The backward loop method of casting on stitches is also known as the thumb method of casting on, and as the “single cast-on”, “e-wrap cast-on”. It’s a stretchy cast-on that is quite easy to do. However, it tends to leave loops along the bottom edge, which can look rather loose. To counter that, it can be helpful to drop down a needle size for the cast-on, then going up again when continuing with the rest of your project. While the backward loop cast-on is pretty easy to work, I really don’t prefer it for most projects, because I find the stitches very hard to work into on the first row of knitting.
There is one place where this cast-on really shines, though: when stitches needed to be cast on in the middle of a row, like for the underarm of a sweater. Yes, those are still hard to knit into on the next row and may seem rather loose. However, the number of stitches is usually very small, making that less of an issue.
Let’s get started!
Working the backward loop cast-on step by step
Take your working yarn and loop it as shown in the picture below, with the yarn going to the project in front.
Next, insert the tip of the right needle from back to front through the loop.
Pull the yarn snugly around the needle.
Repeat steps 1-3 for as many stitches as needed.
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The bamboo stitch is a wonderfully textured stitch. It looks very similar to bamboo shoots, with the horizontal lines dividing the sections. Hence, the name of this stitch pattern. Also, it’s much easier to work than it looks like. It can be used as all-over patterning in for example dish cloths or blankets. But it would also work very well as a strategically placed accent in a bigger project. It is a simple 2-row repeat, worked over a multiple of 2 stitches.
Let’s get started!
Materials used
Yarn: Paintbox Yarns Simply DK, a good value, good quality 100% acrylic yarn, here in the color Tea Rose.
Knitting needles: This is a pair of straights that I picked up at the second-hand store when I started knitting, brand unknown.
On an even number of stitches, work the following 2 rows for the pattern:
Row 1 (RS): *Yo, k2, pass the yo over both k sts; rep from * to end.
Row 2: (WS): Purl.
Bamboo stitch instructions – worked in the round
On an even number of stitches, work the following 2 rounds for the pattern:
Round 1: *Yo, k2, pass the yo over both k sts; rep from * to end of round.
Round 2: Knit.
The step of lifting the yo over the 2 knit stitches, and the result of that, can be seen in the 2 pictures below.
Insert knitting needle into the yoand lift it over the 2 knit stitches
The result
Viewed from the right side of the fabric:
Viewed from the wrong side of the fabric:
Thanks to my Patreon supporters for bringing you this freebie! Creating quality patterns and tutorials is a lot of work and resource-intensive. However, I find it important to give you free content like this tutorial. Thanks to the generous support of my Patreon supporters, I can make it happen. Thank you, patrons! Click here to join, or click here to read more about La Visch Designs on Patreon.
Herringbone stitch is a stitch pattern that creates a woven looking fabric. It creates a very thick and dense fabric, for that reason it’s often used for home decor projects, or items like scarfs and cowls. Because it is so dense, it’s strongly advised to use a much larger size of needles than you may usually use for that particular yarn. In this tutorial, I will be using a fingering weight yarn with size 4 mm (US 6) needles. But I can already tell you that going up another size wouldn’t have been a mistake. Of course, it all depends on your preference.
There are various ways to work herringbone stitch. As far as I know, they all boil down to a left leaning decrease on the right side of the fabric, of which only 1 loop is slipped off. This is followed by a decrease worked on the wrong side, that shows as a right leaning decrease on the right side of the fabric. Of this, again, only 1 loop is slipped off every time the decrease is worked. There are many left leaning and right leaning decreases, so that absolutely explains a lot of the variations in working the herringbone stitch. In this example, I will be using k2tog tbl as my left-leaning decrease, and p2tog as my right-leaning decrease.
Materials used
Yarn: Leftovers from my Sunglow Forest shawl, it’s Fleece Artist Merino Slim (100% Merino wool; 400 m (437 yds) / 115 g) in “Minegold”
Knitting needles: This is a pair of straights that I picked up at the second-hand store when I started knitting, brand unknown.
For this particular stitch pattern, there is no specific multiple needed for the patterning to work out. So, cast on any number of stitches.
To start, insert the needle through the back loop of the first 2 stitches on the left-handle needle.
Wrap the yarn around the needle…
… and pull it through both loops.
