Hems and facings: the inside front corner

A while ago, TECHknitting ran a 10-part series on knitting better cuffs and bands.  The fifth post of that series dealt with sewing shut hems and facings.  Recently, an anonymous commenter to that post asked:

• I'm having trouble turning corners with the hemming of my cardigan. I have hems down the center of the sweater and then round to the hem of the bottom of the sweater. Your tips on hemming were helpful but when I try to make the turns they aren't very neat - any suggestions or tips?

This is truly a case where pictures are worth thousands of words, so here you go, Anon!

Above is the "ordinary" method of getting a tidy join on the inside of a sweater front where the front facing and the bottom hem come together.  The front facing is made as long as the front of the sweater, but the bottom hem is knit narrower than the width of the sweater front.  When both hem and facing are flipped into position and sewn in place, there is no overlap, yielding a quite neat turn.  I, personally, would use this ordinary method for sweaters with buttons and buttonholes, because the entire length of the front band is hemmed by a single length of fabric--there is no seam to conflict with the bottom button, as there would be with the mitered finish, shown below. 

Above is a different way of making the corner--both hem and facing are knit at at a 45 degree angle, using short rows.  When they are both flipped into place, they make a neat and pretty join at the bottom corner.  This mitered hem makes a very pretty finish for a swing jacket--the kind often held shut by a single button at the top.  In swing jackets, the hem is often in view, and the 45 degree miter is a pretty look for that application.

As shown above, it is also possible to knit a mitered hem and facing all-in-one, with matching double-shaping at the dots--matching left and right increases or matching left and right decreases, depending if you have started at the inner or outer edge of the all-in-one. 


Good knitting!
--TK

You have been reading TECHknitting blog on mitered hems for knitwear

A little felted purse KAL, part 3

This is the last installment of the little purse KAL. (Click here for the first part, and here for the second part, click here for the accompanying zipper-installation video tutorial.)  In this final installment, we are going to flatten the bottom of the purse, felt the purse and attach the zipper pull.

FLATTENING THE BOTTOM

Although I have tried very hard to avoid all sewing, there comes a time when even the sew-o-phobic must get out a sewing needle, and so it is for flattening the purse bottom.  But, rest assured--there are only 3 or 4 stitches necessary, and they can be as large, rough and untidy as you like since no one will ever see them, not even you.

The "before" illustration (top) shows the OUTSIDE of the purse when you have finished knitting it.

Next, turn the purse inside out.  Grasp the outside edge of the corners and draw the outer edges of each corner together over the middle of the center seam, as shown in the middle illustration.  Using the length of yarn you left dangling at the corner, tack the corners together with a stitch or two, then--using the same length of yarn--tack the joined corners to the center of the seam, also as shown on the illustration

When you turn the purse right side out again, you will find that you have created a folded-in flat bottom, and that the purls have become the fold line, as shown on the "after" illustration at the bottom.

The next step is to felt the purse, so here's ...

A LITTLE PRIMER ON HAND FELTING

Hand felting allows for greater control than felting in a washing machine, especially for a small object like this purse. Therefore, I highly recommend hand felting for this project.

Felting requires to things two happen simultaneously:  a) temperature change and b) agitation. In hand felting, temperature change is supplied by working at the kitchen sink with first hot, then cold water running on your project.  The agitation is supplied by you. 

Here's how:

Wear rubber dishwashing gloves or your skin could be abraded. Wet item thoroughly with hot water. Add two drops dishwashing detergent (the kind for hand washing of dishes, not the machine kind). Working under a trickle of hot water, knead and rub but do not wring. Try to knead and rub evenly over the entire surface of the purse to avoid distortion of the shape. When most of the detergent is gone, switch water to cold, turning the volume of water up briefly so that the temperature of your project will change quickly.  Once the project has become completely cold (a few moments for such a small project) turn the cold water back to a trickle, add more detergent and again knead and rub until detergent is out. Repeat the same procedure with hot water, then cold again, etc. 

Once every hot/cold cycle, inspect to be sure purse isn't cross-felting closed on inside.  Also, inspect the sides and bottom, and tug as needed to shape them as shown in the photo of the finished purse. 

