You can finish off knitting three ways. If you want to bind off or cast off, just knit the first two stitches, insert your left needle into the first stitch you knitted and pull it over the second stitch so the first stitch is wrapped around the neck of the second stitch. Repeat: knit another stitch, pull the other stitch over it. When you reach the last stitch, cut the yarn so you leave a long tail and yank the tail up through the last stitch. If you already know all that but fear you’ll wreck your sweater by mis-weaving in ends, or blocking or seaming it wrong, stay tuned. The third way? Kill it dead. [...]
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Once upon a time (a week or two ago) when I took a wee knitting break, I saw a video of the Yarn Harlot, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, knitting like the wind. Have you seen it? She tucks a straight knitting needle under her right arm, slides stitches onto it with her left needle held crosswise and flips yarn stitch after stitch like a sewing machine. On speed. Her hands almost blur. [...] Body flaws? You can't possibly mean us! Photo courtesy of seeinside Even if you’re an identical twin, you are one of a kind. Your unique body is beautiful, even though you yourself may regard some part as a body flaw. Do you have a special fitting challenge that makes all your hand-knitted sweaters fit not quite right? [...] Were you betrayed by a knitting gauge swatch? Holy wool, is there no justice? If you dutifully knit and measured a gauge swatch despite your eagerness to cast on for your project, why doesn’t the darn sweater fit? How on earth did the dirty no-good lying gauge swatch ruin your sweater? Sad to say, but even the best knitters encounter gauge swatches that lie. Here are the top six reasons. [...] Unfortunately for some of us, how to gauge knitting involves making a nice big gauge swatch. For best results, you bind it off, then wash and dry it as you would your knitted item. When you measure across two or four inches in the middle you discover the exact number of stitches you get per inch. If the very idea of a gauge swatch gives you the willies, you may just cast on in hopes anything close to gauge is good enough. Hello, math fudge. [...] Did you ever knit a sweater with a pattern in your size, but have it turn out completely the wrong size? What happened? Perhaps you grew or shrunk since last time you measured yourself or your knitting gauge was off. Or maybe the knitting pattern designer used a different standard size chart. How can you know what size he or she means? How can you know your sweater will fit? [...] Do you have trouble finding knitting patterns that fit and flatter you? How many sweaters have you made that highlighted a body flaw in the worst way? How many sweaters remain unfinished because the instructions were unclear? If you find a knitting pattern you think you’d like to make, how many ways can it fail you? Let me count the ways. [...] If you’re a knitter who’s math phobic, you have the ruined sweaters to prove it. One was the wrong size, another was the wrong fit, yet another ran out of yarn before completion. Sound familiar? What you need is a math monkey who’ll help you do the math. Or a way to make knitting math simple. [...] Are you a knitter who regards math as a four-letter swear word? Do your eyes glaze over at the mere mention of the word math? If you’re sick of knitting sweaters that don’t fit just right or are completely wrong due to your fear of math, keep reading just a sec and end that pain. [...] Knitting needles come in such amazing variety, it could make your head spin. There are circulars, double pointed needles, or straights in metals, woods, plastics, et cetera, all with different points–blunty stumpo to lace pointy. Throw in the yarn you choose for a particular project and you add more confusion. Which will work best with this yarn in that pattern in your unique hands? Is it all trial and error? [...] |
Helpful Links
Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Cast On Video Tutorial Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off Photo Tutorial TECHknitting Sweater Knitting Pattern Generator Meg Swansen explains Elizabeth's Percentage System on Math4Knitters podcast Knitmore Girls podcast on ratios #78 Knitmore Girls podcast on sizing, fit and ease Brass Needles podcast Episode 48 with Gail Carriger's segment on sweater sleeves (about 7 minutes in) Brass Needles podcast Episode 49 with Gail Carriger's segment on sweater necklines (almost 9 minutes in) Fabulous Crochet Designer Vashti Braha Start Knitting Socks for Soldiers  
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