Don’t let the loops drop off the needle yet! See that I use my finger to hold the second loop from the tip fixed against the needle?
Drop the loop, and only the loop closest to the needle tip, off the needle.
Repeat steps 1 to 4 until there is 1 stitch left in the row.
Knit this last stitch.
Next, we can turn the work to start the WS instructions.
Now insert the needle purl wise through the first two stitches on the left-hand needle.
Wrap the working yarn around the right-hand needle….
… pull the yarn through the 2 stitches.
Again, I use my finger to hold the second loop from the tip fixed against the needle.
This is how it looks after I’ve dropped the loop closest to the needle tip, off the needle.
Repeat steps 6 to 9, until there is 1 stitch left in the row.
Purl this last stitch.
Repeat steps 1-10 for the stitch pattern.
The result
Viewed from the right side of the fabric:
Viewed from the wrong side of the fabric:
Thanks to my Patreon supporters for bringing you this freebie! Creating quality patterns and tutorials is a lot of work and resource-intensive. However, I find it important to give you free content like this tutorial. Thanks to the generous support of my Patreon supporters, I can make it happen. Thank you, patrons! Click here to join, or click here to read more about La Visch Designs on Patreon.
Stumped by how to go about picking up stitches to work a neckline? Many garment designs consist of working the body first, and working the neckband later on. This is often done to have the cast-on or bind-off edge at the neck help in stabilizing the fabric. This prevents it from sagging when worn. In those cases, picking up the stitches to work the neckband, is one of the last steps in completing the garment.
Usually, patterns give an indication of how many stitches to pick up. Still, it can be a challenge to pick up the correct number. And, more importantly, have them distributed evenly over all sections of the neckline. As with all knitting things, there are multiple ways and techniques for picking up stitches around a neckline. In this tutorial, I’ll show you how I go about it.
In this tutorial, I’m using my Hay tee as an example. It’s a design by Annarita Ceretti, you can find the pattern here (LoveCrafts link). On a side note, I often work the neckband when I’m midway the miles of stockinette of a garment body. It breaks it up a bit. It also has the added benefit that the neckband already done by the time most of the knitting is completed.
Materials used
Garment WIP: Hay tee work-in-progress, you’ll also need yarn to work the neckband. Here I’m using a mercerized cotton.
Other materials: Bulb pins or removable stitch markers, a circular knitting needle in a size 0.5 mm smaller than used for the body of the garment and a crochet hook in a similar size. The crochet hook is optional, but I find it makes picking up stitches a lot easier. Therefor, I certainly recommend using one.
Marking the sections
Let’s get started with picking up stitches to work a neckline! Every neckline consists of sections. Picking up the correct number of stitches from them is easier if you plan ahead. Part of this is marking the sections with your bulb pins or removable stitch markers. Most necklines have a combination of types of sections. Horizontal sections; bound off or cast on, depending on if you’re working bottom-up or top-down. Diagonal edges shaped with decreases, and vertical edges that are worked even.
Let’s take a look at how my neckline actually looks when put in a schematic. In the below picture, A en C are the stitches over the shoulders. B is for the back stitches. F for the stitches that were cast on for the horizontal bit of the neckline in the front of the garment. D and E are the diagonal parts of the neckline, where shaping was worked.
Now we have to take a look at the pattern to see how many stitches are in every section for the size we’re making. The neckband instructions in the pattern may indicate a specific number of stitches to pick up for each section. Alternatively, the pattern may indicate how many stitches to pick up in total. This is often paired with suggested pick-up ratios in each section to help you hit the target number. For my size, my Hay tee pattern instructs me to pick up a total of 162 sts. But how are those to be divided over the various sections?
In my tee, I had to CO 100 sts for A + B +C. A further instruction on the placement of stitch markers gave me the information that my B = 56 sts, and A = C = 22 sts. The instructions for the front yoke CO tell me my F = 38 sts.
But how to deal with D and E?
Pick-up ratio’s
For sections D and E we will have to pick up stitches along the diagonal edge. This means we can’t just pick up every stitch at the edge that we encounter. This is because stitches are usually wider than that they are tall, and there will be more rows than stitches per given length. In other words: picking up every single one would end up in a distorted neckline. That’s where the pick-up ratio’s come in.