Felting is a rather random process: sometimes it goes unbelievably quickly--one or two hot/cold cycles. Conversely, sometimes it goes worryingly slowly, but take comfort: all non-superwash sheep's wool will felt eventually although different colors or yarns might felt at different rates. The most amount of felting usually occurs when the cold water hits, but sometimes the hot water is more active.

As you can see from the below photo, the finished purse was felted only lightly--the original stitch definition is still visible.  Even so, however, this purse is stiff enough to easily stand on its own.

ZIPPER PULL DECORATION

Make a little felt marble by taking some scrap strands of yarn in your (dishwashing-glove-clad) hands, then repeatedly rolling them in your hands under hot, then cold water with dishwashing detergent as a lubricant, until the strands cross-felt together and the marble hardens. Attach the marble to the zipper pull with a length of yarn, attached decoratively onto the existing zipper pull.

The finished purse, felted, with zipper pull decoration attached

A little felted purse KAL, part 2

The first part of this little felted purse KAL took the process as far as the top trim (lavender in color) which grows out of the zipper tape according to the new method of attaching knitting to zippers using a tiny latch-hook, called a "knitpicker."

This method is further described in the Winter 2010 issue of Interweave Knits.

This second installment of the KAL will show how to make the body of the purse, starting with the green yarn.  (Of course, you can make the whole purse one color, or striped in many colors--whatever you like!  The model just uses green as a contrast color to make clear which is the top and which is the bottom of the work.)

There are a lot of words and several illustrations, but only because it's SO much harder to describe in words and pictures what would take a moment to demonstrate in real life.  In other words, don't be put off by the seeming complexity, it really is very simple to DO, just hard to DESCRIBE.

Part 2: Body of purse

Superwash foundation round for feltable yarn: Cut a 60" length of superwash wool and double it. At the lowest level (where the fabric from the zipper tape lies) insert crochet hook from the outside of the tape (no teeth) toward the inside (where the teeth are), and draw doubled loops through the base of the superwash trim--purl side of trim should face you.

As shown in the above schematic, one doubled loop is drawn between each stitch originally picked up with the latch hook in part 1 of this KAL. If the work is tight and the crochet hook is not working very well, you can resort back to the knitpicker latch hook to pull the doubled yarn between the stitches, particularly the tight stitches on the ends of the zipper tape.

The yarn in the above schematic is illustrated in two colors so you can distinguish the two stands, but in real life, both strands are the same color as each other and the same color as the superwash trim.  This is so that the picked up stitches will not show in a different color against the trim.

Below is another take on the pick-up process, again showing how the loops of the body of the purse are being pulled through the base of the trim.  This is a double cut-away illustration.  The inner box (light background) shows the zipper tape with the purl fabric of the trim arising out of it.  In the outer box (darker background) the purl fabric has been cut away so you can see the relationship of the drawn-through loops to the underlying zipper tape, as well as to the trim itself. Note that in both the illustration above as well as the illustration below, the new loop is being drawn out between the bottom stitches of the trim, not through them.  (If you click on this--or any other--illustration, it will enlarge.)

The above illustration does not show the loops being deposited on the dpn because only the first draw-through is illustrated.  The schematic illustration earlier in this post, showing several stitches picked up,  does show how these loops are to be deposited on the dpn as you go around. The dpn set to use for this pick up is the smaller dpn's--the same ones you knit the trim with.

The opening schematic also shows where to begin the pick up.

Add additional dpn's as you draw loops up all around. You'll wind up with 32 doubled loops on your smaller dpn's.

Increase stitch count: Switch to larger dpn's and ordinary, feltable woolen yarn. Using a fifth dpn from the larger set, knit around the stitches picked up. Note that some doubled loops are to be knit each separately, so that the doubled loop gives rise to two stitches, while other doubled loops are to be knit by knitting both loops as one, so that the doubled loop gives rise to only one stitch.


Specifically, in the above schematic, where a red "2" appears, you are to knit each of the two loops separately to give rise to 2 separate stitches; where a blue"1" appears, you are to knit the two loops in that location as one, to give rise to a single stitch.  As you can see, there are only 4 single stitches, basically on either side of the center of the zipper tapes.  This long straight run of stitches does not require the ease necessary closer to the corners, which is the reason for the single stitches at this location. In all, you'll have 56 stitches, which could conveniently be arranged onto 4 dpn's of 14 st each.

