Monica Knits

To complete the series on invisible horizontal and vertical seams in stocking stitch and garter (or purl) stitch, this article addresses joining two garter or purl stitch pieces edgewise. The approach is similar to Joining Two Stocking Stitch Pieces Edgewise in the following ways: pieces are first blocked, laid side by side on a surface and woven together. Read more ... for stepwise illustrated instructions for joining two garter stitch (or reverse stockinette) fabrics edgewise. Click on any thumbnail to view a larger image.

In yesterday's article the knitted patch was joined to the sock with weaving and grafting. The grafting or kitchener stitches have been discussed in earlier articles, however the weaving or mattress stitches have not yet been illustrated. Each of these methods create invisible joins. Grafting is used for horizontal joins and weaving for vertical joins. Read more ... for stepwise illustrated instructions for joining two stocking stitch fabrics edgewise. Click on any thumbnail to view a larger image.

Earlier this week I was grafting another cabled headband which had both purl and knit stitches, which meant I was grafting "in pattern." For the cabled headband, my preferred method of joining it in the round is with the Kitchener (also called grafting or weaving) stitch, because it creates an invisible join and does not add bulk. When grafting knitted pieces that are "in pattern," a combination of the two basic grafting stitches is used and it is helpful to have a mnemonic to remember which grafting stitch to use and thus reduce confusion. Read more .... for memory aid.

This is the fourth in a series of articles on inserting beads and sequins in knitting. This one demonstrates a variation of the carrier yarn method in which a coordinating, fingering weight carrier is stranded and/or woven behind the work. In my opinion, the appearance is better than the slip stitch method and can be better than the knitted carrier yarn method (if bulk is an issue, or a coordinating yarn is difficult to find). This approach enables the use of beads otherwise too small to thread onto worsted or heavier weight fashion yarn. Read more... for stepwise illustrated instructions and further discussion.