A truly flat hat top (and part 4 of "pocket hats")

5 illustrations, click any illustration to enlarge
*reminder--like the other posts in this series, the top part shows the general directions, the bottom part, directions for the KAL of the "pocket hats" which illustrate the post

For years, a truly flat hat top in ribbing eluded me. With spiral decreases, no matter how ferocious the rate of decrease, the darn thing never lay flat, nor could I find a suitable pattern for progressively eliminating ribs. With "all-at-once decreases" the ribs became even more distorted and the darn thing still wouldn't lay flat--the 12, 10 or 8 stitches at the top would form a little nipple when the yarn was drawn through--not quite the thing. On both kinds of decrease, the needles at the top of the hat went slipping out as fewer and fewer stitches remained. But today, I go on my way rejoicing, because a few months ago, a new trick revealed itself to me, a ...

TRULY FLAT TOP
for a ribbed hat

This hat top features 5 decrease rounds and a final working together at the top, 6 steps in all: these are labeled steps A through F on the illustration, and are described in the text. Step D is not labeled on the illustration because it is only a minor (although mathematically important) decrease. Some of these steps are ordinary decreases with which you are familiar: knit 2 together (k2tog) and purl 2 together (p2tog), but some of these steps have a little trick involved.

In the top part of this post -- the general directions -- the number of plain rounds to work between the decreases is left vague, partly because much depends on the yarn you're using: baby weight requires more plain rounds between decreases than does bulky yarn. In the bottom part of this post, round-by-round directions are given for the hat top in double knitting weight (DK, also called "light worsted") and you can use these row-by-row directions as a starting point, adding plain rows for thinner yarn, subtracting for thicker.

Part 1: general directions for the truly flat hat top

STEP A (decrease on the purl ribs)

This first round of decreases features an ordinary decrease done on the PURL stitches. Written succinctly:

• *purl 2 together, knit 2* all the way around the first decrease round

Hidden in the purl ribs, the purl 2 together (p2tog) decrease will never show on the outside (although it does show inside). After this decrease round, knit several rounds without decreasing in the new pattern (k2,p1), and that is the end of step A.
One little note before leaving step 1: On a 2x2 ribbing, the rate of decrease in step A leaves 3/4 of the original number of stitches on your needles.

Step B (decrease on the knit ribs)

On this step, a knit 2 together (k2tog) decrease is done on the knit ribs. However, there is TRICK: an extra round added, a set-up round where only the purl stitches are worked, while the knit stitches are not worked at all, only slipped. As shown in the illustration, working the k2togs WITHOUT the set up row results in flabby, slanted stitches, while WITH the set up row, the stitches are more upright.
Including the set-up row, written succinctly, step B is in 2 rounds:

• round 1 (set up round): * p1, slip the 2 knit stitches of the knit rib purlwise, while holding yarn in back* all the way around the round.
• round 2 (decrease round): *p1, k2tog* all the way around the round.

By inserting an extra round of purls but not knits, the knits are forced to stretch upward. Of course they will slant somewhat, but with much their slack devoted to stretching up that extra round, the k2togs will lay smoother and more upright than if the slipping row were omitted.
Three little notes before we leave step B:

• After this step, you will have 1/2 of your original stitch count on the needle.
• From here on out, when you come to count rows, it will look like you lost a row -- if you find that you need to count rows, the row on which you slipped the knits will be invisible--you won't be able to see it unless you turn the work inside out to count rows!
• Performing the decreases on this round will certainly result in so few stitches that they cannot POSSIBLY be stretched around a circular needle, however short. Therefore, if you were not already working on double pointed needles (dpn's) or by the magic loop technique, you would have to switch to one of those techniques now.
  

Step C (decrease away all purl ribs, change gauge)

The problem now is that there is STILL too much yarn and too much slack to make a hat top lay nicely flat. So the little TRICK of this step is to CHANGE GAUGE. Yes, simply by knitting with a smaller needle (2 sizes smaller works well) you'll be putting a lot less yarn into the hat top, and that'll help a lot with laying smooth.

Changing gauge is not a conventional method of decrease, so it bears repeating one more time: by switching to a smaller needle, you are putting a lot less yarn into the fabric, and this creates a decrease all by itself. In other words, you will now: *switch to needles 2 sizes smaller and use these smaller sized needles for the remainder of the hat top.*

As it happens, in step C we NOT ONLY want to tighten up all the future stitches we are going to knit, but we ALSO want to decrease away even more of them. Therefore, IN THIS SAME ROUND that you're switching to smaller needles, you are ALSO going to do another k2tog decrease all around.
The k2tog's will look best if you arrange matters so that the purl stitch lays behind the knit stitch when the k2tog is finished. Written succinctly, and incorporating the previous part about smaller needles, step C can be summarized:

• arrange matters so that one purl stitch is on the tip of your left needle, with a knit stitch the left of that. *Knit together the knit stitch with the purl stitch* all the way around the round, using the smaller needles.
  

As you can see from the illustration below, the combination of gauge change and decreases results in a very pretty and very distinctive change in fabric. After this decrease, work an additional round or 2 with the smaller needles and this will end step C.
Two little notes before leaving step C:

• After this step, you will have 25% of your original stitch count on the needles.
• In this step, you work away all the purls, and all the rest of the hat top will be by means of knit stitches only.

Step D (another set up row, possibly with decreases)

In step D, you're going to decrease away as many stitches as are needed so that at the end of the step, you'll have a multiple of 4 stitches on your needles. If the number of stitches on your needles is ALREADY divisible by 4, then you're all set, just knit a round plain. If you wonder WHY you need a multiple of 4, there is a green paragraph of explanation. If today is not a "why" day for you, just scroll past.

In Step F, the last step, you Kitchener-stitch (graft) the top of the hat together. Step E-- just before that final grafting--is a last decrease round in which you're going to decrease away the remaining number of stitches by half. So, in order to have the correct number of stitches for steps E and F, this step--step D--gets rid of any extra stitches which would throw off final stitch counts. In other words, this step, D, is a "set-up round." As you may remember from middle-school math, only numbers which are multiples of 4 (4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, 32, 36, 40 or 44, etc.) will yield an even number when further divided by 2. In other words, round E gets rid of half the remaining stitches, and the number of stitches at the end of round E has to be an even number of stitches, so rounds E and F will only work if we use round D to decrease away any leftover stitches ahead of time.

Written succinctly, in step D you must proceed as follows:

• If on your needles, you have ANY NUMBER OF STITCHES DIVISIBLE BY 4, you're all set: just knit one round plain. If, however, you have ANY OTHER sort of a number, you must use this step to bring the number of stitches on your needles to the nearest multiple of 4 by knitting 2 stitches together as many times as needed. You can simply put the necessary number of decreases anywhere at random in this round, just so long as you don't put them next to one another.
  

Knit one additional round plain (no decreases) and that is the end of step D.

Step E (last decrease round)

This step is simply a round of k2togs--and it is the last decrease round. The only thing remarkable about this round is that these last decreases are a bit miserable. As a result of previously switching to smaller needles in step C, these stitches are already at a very small gauge. Knitting two together at this gauge (and on so few loops) means stitches that just want to POP off the needle. However, persevere, because the final result is worth it.

To make it easier, the little TRICK in this step is that you can either use a smaller needle (a tiny sock needle) OR a crochet hook to work the actual decreases, then replace the resulting loops back onto the needles you have been using (replacing the stitches back on the needles they came from assures that these last loops are of the correct diameter for step 6, replace the stitches RIGHT ARM FORWARD so they are in the correct position for step F).

