Knitting

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Work a Pretty Edge on a Two-Color Project

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How to carry the non-working yarn and make a chained edge when you knit stripes.When I’m knitting a project in two colors with just a few rows of each color worked at a time, I like to carry the unused yarn up the side of the work rather than cutting the yarn and having all those extra ends to weave in.

I usually just do this by holding the non-working yarn at the back of the work and knitting the first stitch of the row such that the yarn is caught and sort of pulled up into the next row if that makes sense. (I’ll do a video soon to show you what I mean.)

This tip on working stripes from We Are Knitters also involves slipping the first stitch of each row to make a chained edge along the side. It’s super easy as long as you remember to do it, and those slipped stitches are perfect to work into if you need to pick up stitches along the sides of the project later.

I’m definitely going to give this a try. How do you carry yarn up the side of a project?

[Photo: We are Knitters.]

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Comments

  1. I have just let it sort of hang. I like the idea of the chain edge along the side but need a video to understand it. My luck I’d end up with an unfinished stitch and the whole works would in-ravel.

  3. If it is going to be a raw edge, then I would do as you do, catching the unused strand at the end every time.

Have you read?

Stitch Some Seagulls on Your Sweater

It’s been well documented that I love a knitting pattern with a bit of whimsy, so when I saw the Mine! Pullover from Sarah L. Kelly recently I knew I had to share it with you.

I mean, who wouldn’t want to knit a sweater with a yoke full of seagulls? And another seagull at the waist? Chasing little crabs?

The story behind the sweater (and you knew there had to be one, right?) is that while Sarah was traveling around Europe there were a lot of cheeky seagulls about. They reminded her of the scene in Finding Nemo where the seagulls say “mine, mine, mine” and thus the Mine! series of patterns was born. 

Oh yes, there’s a whole set. It was the sweater I saw first but there’s also a pair of socks (and the pattern says there’s a cowl, too, but I couldn’t find it as of this writing. If you see it let me know and I’ll add the link here!) so you can totally deck yourself out in pesky seabirds if you want.

But back to the sweater for now. This is worked in DK weight yarn from the top down in the round. The yoke and a section at the bottom are worked in stranded colorwork, with stripes on the body, though you could make the body a single color if you wanted. Details like the beaks and eyes are added with duplicate stitch to make the knitting a little easier.

The colorwork sections are charted. The pattern comes in 10 sizes, with a finished chest circumference ranging from 32 to 68 inches, or 80 to 170 cm.

The socks are worked in sock yarn and come in three sizes. There worked from the cuff down and change needle sizes to accommodate the less stretchy nature of stranded colorwork. You can choose from a side profile or a seagull that’s looking out from the sock. Make a matching pair or mix it up.

Both patterns are available on Ravelry: sweater and socks. If you make them I’d love to hear about it!

[Photo: Sarah L. Kelly]