then re-inserted into the top of the blue stitch, working from the top downwards, and then inserted knitwise into the top of the orange stitch, as shown below.

2d: As you can see, the result of method 2 is really pretty good. The (yellow) bridging stitch which you have created with the tail yarn is not an extra stitch as it was in method 1: although the yellow stitch was worked with a sewing needle, it is actually a knitted chain bind-off stitch worked into the top of the final live fabric stitch (orange). In fact, this little trick of making knit stitches with a sewing needle is the same idea as the Kitchener stitch (also called grafting). In other words, method 2 grafts the top of the last stitch bound off (blue) to the top of the first stitch bound off (green), while also binding off the last live fabric stitch (orange) all this while following the same path which the other knitted bind-off chains have followed.

The EXCELLENT method (method 3)

Now circular knitting, as you know, is not actually done in circles. Rather, circular knitting is done in an endless spiral, where each round has no true beginning or end. This means that any method which simply binds the last stitch to the first will create a jog where the level changes. Specifically, the last stitch bound off (blue) is actually one row higher than the first stitch bound off (green) and so there is a little jog where the levels are drawn together: the green stitch is humped up slightly, while the blue stitch is drawn down. For sheer perfection, it is possible to modify method 2 by adding one more refinement to the top of a circular bind off, and this last refinement (method 3) does away with this level change--it eliminates that jog.

Normally, the jog of the level change in spiral knitting is smoothed over by simply sliding the first stitch of the round from one needle to the next, thus forcing it to span two rows. (This is the trick behind eliminating the jog in jogless stripes). However, simply slipping a stitch at the top of the work would result in the bar behind the slipped stitch perhaps showing on a rolled edging (as you know, a rolled edging exposes the purled side of a stockinette fabric, so that the bar behind the stitch slipped across would show).

Therefore, we've got to find another trick to reduce the height level between the first stitch bound off and the last stitch bound off (blue) and the trick we'll use in this case is to knit into the stitch below. Here's how:

3a: Begin this method by knitting a stitch into the stitch below. (Click here for further information on knitting into the stitch below.) In this case, the orange stitch above has been knit into the purple stitch below. Both of these stitches are then caught onto the same holder (in this case, the coil-less safety-pin illustrated). The chain bind-off now proceeds in the ordinary manner beginning with the following (green) stitch. (Note that as you start the chain bind off, it's important not to draw up the running yarn too tightly. If you skip ahead to step 3e, you'll see that it is necessary to leave a moderate amount of slack in the orange stitch. How much slack? In this, as in so many things in knitting, use makes master.)

3b: The bind-off proceeds around the garment, and comes back to where it began, stopping when the stitches on the holder are reached. The tail (yellow) is threaded onto a tapestry needle, and inserted purlwise into BOTH stitches on the holder, the orange and the purple. This step ends when the needle is inserted up into the last stitch bound off (blue) working from underneath, upwards, as shown.

3c: The needle is drawn out through the top of the blue stitch, and next inserted from the back to the front under BOTH arms of first stitch bound off (green).

3d: The needle, which has been drawn through the green stitch to the front, is re-inserted into the last blue stitch, working from the top, downwards, as shown. The needle is then inserted knitwise into the orange and purple stitches, as shown.

3e: As you can see, knitting the orange stitch into the purple stitch helps eliminate the jog. Leaving a moderate amount of slack in the orange stitch back in step 3a means that this orange stitch has enough play to stetch across the change of level. Also, because this orange stitch was knitted into the purple stitch below it rather than bing slipped, there is no slipped yarn acorss its back to show on the purl side of a rolled edging. As in method 2, the green and blue stitches are connected by the yellow bridging stitch, which also binds off the remaining live stitches (orange and purple).

As to which method to use, the choice is obviously yours.

My own usage is as follows: On a toe-up sock top, method 1 (the OK method) is fine--the yarn of a sock is so thin that the extra chain stitch squeezed in will never show. Plus, trying to work method 2 or method 3 means working a sewing needle in the correct sequence through very small stitches indeed--a job which would certainly require me to get up out of my chair and hunt out a pair of magnifying glasses. On a bulky hat brim, method 2 is the method I would use: The slight jog would look better to my eyes than the doubled bulk of method 3. However, on the bound off edge of a garment knit circularly in the range of 5 st/in to about 6.5 st/inch, I would certainly choose Method 3, the excellent method, especially if the garment has a rolled edge. Done correctly, method 3 simply will not show--it is even hard to find if you go hunting for it with your glasses on.

Of course, there is always a rascal in paradise, and so it is here. With all three of these methods, the tail remains loose and has to be worked in. For this, I personally would pull off the tapestry needle, re-thread the tail yarn onto a nice sharp needle, and skim in the end. For a rolled edge, I'd skim on the stockinette (front) face of the fabric, just in the first row down, where the skimming would be hidden by the roll of the fabric.

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This post is part of a series. The others in this series are:
Ordinary chain bind off, part 1: binding off along a straight edge
Part 2a: binding off in the middle of a fabric--starting the bind off
Part 2b: binding off in the middle of a fabric--ending the bind off

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--TK
You have been reading TECHknitting on: Casting off circular knits.