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.

BeforeAfterI prefer finishing the cabled headbands with a grafting (also called Kitchener) stitch, because the seam is invisible and looks like the knitting. In the cabled headband featured yesterday, however, there are both knit and purl stitches so optimally you would use both knit and purl grafting stitches. In addition, after I wrote about grafting stocking stitch fabrics a number of readers inquired about grafting purl (garter) stitch fabrics, so I have now included stepwise illustrations for this variation.
Read more... for stepwise instructions and related articles.    Click on thumbnails to view larger images.

Grafting is a versatile technique that produces an invisible join between two stocking stitch pieces. It can be used when lengthening (by inserting rows) or shortening a garment in the middle. If a garment were found to be too long across the center back, you could cut across the stitches, unravel a few rows and then rejoin the two portions by grafting. Read more... to see the grafting stitch used to attach lace trim to a hand towel.

Click on thumbnails to view larger images.