As you go around, you may find it easier to open the zipper--this literally "opens up" the work, making the knitting much easier. 

Knit body of purse: Knit 4 rounds of contrast color (green on sample). Switch to main color. Work a total of 19 rounds altogether not including superwash foundation round.

Next, purl one round.

(The switch between colors, as well as the knit/purl switch can be made jogless.)

Next, knit 9 additional rounds, ending on a column centered under the zipper split in the zipper tapes. Place half the stitches on 1 needle, half on another, with the division between the stitches being parallel to the direction of the zipper.

In other words, the two needles are to be arranged so that one needle carries all the stitches arising out of the left side of the zipper tape, while the other needles carry the stitches arising out of the right side of the zipper tape.

Hold one needle behind the other. Using three-needle bind off, bind off both halves together VERY LOOSELY!  Your final result is represented by the below schematic.

Perfectionists can turn the purse inside out to bind off from inside.  Some finagling is needed to get the needles through the zipper opening, but it can be done. Leave a 10" tail after bind-off is complete.

In the next post, we'll flatten the purse bottom, felt the purse and attach the zipper pull.
--TK
* * *
This is the second in a three-part series.

Click here for the first part of the series. 

Click here for the third part of the series

Click here for the accompanying video tutorial 

You have been reading  TECHknitting on: Feltable Purse KAL part 2: no sew zippers in knitwear.

A little felted purse KAL, part 1

The current issue of Interweave Knits has an article (by me) about installing zippers without any sewing at all, using a very special kind of very small latch hook called a "knit-picker."  There are two different methods described in the article for installing zippers:  working from the zipper outward, or installing a zipper in an already-made item.  There is also an Interweave Knits video on the technique.

If you have a copy of the article, or have viewed the video, and would like to explore the method of working from the zipper outward, here is a pattern for a little felted purse using that technique. The project is presented as a KAL  (knit along) in several installments.  Today, we'll lay out the materials and get as far as the top trim.



With its flat bottom, this little purse is roomy beyond expectation: a cell phone and other necessaries fit neatly alongside bills and change. Made up in an afternoon, these are great for gifts too.

Materials, needles and gauge

*Scrap amount of superwash worsted weight yarn, the model uses Cascade 220 superwash--this is the lavender trim at the top of the purse
* Scrap amount of ordinary (feltable) woolen yarn in contrast color, the model uses Cascade 220 in green
* Approx 1/2 ounce ordinary (feltable) woolen yarn in main color, the model uses Cascade 220 in dark purple
*Closed-end nylon or polyester coil zipper in matching color
*"Knit-picker" type mini latch-hook--this is explained in the magazine article
*Crochet hook in size to match yarn
*large eyed sewing needle
*set of 5 small dpn's to give gauge of about 6 st/in
*set of 5 larger dpn's to give gauge of about 5 st/in

The average finished size is 3" (L) x 2.5" (H) x 2.25" (W) but this can vary by as much as 1/4 inch larger or smaller in each measurement, depending on how much felting you choose to do.

KAL Part 1: Zipper and Top Trim

Shorten zipper to 3 3/4 inches working length as shown in the Interweave Knits article, or however you usually shorten a zipper.

Per illustration 1 above, mark zipper tape for pick up--two dots across each end of each tape, and 12 evenly spaced between, as shown. (Zippers have seam guides woven into them, so finding a straight line along the tape is easy.)

Superwash top trim: Using smaller dpn's, mini-latch hook (aka "knit-picker") and the knitting needle method described in the Interweave Knits article, and using 1 dpn for each side of zipper tape, pick up 1 st for each dot.

Begin the pick up at the arrow, working down the left zipper tape first.  Ignore the square and different colors for the moment: for the purpose of picking up stitches, each dot equals one loop to be picked up through the zipper tape.

 


Per illustration 2, above, once you have picked up the stitches through the zipper tape, it should look like this, with one needle holding all the stitches on one side of the zipper tape, and a second needle holding all the stitches from the other side of the tape.

Arrange the picked up sts on 4 dpn's: 6 across each end and 10 along each side. Needle 1 holds purple dot stitches; needle 2, green dot stitches; needle 3, blue dot stitches; needle 4, brown dot stitches. You could re-arrange the stitches onto the four dpn's by sliding the six end loops around onto their respective needles, but these loops are tight, and it's easy to lose one.  Therefore, in practice, the easiest way is to re-arrange the stitches by is by knitting them off when working the second round.