Step F (graft--a.k.a. Kitchener stitch--the hat top shut)

Arrange the stitches so that they are divided in half. If you are working on dpn's, arrange 1/2 the stitch count on each of two needles. If you are working by magic loop, put 1/2 the stitch count on each needle of your magic loop set-up. The grand finale, the final TRICK of this hat top, is to graft the top together. (Click here for an easy method of Kitchener stitching.)

Kitchener-stitching the top shut achieves three big aims:

• first, the short lengthwise graft pulls the entire top into the pleasant-looking oval shape of the finished decrease (see illustration below)
  
• second, grafting prevents you from having to work final decrease rounds on a tiny number of stitches, with needles falling out in all directions and
• third, it makes a really smooth top, avoiding the pointy-looking decreases of other hat tops

This decrease looks very well, and goes very fast--faster and faster on each round as you decrease away more and more stitches.

Part 2: Round-by-round directions for the pocket hat KAL

In the previous post of the pocket hat KAL, we left the pocket hats 4 stripes high, with the fifth color just added by the jogless back join method. In this post, all the decreasing of the entire hat will be done in this final color.

The row instructions are written for the Watch Cap.
For the Stocking Cap, add another round in pattern between rows 2 and 3.
For the Rasta Hat add another round in pattern between rows 2 and 3 and also between rows 5 and 6.

Stitch counts appear for the two different widths of hats (116 sts = regular size, 120 sts = extra large head size)

• Round 1: After performing the jogless back join in the new color yarn, knit around (no purling) ending just before the first two purl stitches to be worked in the new color. Place marker. (116, 120 sts)
• Rounds 2 and 3: *p2, k2* repeat around (for stocking cap and rasta hat, add another round between rounds 2 and 3, per note in PURPLE, above)
• Round 4: *p2tog, k2* repeat around (87, 90 sts remaining) ROUND 4 corresponds to STEP A of the general directions in part 1 of this post, above.
• Rounds 5 and 6: *p1, k2* repeat around (for rasta hat, add another round between rounds 5 and 6, per note in PURPLE, above)
• Round 7: *p1, sl2* repeat around. (Slip stitches purlwise so as not to twist, slip with yarn in back.)
• Round 8: *p1, k2tog, repeat around (58, 60 sts remaining). Things will start to get tight at this round – it’s time to switch to dpns or the magic loop technique if you haven't done so already. ROUNDS 7 and 8 correspond to STEP B of the general directions, above.
• Rounds 9 and 10: *p1, k1* repeat around
• Round 11: Switching to needles 2 sizes smaller, and using a long magic-loop type set-up, or a set of dpns, *k2tog* around, setting up so that you have (15, 15) stitches on your first needle, and (14, 15) on the second (29, 30 stitches remaining). ROUND 11 corresponds to step C of the general directions, above.
• Round 12: Knit plain (no further purling on this hat top).
• Round 13: In order to make the final graft work on this hat it is important to have a multiple of 4 stitches at this point:
• For the 116 st hat: k13, k2tog, k to end of round (28 sts remaining)
• For the 120 st hat: k13, k2tog, k13, k2tog (28 sts remaining). ROUND 13 corresponds to step D of the general directions, above.
• Round 14: k plain
• Round 15: *k2tog* around. (14, 14 sts remaining). ROUND 15 corresponds to step E of the general directions, above.
• Round 16: Kitchener-stitch the top of the hat closed. ROUND 16 corresponds to step F of the general directions, above.

Try the hat on. If you find it is too short or too long, the hat need not be ripped out all the way to the beginning to rebalance the color proportion among the stripes. No. As stated in the first post of this KAL, the ultimate fit of this hat can be somewhat adjusted by working more or fewer rounds only in this last color. So, if you need to fix the fit, rip out to round one of this last color, then re-work, adding or subtracting in the plain rows to make the hat longer or shorter. If you want to know WHY this procedure does not distort the color pattern even though it seems like it would, a (long-ish) art- history type explanation is here.

If you are following along in the KAL, the steps still remaining to a finished hat are

• BLOCKING and
• TWO ALTERNATIVES to conquer ITCHY-FOREHEAD syndrome

--TECHknitter
PS:

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ADDENDUM, 2011:  The KAL laid out above stretches out over 5 posts, of which this is fourth, and it is free.  However, some folks have written to say they find it hard to follow the pattern over so many posts. So...if you like, you can buy the pattern in an easy-to-print, all-in-one place pdf.

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PS: 

THANK YOU (and have some cake!)

4 illustrations, click any illustration to enlarge
Dear Readers:

TECHknitting has recently passed some milestones, so it's time to take a little break from all the TECH-nical stuff to thank you all. The Bloglines readership recently passed the 1000 count, readership on other rss-feed services is booming also, Ravelers voted TECHknitting the "most educational blog," and a round dozen bloggers awarded TECHknitting the "you make my day award." So, THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH for your votes, your support and all the awards! And ...

HAVE SOME CAKE!


Here's some luscious frosting:

Close up of the inscription:

One more look:

Many thanks again, dear readers.

--TECHknitter (You have been reading TECHknitting on "Have some cake!")

Jogless ribbing STRIPES with a trick to work your ends in as-you-go (also part 3 of "pocket hats")

Among the several methods to work your ends in as you go, this blog has previously introduced the "back join." Among the methods to avoid a "jog" when striping in the round, this blog has previously introduced "jogless stripes, a new method."

The top part of today's post shows a variation on these two tricks--a JOGLESS BACK JOIN as adapted for 2x2 ribbing. In other words, today's post shows a new 2-in-1 adaptation, so that in ribbing you can:

• work your ends in as you go AND
• create jogless stripes
  

Also, today's post can be read as part 3 of a little knit along (KAL) we have going here, for easy-to-make ribbed stripy "pocket hats." The bottom part of this post puts the jogless back join straight to work with further directions for this KAL.

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ADDENDUM, 2011:  The KAL laid out below stretches out over 5 posts, of which this is the third, and is free.  However, some folks have written to say they find it hard to follow the pattern over so many posts. So...if you like, you can buy the pattern in an easy-to-print, all-in-one place pdf.

* * *

Part 1: The JOGLESS BACK JOIN for 2x2 RIBBING
a TUTORIAL in DIAGRAMS

1. (below) The jogless back join is done on seven stitches.

• the tail of the old color is worked into stitches 1(K), 2 and 3 (both purls)
• the actual join occurs in stitches 4 and 5 (both knits) and the
• tail of the new color is worked into stitches 5 (knit) 6 and 7 (purls)

As you can see, the stitches in columns 4 and 5, which will be the "ground zero" of this join, together make up a k2 rib.
2. (below) Step 2 is a MEASURING step. Starting with the leftmost stitch of the last k2 rib in the color change round -- the stitch in column 1 on the diagrams -- work three additional stitches. Mark the spot where the running stitch emerges from the third stitch. In the diagram, that spot has been drawn with a blue dot, but in real life, you could mark the spot with a pin, or by pinching it and not letting to, or with a small dot of tailor's chalk. The point is to measure off the amount of yarn it will take to work 3 stitches, and mark that length.
3. (below) Having marked the correct spot, you will now unravel those three stitches you worked (stitches 1, 2 and 3) and replace them on the left needle. As you can see, stitches should be replaced RIGHT arm forward. At the spot you've marked, interlock the old yarn and the new yarn.

Three little things to note about this step:

• As shown in step 3, interlocking the yarns means that each yarn--the old yellow yarn and the new orange yarn--are now doubled back on themselves. That's why this kind of join is called a "back join."
• As you get better and better at the back join, you may find that you are able to skip step 2 (the measuring step) because you are able to accurately estimate where the interlock should be.
• The diagram below employs artistic license. In real life, the yarn resulting from unraveling the 3 stitches will be much longer, proportionately.

