Shoulder seams
May. 23rd, 2020 09:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
janestarzPushing ahead with the Stonehaven sweater, and with our new TV (ZOMG) I am well entertained. To be honest, not having to wait for Windows to boot on a laptop means that I actually find it really easy to turn off the TV. I'm having somewhat of a hard time to find binge-worthy shows on Netflix, so I settled for scathing remarks at the doorstep of Star Trek Discovery.
As I was nearing the end of my next skein, I wanted to use the other end of the skein to quickly finish off the shoulder seams. Otherwise I would be forced to finish at least one sleeve before I could. As we already noticed in earlier fittings, suspending the front and back panels from safety pins does tend to shift. Before fitting the project on Eisirt again, the shoulder seams needed my attention.
The pattern called for a three-needle bindoff. You place the panels right sides toghether, with the shoulder seams held together in your left hand on two separate needles. The third needle in the right hand is used to knit through the first stitch on both needles and then as soon as you have two stitches worked, bind off as usual. It makes for a finished seam like this:
Hm.
Would a kitchenered shoulder seam not look much prettier than this? This looks like after all those hours of furiously knitting away, you just whacked the thing under a sewing machine to stitch it up! If I frogged the three-needle-bindoff I could easily put the live stitches back on the needles and do a kitchener stitch instead.
Kitchener stitch is a sewn stitch, but it is designed to match the look of knit fabric as closely as possible. I've used it tons of times on most top-down socks, where you graft the toe closed. And even a few afterthought heels, where you finish the heel last of all. And also the centre-back of the Bagtanker cardigan, where the sleeve meet in the middle.
When the kitchner stitch is in place, your fabric goes from one end seamlessly into the other.
After doing the kitchener stitch the regular way (left) I looked up how to do it purlwise, because that may look better, with the pattern stitch being mostly purl stitches as well. The purlwise way of kitchenering (right) was just as easy -- just reverse the instructions for front and back needle.
The purlwise kitchener creates a big set of ridges that didn't look quite right next to the pattern stitch either. And my friends on WhatsApp agreed that the regular kitchener stitch was better. So I got to unpick the purlwise shoulder and re-did it the regular old way.
And then it was time for a fitting again. I am very nearly at the pattern stitch, which will be fun to do after so much length of stockinette! The sleeve, knit bottom-up, is now some 5 cm above the elbow.
And should you wonder why I am pressing on so hard with this....there's a KAL in the making. More on that when my yarn arrives, somewhere next week.
As I was nearing the end of my next skein, I wanted to use the other end of the skein to quickly finish off the shoulder seams. Otherwise I would be forced to finish at least one sleeve before I could. As we already noticed in earlier fittings, suspending the front and back panels from safety pins does tend to shift. Before fitting the project on Eisirt again, the shoulder seams needed my attention.
The pattern called for a three-needle bindoff. You place the panels right sides toghether, with the shoulder seams held together in your left hand on two separate needles. The third needle in the right hand is used to knit through the first stitch on both needles and then as soon as you have two stitches worked, bind off as usual. It makes for a finished seam like this:
Hm.
Would a kitchenered shoulder seam not look much prettier than this? This looks like after all those hours of furiously knitting away, you just whacked the thing under a sewing machine to stitch it up! If I frogged the three-needle-bindoff I could easily put the live stitches back on the needles and do a kitchener stitch instead.
Kitchener stitch is a sewn stitch, but it is designed to match the look of knit fabric as closely as possible. I've used it tons of times on most top-down socks, where you graft the toe closed. And even a few afterthought heels, where you finish the heel last of all. And also the centre-back of the Bagtanker cardigan, where the sleeve meet in the middle.
When the kitchner stitch is in place, your fabric goes from one end seamlessly into the other.
After doing the kitchener stitch the regular way (left) I looked up how to do it purlwise, because that may look better, with the pattern stitch being mostly purl stitches as well. The purlwise way of kitchenering (right) was just as easy -- just reverse the instructions for front and back needle.
The purlwise kitchener creates a big set of ridges that didn't look quite right next to the pattern stitch either. And my friends on WhatsApp agreed that the regular kitchener stitch was better. So I got to unpick the purlwise shoulder and re-did it the regular old way.
And then it was time for a fitting again. I am very nearly at the pattern stitch, which will be fun to do after so much length of stockinette! The sleeve, knit bottom-up, is now some 5 cm above the elbow.
And should you wonder why I am pressing on so hard with this....there's a KAL in the making. More on that when my yarn arrives, somewhere next week.
