Sewing a Hem as You Go in Knitting

I love knitting projects with hems. There’s something so pretty and finished and professional about them. Whether you’re doing a picot edge or a plain, folded over hem, it adds a special touch to a project.

But it’s also kind of a pain when you have to sew the hem after you’re done knitting. You just want to be done, right?

The good news is, it’s actually really easy to sew the hem as you knit, though it might be more correct to say to knit in them hem as you knit.

This tutorial from Kelbourne Woolens shows exactly how to do it, and this is exactly the way I do it, too.

I think of it almost like doing a three-needle bindoff, though I don’t use an extra needle; I just pick up the stitch from the hem and work it together with the live stitch.

It’s really easy, and though it is a little slow I’m sure it’s faster than sewing at the end of the project.

Have you ever tried this method? I’d love to know what you think of it.

[Photo: Kelbourne Woolens.]

Over the years I have shared a lot of pumpkin knitting patterns, and I’ve knit and crocheted a lot of pumpkins myself. But it feels like there are always more fun things to try with knit pumpkins, so this year I wanted to look a little more beyond basic stockinette or ribbed pumpkins and share some pumpkin patterns with cables, bobbles and colorwork.

In the cable collection we’ve got these cute little basic cable and ribbed pumpkins from Elly Bear Knits. There are two sizes that make a wide, flat pumpkin and a taller round pumpkin. Both are worked in the round as a tube that’s cinched top and bottom when you’re done, and they use bulky weight yarn.

Another cute cable pumpkin knitting pattern comes from Gray Bear Akswokrat. This one is knit flat and it looks like a chunky yarn but you could use other weights to make pumpkins of different sizes. This one also has an I-cord stem and uses yarn to cinch up the sections of the pumpkin, giving it a more natural look.

Add some bobbles to your pumpkins with this design from Autumn Shelter Makes. Also worked in the round in a tube, it features a repeating pattern of bobbles and uses yarn wrapped around the outside to make segments. This one looks like worsted weight yarn to me.

Of course there’s nothing that says your pumpkin has to be a single color, so let’s throw in some colorwork. I love the look of the Cozy Fall Pumpkin knitting pattern from South Stitch Girls. The little leather loop adds a rustic touch but you could also just add a stick. These pumpkins have five colorwork options and are worked in worsted weight yarn in the round.

There’s also the Autumn Fair Isle Trio pumpkins pattern from Equestriann Style, which has three different sizes of pumpkins with four colorwork designs. They are worked in super bulky yarn in the round and look good with high contrast or more muted color combinations.

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