Second round: In this round, besides re-arranging the stitches onto 4 dpn's, you'll also increase stitches using the kfb method, all along the sides of the zipper tapes.  This increasing gives the purse its boxy shape. Here's how:

Bring yarn through zipper tape opening at pink square and commence to knit in direction of pink arrow as follows: Work 1 st in each of the 3 purple dot sts on needle 1, kfb in each of the 10 green dot stitches on needle 2, work 1 st in each of the 6 blue dot sts on needle 3, kfb in each of the 10 brown dot sts on needle 4, end round by working 1 st on each of the 3 remaining purple dot stitches on needle 1, you'll have 52 total sts on needles.

(Click here for further information about kfb--knit front and back.)

Work for 7 add'l rounds, knitting plain. Bind off. Top trim made. Note: the trim lies purl side out, with the knit side curling towards the zipper teeth, as shown in the opening illustration.

(Click here for a method of binding off in the round which hides the gap appearing at the last stitch of an ordinary bind off)


This is the first in a three-part series.

Click here for the second part of the series
Click here for the third part of the series
Click here for the accompanying video tutorial 

Good knitting!
--TK

No-sew zippers

Would you like to learn to insert zippers into knitwear with NO SEWING?  If your answer is yes, you have several ways to learn!

Method 1:  On November 30, 2010, stop by your favorite newsstand and pick up a copy of Interweave Knits magazine.  In a "Beyond the Basics" feature article which I have written, the full instructions appear. I'm pretty excited about sharing this method with you--it's taken a lot of years to figure it out, and it's pretty nifty to be able to create zippered knitwear with absolutely no sewing whatsoever.  For real! None. Nada. No sewing.

Method 2: The second method to learn this new technique will take place on April 30, 2011, when you can attend a workshop on installing zippers at the Minnesota Knitter's Guild 25th anniversary "Yarn Over" teaching event.  In my first foray into teaching in a LONG time, I'll be giving two workshops, actually. One will be about lots of different tips and tricks of the kind popularized on this blog, and the other will be on buttonholes (including the tulip buttonhole) as well as buttonhole alternatives and zippers.

The sign up is not yet open, but if you are a member of the Minnesota Knitter's Guild, you get first dibs at signing up. For further information, you can also visit the Yarnover group on Ravelry.

Method 3:  (updated December 23, 2010) There is a new video featuring Eunny Jang, the Interweave Knits editor, demonstrating the no-sew zipper technique.

Here's hoping you will like the new method, and I hope to meet some of you in real life at the 25th anniversary Yarnover event button/buttonhole/zipper workshop (or the tips and tricks workshop!) April 30, 2011.

Best regards--TK

A half-million LOTS and LOTS of views. Thank you, I am humbled

Today, TECHknitting reached a major milestone--a half-million LOTS and LOTS of views since inception. Thank you all so much for coming by. I am humbled by your patronage.

Edited 9-8-10 Actually...

Further investigation reveals that the number of page views is actually far higher than a half-million (something to do with what page/s the stat-counter counts). It is now estimated to be more than 1 million views, and maybe even more than 1.5 million?!? eep.

If it seems like things are winding down here at TECHknitting, don't believe it for a second. There are tons of projects taking place backstage here--mostly test knitting and development of patterns for small shaped things, such as gloves. Like the new Tulips buttonholes, some of these patterns have been in development for years and years, so a big push came on this summer to try and make some progress. And, of course, the series on style and body shape is "to be continued"--it's at a standstill now (too many other projects) but lots of new illustrations have already been done and these should come out this fall.

Also coming out this fall will be an article in Interweave Knits, winter edition, on how to install zippers with absolutely **no** sewing. It's all very hush-hush at the moment, but I'm hoping you'll like it--this new procedure will make zippered knitwear a breeze, instead of the sewing chore it presently is, and all will be revealed in due course.

So, thank you dear readers, for making TECHknitting a stop on your internet rounds and staying to visit for a while. We'll talk more soon.

Have a great rest-of-the-summer.