4. (below) Using the doubled-over yellow yarn, you will now re-do stitches 1, 2 and 3, working in pattern. "Working in pattern" means that you should knit st 1, and purl sts 2 and 3, which is the same pattern as the underlying stitches. Because you measured the yellow yarn before you interlocked it and doubled it back, the three re-worked stitches should exactly use up the yellow yarn, and the yellow stitches should end at the interlock. If for some reason the interlock is not where it ought to be, no big deal--just unravel and re-knit these three stitches once again, adjusting the interlock location until it comes out just behind stitch 3, as shown.
5. (below) You are now going to SLIP STITCH 4. As shown in the illustration, when you grab this stitch and slip it up to your right needle, you are going to slip it RIGHT arm forward (untwisted). After slipping stitch 4, you will then knit the first 3 stitches in the new (orange) color. As with the yellow yarn, you will work these stitches with the doubled over yarn (2 strands of yarn) which result from the interlock. By knitting stitches 5, 6 and 7, you are working in the orange tail. One more important thing to note about this step: at this point you are NOT working in pattern. In fact, you will now knit the rest of this first round of the new color (no purling), and this is to avoid "icky dots" in ribbing, as explained in the immediately previous post.
6. (below) After knitting in orange all the way around the round (no purling) you will now knit stitch 4--that being the stitch you slipped in the previous step. After knitting stitch 4, you are going to slip its partner--stitch 5. Be careful here and remember that this stitch you are about to slip--stitch 5--is actually a stitch knit from doubled-back yarn. Therefore, when you come to slip, be careful to grab BOTH loops of this stitch. As you can see, when you grab this doubled stitch and slip it to your right needle, you should slip it RIGHT arm forward, so it lays untwisted.

This is also the time to snip loose the yellow yarn--as the diagram shows, the yellow yarn is no longer attached to the ball, but is now a disconnected tail.

After slipping stitch 5, you return to pattern. In other words, after this step, have completed round 1 of the new color (orange) and you would purl 2, then knit 2, and so on, matching the pattern of the underlying ribbing. If you have been using a stitch marker to mark the beginning of the round, you would now place it just to the left of slipped stitch 5. From here on out, you will work the new color normally, which means that when you come all the way around, you will simply knit off the slipped stitch at the end of the round as if it were any other knit stitch.
7a. (below) This is the finished fabric. Stitches 1, 2 and 3 have the last tail of the yellow worked into them. The next two stitches--4 and 5-- have each been slipped once. The tails of the new (orange) yarn have been worked into stitches 5, 6 and 7. If you look carefully at the diagram, you'll see that the stitches look crooked and uneven, but...
7b. (below) ... diagrams are limited. The join "in the wool" as shown below, shows no jog. As you can also see, the extra loop of stitch 5 does not show. If you find in your own work, that the double loop at stitch 5 does show a little bit, dig around on the back of the fabric with a small knitting needle, and once you locate the "back" of the two loops, tug on it to make it disappear.

8. (below) If you think about what you have done, you've slipped stitches 4 and 5 to be sort of "mezzanine" (halfway) stitches. Because they were slipped, they got pulled down to a sort of halfway position between the end of one round and the beginning of the next, and this is what eliminates the "jog" at the end of the round. However, in eliminating the jog by slipping, we've also eliminated 1 stitch from each of column 4 and 5. We're going to make up those missing stitches (one from each column) by adding them at the top of the column. In other words, each successive color change will travel one k2 rib to the left, and in this way, each column of k2 stitches in each color will have the same number of stitches. Another way of saying this same thing is that stitch 5 of the old color change will be stitch 1 of the new color change. If this remains confusing to you, you might like to review "traveling" jogless joins in stockinette, which are explained here -- the principle is the same whether the stitches travel in stockinette or in ribbing.

Part 2: DIRECTIONS for POCKET HATS

So far, the directions in previous posts (click here) have taken the hat to the top of the first color stripe. You will now change colors as shown in this post, and again knit the number of rounds for the hat you are making (somewhere between 13 rounds for the shortest style--the watch cap, and 16 rounds for the longest style--the rasta hat). Continue using this same color change technique to striping your way up the hat to the top (5th) stripe. When you get there (just past the color change for last color) wait for me--the next post will incorporate 3 more tricks to make a truly flat hat top.

--TECHknitter (You have been reading TECHknitting on: Jogless stripes in ribbing with no ends to weave in)

Color, texture and ribbing without the icky dots--a mystery of knitting, explained

includes 13 illustrations, click any illustration to enlarge
*For those following along with the 8-trick Pocket Hat KAL, there are no pattern instructions in today's post. Rather, this is a general post about how to make ribbing without those icky dots, a trick which will be used on the hats in a future installment.

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READ THIS NOTE BEFORE YOU READ THIS POST!!!

This post explains where the contrasting-color blips ("icky dots") come from when you change color in knitting a textured fabric such as ribbing.  The post also offers a fix  for the problem.  That fix is going to work really well IF you are knitting a non-reversible garment, meaning one which is going to wind up with AN INSIDE and an OUTSIDE.  Examples are circular-knit items like the 8-trick pocket hat of this KAL or a sock, OR an item knit flat and then seamed, such as a pullover sweater knit in pieces and then sewed together.  

This trick will NOT WORK for a reversible item, such as a flat-knit neck scarf.  

This is because the fix moves the contrast color dot to the inside fabric face.  If both fabric faces are the "outside" (reversible item) there is no "inside fabric face," so the fix offered in this post doesn't apply. 

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RIBBING WITH NO ICKY DOTS
the interplay of texture and color

Knitting contains many mysteries. This blog has already tackled one big mystery: why knitting curls (answer here). Today: another great mystery--why knitting in more than one color, such as stripes, makes ICKY DOTS in ribbing.Icky dots aren't confined to ribbing. They actually show up when you change the color in ANY sort of texture work. Today's post is split into two sections. The first section (with gold-dot illustrations) is general background about color and texture. The second part (with rust-colored-dot illustrations) applies this general knowledge to getting rid of dots in ribbing. If theory and reasons don't attract you today, you can skip down to the bottom  of this post for the fix.

Part 1: Background

We know that changing color in all all-knit fabric such as stockinette yields smooth un-dotted stripes. So icky dots which appear at a color change must have something to do with purls. But what aspect of purls creates icky dots? In the finest tradition of scholarship, I'm going to answer that question with a second question.

• How would you make a single line of orange purls running across a brown background of stockinette?

By figuring out the answer to this second question, we'll be on the way to avoiding icky dots.

As you see, this second question really has two parts:

• there is a color change -- orange against a brown background, and
• there is creation of a new texture -- purls against an all-knit (stockinette) background

Looking at color, then texture, and then combining will yield the answer.

A. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU CHANGE COLOR

When you change a color, you are changing the color in the CURRENT row. Seems simple enough, but let's look at this one more time.

To make the current stitch, the tip of the RIGHT (working) needle pulls a loop through the stitch at the tip of the LEFT (holding) needle. This newly-pulled-through loop lays on the tip of the RIGHT needle when it is formed and joins the rest of the current row. All these stitches in this current row LAY IN LOOPS on the right (working) needle.

Illustration 1, below, shows a new row half-knitted: on this stockinette fabric (no texture) the NEW row being created in orange is partially knit, and lays in loops over the right needle. The left half of the OLD row is in brown over the left (holding) needle, while the right half of the OLD row has become the first row of fabric, which lays UNDER the orange loops on the right (working) needle.To sum this up, here's the first chunk of red text: when we change COLOR, we are affecting the stitches in the CURRENT row--the row laying in loops on the right needle.

This doesn't seem particularly mysterious (even if it IS highlighted in in red) so let's pass onto the issue of...

