Today's installment of TECHknitting shows a trick for casting on (adding) stitches at the end of a row, like when instructions say "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 shown, with that post indicating that this method is picky. Yet, there are some times when this cast-on, unsuited to ordinary duty, simply shines--a real Cinderella of a cast-on. Specifically, by today's trick, the looping-on cast-on turns out to be ideal for adding stitches at the end of a row.
Now, you may be shaking your head, 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, an ease of construction simply not true of alternative methods.
What if the advantages of looping-on (ease of construction) remained, but the loose mess could be eliminated? Today's trick tightens this easy, yet messy method into respectability and true usefulness.
Step 1: Suppose that you have piece of stockinette fabric (illustrated in light blue) and need to add
four stitches at the end of a row of knitting. In this trick, we'll get to four stitches
eventually, but start by adding only
three. These three loops are illustrated in lavender.
(Looping-on instructions). The yarn connecting the garment stitches and the three newly-made loop st is illustrated in dark purple. We'll return 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. Now on the right needle are three stitches plus a nasty length of yarn (illustrated in purple) connecting these three stitches to the rest of the knitted fabric, as shown below. Ugly, yes, but this has been foreseen and will shortly be eliminated.
Step 5: Now comes the trick to remove that extra slack, smarten up the cast on, and raise the stitch count to the proper number.
Here's how: grasp the excess yarn (purple) between 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 done with the previous loops
Step 7: final result
This new loop used up the excess yarn AND corrected the stitch count. By this trick of casting on one less stitch than needed, then making the additional stitch out of the inevitable slack on the next row, the slack went from
disadvantage to
asset.
Above, there were four stitches to add. For adding substantial number of stitches, 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, per illustration 5.
Example: to cast on 30 stitches at the end of a row, cast on only 20. On the return trip, 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 (purple connector) just where the row is connected to the body of the garment.
The illustrations show adding stitches at the right side of a stockinette fabric. Add stitches on the left side just the same way. Also, you can purl the loops on the return trip just as easily as knit them, if that's required by your fabric.
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 the next trip through, just as you would on the return trip after casting on at the end of a row.
Note for geeks:
Illustration 7 (completed cast on) looks just like a long tail cast on. In fact, long tail cast on IS a row of loops with a row of knitting inserted.
(More details on long-tail 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 knitting into these too-big loops on the return trip, the slack accumulates to form a loose foundation. By casting on fewer stitches, then drawing up the slack to form the extra stitches, the slack gets used up.
You could achieve the same effect (less slack) by working the cast-on loops onto a much smaller needle, but then have the problem of holding an extra needle parallel, requiring acrobatics and dexterity. Still, for a neck opening or similar where lots of stitches must be cast on, you could screw a much smaller tip to the working end of your interchangeable needles, loop on the neck stitches, then switch back to the larger tip once the added stitches were on the cable. You'll still probably need to get rid of some slack by today's trick, so cast on fewer stitches overall, but there's less slack to eliminate if you loop on over a tiny tip for the added stitches.
One final trick:
Sometimes, even when the last loop is made at the end of the row, just before the body of the garment, there's STILL an unacceptable length of yarn stretched there, just waiting to make a mess at the join. To eliminate, 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."