--TK

Felted Mitten Tutorial in Knitcircus e-Magazine

The new issue of Knitcircus e-magazine is out, and contains a tutorial by TECHknitter (hey, that's me!) for making felted mittens, as part of the fall pattern collection.

Here's the link.

These kids' mittens are very easy to make--very forgiving of mistakes. Although made by hand, these are actually superior in performance and durability to high-tech winter fabrics. The "alien eyeball" pair you see with purple cuffs are quite used: they were worn as the only hand-coverings for two entire winters by an active boy, here in the frozen north of Wisconsin before being photographed! Now outgrown, they are still good for further wear by another, smaller child.

There's just one little error in the pattern presentation: The e-magazine (which contains a sort of a catalog for the pattern download) indicates that the mittens are made with Blue Sky Alpaca, but they are not. The actual pattern in the download correctly identifies the mittens as being made with either Ella Rae Classic/Ella Rae Superwash worsted-weight yarns or Dalegarn Hielo /Falk DK weight yarns.

--TK

Podcast Interview

Laura Neel aka (Math4knitters) who blogs for the Journal Gazette of Fort Wayne, Indiana, recently interviewed me for a podcast.

Some subjects include the 8-trick pocket hat, the work to glory ratio and body type and knitting.

If interested, click through to her post and listen along.

Happy 4th of July, everyone!

--TK

Tulips buttonhole: The video (and an interview on KD)

Interweave Knits has just produced a video featuring Eunny Jang, the IK editor, demonstrating TECHknitting's NEW buttonhole: the tulips buttonhole. The name came about because the buttonhole looks like "two lips" in stockinette.




The video is quite small here, but if you click on the lower right hand corner where it says "You tube," you will get a MUCH larger version--easier to follow, by far.

The video is also featured in a "Knitting Daily" interview with TECHknitter (that's me!) about how the Tulips buttonhole was invented.

The tulips buttonhole was originally featured in Summer 2010 Interweave Knits, "Beyond the Basics" column, which could be a handy reference to maybe keep with your knitting papers: it is a fully illustrated article, and shows the same steps as the video. The video is immensely useful, however, because the tulips buttonhole has a little change-up where the working yarn originally heads off in one direction, but is then unwound to head off in another direction: a bit difficult to show with illustrations, but beautifully demonstrated on Interweave Knit's video by Eunny Jang.

--TK

Related posts

Buttonhole series:
.Buttonholes in hand knitting, part 1: lore and tradition plus some nifty tricks 

.Buttonholes in hand knitting, part 2: Button lore 

.Buttonholes in Hand knitting, part 3: Sheepseye aka yarn-over buttonholes.

.Buttonholes in hand kniting, part 4: Vertical buttonholes

.Buttonholes in Hand knitting, part 5: Horizontal and Tulips buttonhole, with diagrams

.Buttonholes in Hand knitting, part 6: "Oops! I forgot a buttonhole!" 

Other button and buttonhole posts:

.Buttonhole alternatives

.How to sew on a button without the spacer sandwich

.Tulips buttonhole: the video (and an interview on Knitting Daily)

We have a winner!

TECHknitting's "Poll with a Chance at a Prize" ended on May 15 at midnight. The winner of the Addi Clicks needle set (courtesy of Paradise Fibers) is Audrie who writes the "Purple Butterfly" blog.

Audrie also wins the $20.00 gift certificate to a yarn shop of her choice. Congratulations, Audrie!

However, even though Audrie won the physical prizes, the true winner is really TECHknitting blog, and the true prize is all of your thoughtful comments on what subjects interest you. Thank you all so much for taking the time to comment. I look forward to writing many posts based on your many excellent ideas.


Best, TK

PS: For those interested in methodology, the winner was selected randomly as follows: This blog is in a very old format, and it is not possible to add numbers to the comments. Therefore, the entire comments were cut-and-pasted into a Word document. Next, all comments were removed which were duplicates, and all comments were removed in which the commenter failed to leave a method of contact. This left a 138 page document. Word generates an automatic word count--for all the comments which were eligible for the drawing, there was a total of 34,010 words. Next, I went to Random.org and obtained a random number between 1 and 34,010. That number was 28532. The word corresponding to that number was found in Audrie's post, and that's how she was randomly selected as the winner. Congrats to Audrie, and thanks again to all who commented.