B. WHAT IS TEXTURE?

For the purpose of this post, we'll say that a stitch has three parts. As shown in illustration 2, these parts are one HEAD, and two ARMS, Left and Right.

In the context of knitted fabric, "texture" refers to knitting and purling. Naming the texture of a knitted fabric is just a way of saying whether the HEAD or the ARMS of the stitch are predominant.

Click to enlarge illustration 3 and have a look: in a plain knit-stitch (stockinette) fabric, the ARMS are the main feature, while the HEADS of each stitch hide on the back of the fabric. These predominant arms give stockinette fabric its characteristic little "V's" and its smoothness. (For another view, click here.)

In a purl-stitch (reverse stockinette) fabric, the opposite situation pertains. Click to enlarge illustration 4, and you'll see that the HEADS of the stitches are the main feature, while the ARMS hide on the back of the fabric. A whole fabric of bumpy little heads jutting out give purl (reverse stockinette) fabric its characteristic nubbiness, while individual purl stitches on a knit background stand out as individual bumps on a smooth background. (For another view, click here.)

Now that we've nailed down our terms, let's talk about...

C. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU CREATE TEXTURE

"Creating texture" is what happens when you switch from knitting, for example, to purling. So, in illustration 5, below, the knitter is purling every second stitch on an otherwise all-knit (stockinette fabric) background. In terms of heads and arms, the heads of the purl stitches are being popped out onto the face of the fabric. This creates a texture pattern: a row where individual purl stitches stand out on a stockinette background.There are two important things about this process of pulling a new loop through an old loop.

First: the newly-purled stitches appear in the right portion of the OLD ROW. In other words, the new purls appear ONLY on the right side of the old row BELOW the partially-knitted current row--they have joined the knitted fabric and lie in the right part of the old row BELOW THE RIGHT NEEDLE.

Second, the loops of the current row, as well the unworked stitches on the left side of the old row aren't knits OR purls. They are not yet part of the fabric, and they are blanks. These unworked stitches (loops over the needle) won't join the fabric as knits OR purls until a new loop has been pulled through THEM. Yes, as surprising as this is, when you knit or purl a stitch, you're really knitting and purling the OLD stitch in the row BELOW the stitch you just made.

This is a pretty important point for all of knitting, worth repeating a little bit. If you scroll up and look at illustration 5 again, you will see lots of loops. The left needle is holding the loops waiting to be worked, the right needle is holding the loops of the current row you've just made. But none of these loops are part of the fabric yet. The orientation of these loops won't be determined until new loops are pulled through THEM, pinning them into the fabric either in the knit position (arms forward and heads back) or in the purl position (heads forward and arms back). Loops laying over a needle are not worked into the fabric, and they are neither knit stitches or purl, but are blanks!

We'll sum this up in a second chunk of red text: In creating texture, we affect the stitches in the row BELOW the current row. In other words, we are affecting those stitches in the OLD row where the old row lies BELOW the right needle.

Now that we understand in which row color changes, and in which row texture changes, we are ready to answer the question at the top of this post: how would you purl a line of orange on a maroon background?

As we've said, COLOR changes in the CURRENT ROW, TEXTURE in the part of the OLD row below the right needle. In other words, color and texture change in different rows. Therefore, as shown in illustrations 6 a & b, in order to create a row of orange purls on a brown background, we would have to have a two-stage process:

• First, on the face of the stockinette fabric, we'd have to KNIT a row of orange, which puts color into the current row.
• Then, on the NEXT row of the fabric, we'd have to work these orange stitches as necessary to impart a purl texture to them when they are viewed from the smooth "knit" side--we'd purl them if working in the round, but we'd knit them if working back and forth.

Part 2: Eliminating icky dots in ribbing.

We've established that color changes in the current row, but texture changes in the part of the old row below the right needle. In this second half of the post, we'll apply this new knowledge to eliminating those icky dots in a 2x2 (k2, p2) ribbing.*reminder: The illustrations in this half of the post are numbered with RUST-COLORED dots.

Illustration 1, below, shows a new color (orange) being purled onto the right needle. As we established above, purling with the new color is NOT the way to add a new row of a new color, and this illustration shows why: purling pops the heads of the ROW BELOW to the surface of the fabric. In fact, that's what the icky dots ARE: They are the contrasting color purl heads of the row below, as you can see at the arrows.
Illustration 2 is a closeup: Now it's easy to see that using the new color to purl the purls in ribbing makes the purled head of the old color show as an icky dot.
The next 2 illustrations below, 3a (overview) and 3b (closeup), have the keys to the mystery of creating ribbing without the icky dots. Specifically, if you KNIT with the new color, even in the purl rows, the dots will be eliminated.
See what we did? We SUBSTITUTED texture change for color change! Specifically, the top brown stitches in the purl columns (the two columns on the right side of illustrations 3a and 3b) are now knit stitches, and knit stitches, as we know, don't show any icky dots where they change color. The tricky thing is that, as illustration 3b shows, we return to the purl pattern by purling the purl columns in the SECOND row of orange, and this imparts the purl texture to the FIRST row of orange, as explained in part 1 of this post.

Now, in knitting, as in all other fields of life, there is no free lunch. Knitting across the tops of the purl columns eliminates the color change--the icky dots--but, this comes at the price of interrupting the texture of the purl columns. This price, however, is low. In other words, the trade-off of texture-disruption for dot-elimination is a pretty good one. The icky dots (color change) are easy to see, but the texture change is hard to see: it is hiding in the receding purl columns, as shown by the closeup in illustration 4. Of course, this illustration can't give you a feel of the fabric, and knitting across the purl columns at the color-change row leaves a little bump, but it's not much of a bump, and blocking usually smooths that right out. The only other price is a slight tendency to want to fold along each color change, but on a garment being worn, you will never notice this: only when you go to put it away does it feel slightly floppy.
What a lot of words and pictures!

In sum, the BIG FIX is this:

To eliminate those icky dots in ribbing (and all other textured fabrics)

• KNIT all the stitches of the new color, all the way across the whole fabric, ignoring the texture changes (purls) of that row. So, for ribbing, on the color change row, just knit all the way across--no purling, just knitting.
• On the next row as you work the loops of the new color, RETURN TO YOUR TEXTURE PATTERN. So, for ribbing, once you've completed the color change row and are on the second row of the new color, return to purling in the purl columns and knitting in the knit columns. This imparts the correct texture to the stitches in the first color change row, and hides the knit stitches on the inside of the garment.

Here is one last photo: 2x2 ribbing with the icky dots eliminated. Looks a lot better than the first photo of this post, ay?
--TECHknitter
You have been reading TECHknitting on "eliminating dots in ribbing: purling in color"

Easy-peasy reverse stockinette tubular edging (part 2 of "Pocket Hats")

includes 6 illustrations, click on any illustration to enlarge

* * *

ADDENDUM, 2011:  The KAL laid out below stretches out over 5 posts, of which this is second, and is free.  However, some folks have written to say they find it hard to follow the pattern over so many posts. So...if you like, you can buy the pattern in an easy-to-print, all-in-one place pdf (click here).

* * *

Today's trick is a nice little rim-like edging at the cast-on edge, very easy to do, which will stretch and never bind--very good for the edge of a hat, or the neck of a top-down sweater, or the top of a top-down sock. The top half of this post gives the general instructions for this easy-peasy edging while the bottom half applies this edging to the POCKET HATS introduced in the previous post.

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS
for
REVERSE STOCKINETTE TUBULAR EDGING

This edging--a reverse stockinette tubular edging--is pretty much the same as the knitted-shut hem, which was posted here. However, there are two important differences.

