Invisible Seams

Invisible Seams – using the Mattress Stitch


One of the biggest mistakes many knitters make is using the wrong technique to join their finished knitting pieces together, resulting in a bulky seams.

Too many hours are spent knitting the individual pieces why some do not take a little extra time and effort learning the correct techniques to sew the items together is beyond me. Mattress stitching is done in the space between the edge [selvage] stitch and the stitch next to it, it also hides that misshapen stitch that appears at the end of every row.

Before you start seaming it is important to block your pieces before starting, I repeat block your pieces this will make it easier when you start seaming and the finished results will be much more professional.

Where ever possible use the same yarn you used to knit your pieces to also sew up the pieces. If the yarn you have used is a bulky weight this could result in your seam being bulky, or if novelty yarn like the fun fur yarn or a very loosely plied yarn, which is not suitable for sewing seams, try using embroidery yarn, match the colour of the embroidery yarn as close as possible to the yarn you used to create your pieces, also be aware of the washing instructions, ensure the embroidery yarn can be washed in the same manner as the knitting yarn.

A good idea is to pin or baste your pieces together before you start seaming, try the item on then if you have to make any adjustments to the sizing you can address it now before you start seaming.

Faggoting

It has been another hectic day, it doesn’t help that the temperature is rising, I don’t mean mine, I am talking about the mercury levels, in Australia we are running around in shorts and t’shirts and the fire bans and water restrictions are in full force – gee can’t even hose the kids to cool them down, oh well beach here we come.

Talking about mercury rising and listening to bushfire alerts, reminded me of a very unique knitting technique to create an open weave effect which is called faggotting. I was thinking about the carnage after a bushfire, how branches and sticks where bundled together and stacked for clearing.

Ok you might have your own interpretation for faggot, or faggoting but here it is according to Wikepedia.
Faggot or fagot may refer to:
Faggot (epithet), a derogatory term for a gay or effeminate man
Faggot (wood), a bundle of sticks or branches
Faggots (novel), a novel by Larry Kramer
Faggot (unit of measurement), an archaic unit of measurement
Fagot (pronounced with a silent T), the NATO reporting name for the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 airplane
Faggot (food), a British pork meatball
Fagot(to), the name in many languages of the musical instrument bassoon


Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faggot"

It is a shame that Wikipedia hasn’t included information on the term faggoting and how it applies to knitting.

Ok how does this all relate to knitting - faggotting is a true lacy knitting stitch, in which increases and decreases occur on every row (as opposed to a lacy knitting stitch, in which rows containing increases and decreases alternate with knitted or purled rows).
One common form of this effect when worked in the flat takes only two stitches and two rows for the entire repeat. Row 1 would be an endless repeat of the (YO, SSK) unit. The accompanying Row 2 would be an endless repeat of (YO P2tog).
Ok I hear you asking what does this stitch look like.

Here a very nice pattern to using the faggot stitch to knit a scarve


Abbreviations:K=knit, YO=Yarn Over, k2tog=knit 2 sts together


Instructions:Cast on 18 stsBegin Faggot Stitch Pattern:Row 1 and all rows: *K1, YO, k2tog; repeat from * to end.Continue this same pattern until you are almost out of yarn, bind off loosely.


If you wish to make the scarf wider or narrower, do so in units of 3 sts (i.e. 21, 24 etc)
Why not try it out for yourself