• First, the knit-shut hem is knit shut in the back, while this edging is knit shut in the front. This means that this edging is FAR easier to do--stockinette wants to roll towards you, and this cast-on goes along with that tendency. You can use this method to start a sweater or a hat at a meeting or on a bus: once you're sure you have the right number of stitches, catching the fabric up into a tubular edging is very methodical and no further counting or fussing is required. (The sample hats for this series were all started during various meetings.)
  
• Second, when caught into a tube, reverse stockinette wants to protrude and stretch outwards, sort of like a rolled edging (scroll link for a gallery of rolled edges). In fact, reverse stockinette tubular edging is the same thing as rolled edging except that the roll-edge knit shut in this edging. By contrast, a knit-shut hem might want to flip up, but it generally does not stretch out like this edging does.
  

Illustration 1 (below) Cast on by the long-tail method, as many stitches as you need (If you are making the pocket hat, the pattern and number of stitches to cast on is the bottom half of this post.) Knit somewhere between 4 and 8 (or even more) rows or rounds of stockinette fabric. If you are knitting flat (back and forth), end by working a purl row, so that when you turn, you will be on the smooth "knit" side of your fabric. With the right needle, follow the column down to the cast-on loop, and inset the right needle into this loop.
Illustration 2 (below)

• Bring the loop you caught on tip of the right needle up to the left needle. (In this illustration, the purl side of the fabric is shown in orange, although in real life, of course, both sides of the fabric would be the same color.)
• Next, insert the right needle into first stitch on the left needle, so that two loops are on the right needle--the cast-on loop from the bottom of the column, and the stitch at the top of the column, which lay on the left needle.
• Using the running yarn (also called the working yarn) knit these two loops together. In the illustration below, the running yarn (working yarn) is shown in green, although in real life, of course, this yarn would be the same color as the fabric.
  

One last note about the knitting together process: It IS possible to knit the loops together from this position as shown in illustration 2, above (and I do). Yet, you may find it easier to put the bottom-of -the-column loop (orange) onto the left needle. However, as Mt.Mom points out in the comments, if you so, then the knitting-together row is going to come out either twisted or arsy-versy. Therefore, IF you do want both stitches on the left needle, re-arrange the left stitch so that it lays LEFT arm forward, then slip the RIGHT loop onto the left needle, and then knit the two loops together THROUGH THE BACK LOOPS from this position. (This variation is not illustrated.)

Illustration 3 (below) Continue in this manner around the round, or across the row until all the loops and stitches are knit together. In other words, continue until all the column-bottoms are knit together with the column-tops. The reverse stockinette side of the fabric (orange in this illustration) shows on the outside of the little tube you have just fabricated. Again, in real life, the orange (reverse stockinette tube-outside) the yellow (stockinette tube-inside) and the green (running/working yarn tube-closure) would all be the same color. The illustration shows them in different colors just to make it easier to follow.
Illustration 4 (below) On the next round or row, begin the garment fabric. In this illustration, the garment fabric is a 2x2 ribbing (k2, p2).
illustration 5 (below) Here is the result "in the wool." This illustration shows an 6-round reverse stockinette tubular edging on a 2x2 ribbing, which is the same fabric and edging illustrated in 1-4.
One last note before we turn to the hat pattern: When used for negative ease garments such as socks, hats and mittens, the reverse-stockinette tubular edging will make these garments flare along their lower edges. As you can see from the opening photograph in this series, the pocket hats which start with this edging lay in a bell-like shape when they are flat. However, as soon as the garment is put on, this edging looks very well. On hats, (illustration 6, below) this edging makes a pleasant little brim.If you want to use this cast-on, but do not want a brim, make the edging on few rows, maybe as few as 2. Alternatively, remember that this cast on is tubular--a tube of 4 or 6 or more rows can serve as a little casing into which you can insert an elastic or a draw-cord.

* * *

As promised, the bottom half of this post is the

HAT PATTERN for the POCKET HATS

1. Using the kind and color of yarn you want for the bottom stripe, and 16" long circular needles (or longer needles in magic loop, or double pointed needles) in a size as discussed in the last post,

• for persons of normal head size--children or adults--cast on 117 stitches by the long tail method
• for persons with freakishly large heads (such as my husband, who has a 23 1/2 inch head circumference) cast on 121.

Remember--this is ribbing and will stretch significantly.

2. Using the TECHjoin method, join the cast on. The TECHjoin method prevents that nasty little "jog" at the beginning of the round. It also consumes one stitch. After joining, you should have 116 stitches for the normal size and 120 stitches for the super-size. Place a marker after the join.

3. Knit 4-8 (or even more) additional rounds. The fewer rounds you knit, the less bell-shaped the hat will be laying flat, the more rounds you knit, the more "brim-like" this edging will be when you wear the hat.

4. According the edging instructions in the first part of this post, use your right needle to catch the cast-on loop for each column, and knit both the loop and the stitch together.

5. Continue in this manner until you have knit together all the way around. When you come to the marker, remove the marker then SLIP the next stitch, then replace the marker. This little maneuver of slipping the stitch will prevent a jog where the knitting-together ends, and it moves the round-beginning one stitch to the left.

6. Establish a k2, p2 pattern of ribbing around the hat. As discussed in the last post, this hat comes in three lengths, watch cap, stocking cap and rasta-style hat.

• for the watch cap, knit 13 rounds of the first color
• for the stocking cap, knit 14 rounds of the first color
• for the rasta hat, knit 16 rounds of the first color

As you knit this stripe, keep the marker in the same location, simply slipping it from left needle to right each time you meet it.

* * *

In the next posts of this series, three tricks will be shown, all of which have to do with the transition between colors at the stripe-edge. Specifically,

• how to join yarn and work the ends in (the back join as adapted for 2x2 ribbing)
• how to avoid the jog at the color change (the jogless join as adapted for 2x2 ribbing)
• how to knit ribbing without any of those nasty little "dots" showing

Until next time...

--TECHknitter
(You have been reading TECHknitting on "Easy-peasy reverse stockinette tubular edging")

Part 1 of the 8-trick pocket hat: putting gauge in its place

Includes 6 illustrations. Click on any illustration to enlarge.

* * *

ADDENDUM, 2011:  The KAL laid out below stretches out over 5 posts, and is free.  However, some folks have written to say they find it hard to follow the pattern over so many posts. So...if you like, you can buy the pattern in an easy-to-print, all-in-one place pdf.

* * *

Several themes have popped up lately at chez TECH.

• The little kids around here keep actually losing their hats, and the big kids keep claiming they're "losing" theirs.
• Various threads on Ravelry show the depths of despair knitters are feeling about getting gauge, and particularly, row gauge.
• I've been saving up a grab-bag of tricks to share-- a truly flat top for a hat, a ribbed fabric without any icky little "dots" showing on the front of the fabric, an easy-peasy way to start a garment with a stretchy edge--a trick so methodical you can start a garment at a meeting.

Knitting away over the past few days, all three themes came together in a series of little hats, quick to make. I call these little numbers "pocket hats" because they are small enough to slip into a pocket as a spare hat, until a good stiff windchill reminds even careless little kids and hair-conscious teenagers that frozen ears=bad,  hat=good.

Pocket hats are easy in the gauge department: they're made in 2x2 ribbing, a fabric very forgiving of stitch gauge. Also, they are made in three different lengths. Even if your row gauge is wildly off, you should nevertheless get a wearable hat somewhere in this range of offerings.

As to the grab-bag of tricks, there are 8 of them, and each post in this series will first lay out one or two of these tricks, and then apply that trick to the hat. The next post after this one will show how to make the easy-peasy cast on: a reverse stockinette tubular cast on, which will immediately be put to use as the hat brim. Following posts will show jogless stripes and working in tails as-you-go as adapted for 2x2 ribbing--and also how to knit a ribbed material without "dots." The later posts will lay out that nice flat hat top I promised, which incorporates three tricks on its own account. The series will end with two tricks to help tame "itchy-wool-against-the forehead" syndrome, for 8 tricks in all--the 8-trick pocket hat.

The series can be read like a little knit-along (KAL). However, even if you have no need for a hat at present, the tricks will be written up in the first portion of each post in this series.

Putting gauge in its place, and making hats that fit

The theory of gauge is simple enough: Suppose you want to achieve a GAUGE of 6 stitches to one inch, and 8 rows to one inch. You gather your yarn, and select the needles which experience has taught you to expect may be the correct size, and you knit a swatch. Next, you measure your gauge, both row and stitch gauge, using a tape measure or a gauge meter specially made for knitting.

If your stitch gauge is off, you switch needles, and try again  For too MANY stitches per inch--7 st/in, instead of the 6 st/in you want, for example, knit another swatch, using LARGER needles.  For too FEW st/in, re-knit using SMALLER needles. 

The same idea goes for row gauge; If you have TOO MANY rows per inch, use a larger needle, if you have TOO FEW rows per inch, use a smaller needle.

All this is clear enough (if dull) but now can come trouble: it often happens that when you finally get the STITCH gauge correct, then the ROW gauge is off. The fact is, fixing this so they are both correct is truly a BIG problem; beyond the scope of this post.

Taming the stitch gauge/row gauge problem

The beat answer is to knit items where ONE of the gauges DOES NOT MATTER. Often, the ROW gauge is immaterial, because the measurements are given in LENGTH (inches or centimeters) rather than being expressed in row count. For example, the instructions will say "knit 48 rows or until piece measures 6 inches." If, for example, the row gauge for the pattern is 8 rows/inch, but you are getting 7.5, simply knit until you get to 6 inches (45 rows, instead of 48). Even if the instructions aren't written using length measurements, you can use math in this way to figure it out.

There are also knitted items where the STITCH gauge does not matter, or at least, does not matter very much-- scarves, afghans, pocketbooks--items which not fitted to the body. However, some garments (including these pocket hats) also aren't crucial as to gauge.

Specifically, with the pocket hats, the ROW GAUGE is not exactingly important for two reasons:

1. The pocket hats have been test-knit in three lengths.

A. (below) A close-fitting watch cap:
B. (below) A medium length stocking cap:
C. (below) A longer rasta-style hat:
Your hat is most likely to end up somewhere in this range, and you can say that you meant to make it in that length all along.

2: the final length on these hats can be adjusted by unraveling and re-knitting the top. These hats are knit in stripes and all the shaping happens very suddenly, all in the top color. Because the top is not actually a "stripe" but is actually a big "spot," it can be made a different number of rows than the preceding stripes, without ruining the look of the hat.

The STITCH gauge is not exactingly important with pocket hats either, because these hats are made in 2x2 ribbing (k2, p2). Ribbing is SO stretchy that specifying a gauge is difficult anyhow. Should the ribbing be stretched when measured? How stretched? Ironed flat? If not stretched, then how "unstretched" should the sample be when measured?

The only real answer is that when a garment is made in ribbing (or any other heavily textured fabric) the pattern should provide a stitch gauge in stockinette. The theory behind a stockinette gauge swatch for a ribbed garment is that if you can match the stitch gauge of the original creator in stockinette, you will match their gauge in ribbing too--not a great assumption, perhaps, but all that we have.

And there is one surprising thing about a stockinette gauge swatch: although the number of stitches per inch varies substantially between stockinette and ribbing, the ROW gauge is accurate and can be read off directly from the stockinette swatch to the ribbed fabric of the hat: on the photo below, each ribbed hat stripe (left) is 16 rows high, each stockinette gauge swatch stripe, 8 rows high, and the stripes line up 2-for-1 perfectly. In other words, the row gauge is identical across the two fabrics, regardless of the variation in the stitch gauge from the textured hat fabric to the smooth stockinette gauge fabric.
So, having stuffed you up with all this conversation about row and stitch gauge, what IS the gauge for the pocket hats? Here is the materials list, and the actual gauge instructions...

MATERIALS and GAUGE for the POCKET HAT PROJECT

These hats are knit in a DK weight of yarn. Each hat has 5 stripes, and each stripe uses about 1/3 ball of a 50 gram ball. In other words, 5 balls will make about three 5-color hats.

The yarn used is Dale of Norway HEILO yarn, in a grab-bag color assortment of colors (truthfully, in left-over scraps.) Heilo is a long-staple yarn, reasonably tightly spun with excellent durability and a wide color range, in a DK weight and excellent for utility knitting: the garments look as good at 5 or 10 years of age as when they came off the needles. Heilo is hand wash, however. If you want to make this same hat in a machine washable wool, consider Dale's FALK yarn: same yarn as Heilo, but  superwash.  Heilo (and Falk) are relatively ITCHY wools, and the last tricks in this series deal with how to tame the itchy-wool-on-forehead syndrome. They are also fairly coarse wools.

For the reasons above, the HAT is knit in 2x2 ribbing (k2, p2) but the GAUGE SWATCH is knit in stockinette. The swatch has 12 stitches/2 inches (same as 6 st/in), and 16 rows/2 inches (same as 8 st/in). In the photo just below,  see for yourself.

Two last notes to swatchers.
1. the hat is knit in the round, so the gauge swatch should be also. Click here for a trick to make that faster and easier.
2. The swatch here, as well as the hats, were dressed before measuring by a light steam blocking. Click here for more info on steam blocking.

Bottom line: make your swatch in stockinette, to match as close as you can: 6 st/in OR 8 rows/in (if you get pretty close to both row AND stitch gauge, bonus points!) Next time we'll cast on with the nifty reverse stockinette easy-peasy rolled cast on.
--TECHknitter (You have been reading TECHknitting on: "making hats fit--putting gauge in its place")

Length reassignment surgery: lengthening and shortening knitwear

includes 3 illustrations, click any illustration to enlarge
As a frequenter of Ravelry, I have discovered that Ravelry is the greatest timesuck ever invented, although it is also the best website for all knitters (and spinners and crocheters) and you should join now lots of knitters would like to know how to make too-short knitwear longer, and too-long knitwear shorter, or remove a cast on and redo it, or otherwise start or end their fabric in some other place than it is now.

Now, this isn't very difficult, but it is scary the first time you try it, and there are a few shoals in the water, so that's the subject of today's post.

* * *

Problem:

Let us suppose that you have a sleeve or a hat which is TOO SHORT or TOO LONG, and that you have knit

• from the top down
• in the round or back and forth
• in stockinette

Lucky you, that is the easiest case!

Solution:

1. Unravel and re-knit longer/shorter.

* * *

Problem:
Let us suppose that you have a garment which is TOO SHORT or TOO LONG, and that you have knit

• from the bottom up
• in the round or back and forth
• in stockinette

Solution:

(An aside: the below trick also works for catching live stitches out of an alread-knit stockinette fabric for ANY purpose, not just for lengthening or shortening).

1. If you knit back and forth, unravel the seam to above the area where you will snip. If you knit round and round, just start right in with step 2.
2. Snip one stitch of the garment in the round ABOVE the ribbing (for too short) or just where you want the ribbing to begin (for too long).
3. Using a needle to pick out the yarn along the row or round (purple in the diagrams), unravel all the way around/across the garment.
4. As each live loop pops free, catch it on your needles--the same needle you used to knit the garment in the first place. Don't worry now which way your stitch is laying, just worry about catching it.
5. When the ribbing pops loose, put it aside, you will not need it now.
6. Once all the live loops are caught on your needles, slip your way around the work again, re-orienting and catching each loop RIGHT ARM FORWARD.
7. Attach a new, unkinked yarn by any of these methods: Russian join, overcast join, overlap join, back join.
8. If the garment was too short, you are now ready to reknit, downwards, in stockinette to lengthen the garment sufficiently until it is time to start the ribbing again. This works because stockinette has the wonderful property of lining up REGARDLESS of whether it is knit "up" or "down."
9. If the garment was too long, you are now ready to knit the ribbing from where your stitches are all on the needle. If you have taken out so much fabric that you are several increases higher in the garment, and there are more stitches on your needle than there were when you first knit the cuff/band/edging, switch to smaller (or even to MUCH smaller) needles to re-knit the cuff. This way, the cuff/band/edging will still fit, even though it is being re-knit on more stitches than the old one.
10. If the garment was too short, and your leftover yarn is insufficient to do all the further knitting, unravel the part of the sleeve you popped off, and process it according to these instructions so that it can be reused.

* * *

Problem:
Your TOO SHORT or TOO LONG garment was not knit in stockinette. This means that the picked up stitches to be knit "downwards" will be a half-stitch off in the fabric pattern.

Solution:

1. You need to think outside the box. If the fabric is a ribbing, do the additional knitting for the cuffs/bands/edging in a different ribbing. So, for example, if the garment fabric is 2x2 ribbing, do the edging ribbing in 2x1 or 1x1 or whatever other ribbing you've always had a hankering to try.
2. If the fabric pattern is garter stitch, edge with seed stitch; if it is seed stitch, try a ribbing or a garter stitch, etc.

* * *

Problem:
Your garment is TOO SHORT and you do not have enough yarn to make it longer, no, not even if you recycle the popped-off bits.

Solution:

1. Matching or contrasting color: If the garment body or sleeves (or hat or other garment) is/are too short, unravel the bands and recycle that yarn to lengthen the garment. Then use a matching or contrasting color in the same weight and kind of yarn to re-knit the bands. A blue sweater with green or gray bands would look smashing, and no one but you would know you never meant to have it that way all along.
2. Different dyelot of the same color: It often happens, however, that the same color is available, but in a different dyelot. In that case, do the same thing: recycle the yarn of the same dyelot out of the bands to lengthen the garment, and use the different dyelot for the bands. Bands are most often made in a different fabric stitch (ribbing, for example) than the main body of the garment (which might be made in stockinette). The change of fabric pattern on the bands hides the change of dyelot better than simply adding the new dyelot on in the stockinette portion.
3. Add a stripe of a different color: I don't normally advocate Kitchener stitching (grafting) the snipped off bits back on--the Kitchener stitch is a very slow one, and progress is glacial. Also, there is often a noticeable tension difference between the garment fabric and the Kitchener-stitched row. However, every guideline is made to be broken, and in the case of a too-short sweater for a person of athletic build, a very good effect can be had by snipping and separating the body just below the underarm, or just above the bottom ribbing, and knitting in a stripe of a different color to go around the body. The other part of the sweater is then grafted back on. This can be a successful strategy for too-short sleeves on an athletic person's sweater, also. (Why only an "athletic person?" because a person with a fuller figure, male or female, is unlikely to be much complemented by a stripe just below the bust/chest, or worse yet, a stripe around the belly.) Oh, oh wait, this works on baby sweaters too, for you procrastinators whose target baby has lengthened while the project lay becalmed on the needles for several months. For babies, the stripe looks best just above the bottom ribbing. (Easy Kitchener stitching instruction here.)

Good luck--and if your problem is not solved here, try posting on the "technique" board on Ravelry, or send me an e-mail at TECHknitting@hotmail.com

* * *
Addendum, Jan. 2013:  I've done a you-tube on a trick to quickly separate knitted fabric into two pieces--here ya go...

--TECHknitter
You have been reading TECHknitting on: "lengthen knitting and shorten knitting."

Better bands and cuffs--the wrap-up

Hard to believe it taken from the end of October to the middle of January for this blog to wade through the topic of "better bands and cuffs." Part of the time-span is because posts on other subjects sometimes broke in to derail the train of thought. Between taking so long and being interrupted with other subjects, it seemed wise to wind up this series by tying it together in a (hopefully) coherent way: the wrap-up which constitutes today's post.

The series starts with a prequel, and runs through 9 further posts, 11 total if you include the prequel and this wrap-up post. (Whew!)

The prequel to the series goes over knitted fabrics which don't curl: GARTER, SEED STITCH, RIBBING and DOUBLE MOSS STITCH.

The series proper starts with the post called "Opera and soap opera" which offers an overview of the problem. This post introduces NORM, WANDA and LON. Norm is a normal stitch--situated in the middle of a stockinette fabric. Norm is supported on all sides by his "sibling" and "cousin" stitches. These all share yarn so that stress leaves Norm literally unmoved--he is pinned in place and will return to shape when the stress (from a poking elbow or the like) is removed. Wanda is an edge stitch at the bottom of a sweater band. Stress makes Wanda wander: a stretch or a poke leaves her all ruffled because she has no support along the entire bottom edge: once she stretches, there are no sibling and cousin stitches among whom to distribute the stress and who can bring her into shape again. Lon is an edge stitch on a front band. Lon stretches out long when stressed, because, like Wanda, he has no support along the stretched out edge to pull him back into shape. The conclusion of the first part is that UNSUPPORTED EDGE STITCHES (Wanda and Lon) are the reason GARMENT EDGES RUFFLE and STRETCH OUT.

The second post (Why cuffs and bands are wonky, and what to do about it) suggests a cure: If you KEEP THE EDGE STITCHES OF THE FABRIC AWAY FROM THE EDGES of KNITTED GARMENTS, the edge stitches can't stretch out. In Norm, Wanda and Lon terms, keeping Wanda and Lon away from the edge means that the edges are populated by Norm-type stitches: supported on all sides, these stitches can easily recover from the stretching stresses to which garment edges are subjected.

This part of the series also laid out the easiest way of keeping the edge stitches of the fabric away from the edge stitches of the garment: a SIMPLE ROLLED STOCKINETTE EDGE.

The third part of the series discusses another method of keeping the edge stitches of the fabric away from the edge of the knitted garment, making HEMS AND FACINGS. Again, this works because the edge of the garment is actually made up of Norm-type supported stitches--the Wanda- and Lon-type edge stitches are carefully tucked in on the inside where they are simply not subjected to the stretching stresses present at the garment edge.

The fourth part discusses how to KNIT SHUT A HEM, either a rollover hem, or a hem with a fold line.

The fifth part discusses why knitting shut a hem is best on narrow tubes (socks, cuffs) but how knitted hems flip up on long seams like those at the bottom band of a sweater. The alternative to knitting shut is laid out: SEWING SHUT A HEM.

The sixth part of the series changes direction away from strategies to keep unsupported edge stitches away from the edge of garments. Instead, this post accepts that sometimes the edges of the fabric will be the edges of the garment, and talks about how to stop such fabric/garment edges from flipping and curling. This sixth post also reaches back to the prequel post about non-curling fabrics such as ribbing, moss and garter. You see, the curling and flipping problem actually arises from stockinette's severe tendencies to want to curl. Even when non-curling fabrics are attached to it, stockinette wants so desperately to curl that it simply takes the "non-curling" edge right along with it. This sixth installment shows how STEAMING AND IRONING can help persuade stockinette away from this unruly behavior.

The seventh part also deals with stockinette edged with "non-curling" fabrics: this post lays out a way to knit single-layer fabric edgings which DON'T flip and curl (or at least, which don't flip and curl as much): ZIG-ZAG BANDS. Zig zag bands solve (or at least: help solve) the curling-stockinette problem because the zig-zag pattern breaks up the fault line along which the stockinette wants to curl. The most common use for a zig-zag band is an improved method to attach a garter stitch edging to a stockinette stitch fabric, a scarf, for example, or the garter-stitch front bands of a stockinette sweater.

The eighth post in the series shows TUBULAR CAST ON for a 1x1 ribbing--a method which controls the edge of a ribbing from spreading.

The ninth part lays out the matching TUBULAR CAST OFF for 1x1 ribbing--a method which makes the exact same edge as the tubular cast on, only at the bound OFF edge.

These two posts--the tubular edge posts--really address a very specific bit of the overall wonky-band issue: the problem of controlling stretching in the very edge stitches of a ribbed fabric. Nevertheless, SO many garments are edged with an unhemmed ribbed fabric that the tubular cast-ON and tubular cast-OFF really might be the most useful posts of the whole series.

Tubular cast-on and -off are really spectacularly successful in turning "home-made" knitting into "handcrafted" goodness, and they both work because they stick a Norm-type stitch--a fully supported stitch--at the very, very edge of the ribbed fabric. In other words, we have completely eliminated Lon and Wanda type stitches, and we have turned them all into Norm-type stitches with these two nifty, nifty tricks. In the process, we have come full circle from the first posts to the last, and this is the end of "of the better cuffs and bands" series. Thank you for reading along!

One final thing: some readers have expressed interest in tubular cast ON and OFF for 2x2 ribbings (k2, p2). Although several methods are familiar to me, none are anywhere near as nice as the tubular cast on and cast off for 1x1 ribbing. I'll keep working away on this problem and will be sure to post if some new trick reveals itself.

--TECHknitter
(You have been reading TECHknitting on: "Tricks for knitting better cuffs and bands, series review and summary)

Tubular cast off (it's pretty)

includes 4 illustrations--click any illustration to enlarge
The tubular cast OFF described today is identical to the tubular cast ON of the last post in every way but one: you create them differently. But when the creation process is complete, these two are identical twins. The structure of the fabric is the same, they look the same, they stretch the same. Knitters often complain that their casts on look so different from their casts off, but after this post, YOU, dear reader, will no longer be able to complain about this particular annoyance. In examining the exposed fabric edge, the most eagle-eyed expert will find it impossible to say whether your tubular ribbing edges were created by a cast ON or a cast OFF.

The tubular cast ON, the subject of the previous post, is a three-phase process:
Phase 1 is a row of stockinette stitches cast on over a provisional tail,
Phase 2 consists of four double-knitting foundation rows which are knitted into the heads and tails of the cast-on row, and
Phase 3 is the 1x1 ribbing which follows.

The tubular cast OFF, the subject of today's post is done exactly in reverse, also in three phases:

• Phase 1 is the 1x1 ribbing,
• Phase 2 consists of four double-knitting foundation rows (created exactly like the four double-knitting foundation rows of the cast-ON) and
• Phase 3 consists of two parts:
  

• part 1 is a preparation row or round to separate and prepare the stitches for grafting.
  
• part 2 is the final trick of the whole thing: the stitches separated in the previous part are grafted together. This creates a row of stockinette stitches on the very edge of the garment which is identical in every way with the row of stockinette stitches of the tubular cast ON.
  

Phase 1: 1x1 RIBBING

1. This step is easy: you create a 1x1 ribbing, as deep as you would like. ( BTW: 1x1 ribbing means a k1, p1 ribbing.)

Phase 2: FOUNDATION ROWS

2. This step consists of FOUR foundation rows or rounds. These are the foundation for phase 3. If you are working in the round, place a marker. If you are working flat (back-and-forth) no need for a marker.

• ROW/ROUND 1: Knit each KNIT stitch, and SLIP each purl stitch.
  
• ROW/ROUND 2: depending whether you are working a row or a round, proceed as follows:
  

• row 2: Turn work, and repeat row 1
  
• round 2: slip maker. Now PURL every purl stitch and SLIP every knit stitch.

• ROW/ROUND 3: Repeat row/round 1
• ROW/ROUND 4: Repeat row/round 2

This completes the four foundation rows.

Phase 3: GRAFTING

As stated above, this phase is in two parts. For some reason, the first part of this phase often confuses folks, so here are some illustrations:

(below) Hold TWO circular needles in your RIGHT HAND. To make it easier on you, these should be a little THINNER than the needles used to create the ribbing. (If you are a perfectionist, no fears: transferring these stitches onto these smaller needles will NOT affect your gauge in any way--for more information about why this is true, click here.) Slip a KNIT stitch to the front needle. Specifically, slip the stitch as shown: untwisted. (Unlike in phase 2, there is NO KNITTING in this step, just SLIPPING.)


(below) Next, slip a PURL stitch to the back needle--slipped UNTWISTED as shown. (Again, unlike in phase 2, there is NO PURLING in this step, just SLIPPING.)


Alternate the two procedures: A knit stitch to the front needle, a purl stitch to the back needle and so on, until ALL the stitches have been separated.

(Below) At the end of the separating process, you should have 1/2 the stitches (the knits) on one needle, and 1/2 the stitches on the other needle. The project should look like this:
Now that the stitches are separated, the final step is to GRAFT the stitches together. For this, you will use the KITCHENER stitch. If you know how to Kitchener stitch with a yarn and threaded needle, have at it. If you don't know, follow THIS link for a new, easier method of doing the Kitchener stitch with knitting needles. The separated stitches are exactly like the front and back stitches in all the Kitchener diagrams. In other words, the separated stitches are just like the front and back stitches of a sock toe (the most common form of Kitchener stitching).

(Below) Here is the final result "in the wool." Nice, hey?
One last tip: If you are Kitchener stitching in the ROUND, and you want the round to end beautifully, here is the trick: If you are using a method of Kitchener stitch which involves a prep step for the first two stitches, IGNORE the prep step. If you are using the TECHknitting method, no worries as there is no prep step. When you work the first knit stitch, simply work it 1/2 (insert yarn in correct manner, pull it through BUT instead of dropping the stitch off the needle as you would normally do, put a bobby-pin or other holder through this stitch. Do the same with the first purl stitch--work it 1/2 and put a bobby pin through it as you drop it off the needle. When you come to the end of the round, RETURN the pinned knit stitch to the front needle (right arm forward) and the pinned purl stitch to the back needle (also right arm forward). Use these returned stitches to perform the last half of the Kitchener stitch maneuver on the final repeat. Tada! a perfect ending. (If this closing tip sounds mysterious and difficult, it will all come clear when you try it with yarn and needles--really! Is it worth it to fool with the final stitch like this? I think so: the last photo, above, includes the round end as finished according to this tip and I don't think it shows at all.)

ADDENDUM 5-6-09. If you click this link, you will be taken to a post by Revknits, who adapted the 1x1 tubular bind off for a 2x2 rib--and did a great job of it!

* * *
This is part 9 of a series. The other posts are:

How to knit better bands and cuffs, part 1: Opera and Soap Opera (November 1, 2007)
*How to knit better bands and cuffs, part 2: Why cuffs and bands are wonky, and what to do about it (November 14, 2007)
*How to knit better bands and cuffs, part 3: Hems and facings:(November 22, 2007)
*How to knit better bands and cuffs, part 4: Knitting shut hems and facings (December 9, 2007)
*How to knit better bands and cuffs, part 5: Sewing shut hems and facings (December 23, 2007)
*How to knit better bands and cuffs, part 6: Your steam iron: a mighty weapon in the fight against curling and flipping (December 25, 2007)
*How to knit better bands and cuffs, part 7: Zig-zag bands (December 29, 2007)
*How to knit better bands and cuffs, part 8: Provisional tail method of 1x1 tubular cast on (January 11, 2008)
*How to knit better bands and cuffs: the wrap-up (January 23, 2008)

--TECHknitter
(You have been reading TECHknitting on: "Tubular bind off")