If no ratio is specified in the pattern, picking up approx. 2 stitches for every 3 rows or 3 stitches for every 4 rows for stockinette fabric is a good rule of thumb. Do you have a different kind of fabric, or does your gauge differ a lot from the one in the pattern? Then you can easily calculate the ratio by dividing your stitch gauge by your row gauge. Don’t forget to wash and dry the swatch as you would do with the garment before measuring, though, or the results won’t be reliable.
The diagonal edges in my tee
Going back to my tee! My pattern said to pick up 162 sts total, which would mean that I would need to pick up 12 sts for both D and E. However, my gauge is a tad tighter than the pattern was written for. To counter that, I worked more rows in the yoke increase section. This means that for me, it’s a better approach to see how many rows of knitting are actually in the diagonal section and use the rule of thumb to calculate my stitches. I counted 24 rows, using the 2 stitches for every 3 rows ratio, this gives me D = E = 16 sts.
Please note that I also like to pick up stitches in the corners on both sides of the front yoke CO to prevent any gaps there. These I decrease away again on the first round of knitting the neckband.
Now we have the totals of stitches, we should also check to see if we run in any issues with the ribbing. In my case, I’ll be working 1×1 rib, so it works out alright. If you’re working 2×2 rib or another pattern requiring a certain multiple of stitches, you should do the check and adjust if necessary. You can do this by decreasing in one or more of the orange corners indicated above. You can also adjust the pick-up of stitches in the diagonal sections D and E towards the other pick-up ratio to get a number that works better.
Once we have all our numbers, we can go ahead and put the bulb pins or locking stitch markers in place for the various sections.
Let’s start picking up those stitches!
I like to start at the back because it makes it easier to hide the ends that have to woven in later on. Also, it means I can start with an “easy” section, just pick and knit one stitch for every stitch in the CO or BO edge that I encounter. For this, I insert my crochet hook through the center of a stitch below the edge, wrap the working yarn around the hook, pull it through the stitch to the front, then place it on my knitting needle.
You can find a detailed tutorial on doing this without a crochet hook here.
From the back stitches (B) I continue with the shoulder stitches (C). I’m putting the bulb pins on my knitting needle whenever I encounter one. This is also a good point to count the number of stitches picked up in the previous section, to make sure that we’re on track. The bulb pins or stitch markers on the needle form an indication of the transition points between the various neckline sections, and help in keeping track of the stitch count per section.
Next up, is picking up the stitches along the first diagonal edge (E). To do so, insert the crochet hook through the space between the selvedge stitch and the next stitch, wrap the working yarn around the hook, pull it through to the front, and put it on the knitting needle.
Continue picking up and knitting the stitches along the various horizontal and diagonal sections. The result you can see below, ready to work the neckband!
The result
After working the neckband (in my case in 1×1 rib), not forgetting the decreases in the first round, and working the BO in pattern, this is the result. Please note, both pictures are before blocking!
This is how to go about picking up stitches to work a neckline!
Thanks to my Patreon supporters for bringing you this freebie! Creating quality patterns and tutorials is a lot of work and resource-intensive. However, I find it important to give you free content like this tutorial. Thanks to the generous support of my Patreon supporters, I can make it happen. Thank you, patrons! Click here to join, or click here to read more about La Visch Designs on Patreon.
There are many ways to join two pieces of knitted fabric together. In this post, I’ll tell you all about working the backstitch seam. It’s a sturdy kind of seam, worked from the wrong side of the fabric. This type of seam creates a seam allowance. Because it’s not worked right at the edge of the fabric, this technique can also be used to slightly change the fit of a garment by changing the seam allowance. Do take care to not make your seam allowance too big, say about 1 cm or 3/8 inches. Because it will make a ridge at the inside of the garment.
In this tutorial, I’m using a contrasting yarn to make it easy to view what exactly I’m doing in the various pictures. However, if you want the seam to be less visible, make sure to use a yarn that matches the knitted fabric.
Materials used
Yarn: Paintbox Yarns Simply DK, a good value, good quality 100% acrylic yarn, here in the color Marine Blue. I also used a bit of Tea Rose.
Darning needle: Hiya Hiya Darn It Yarn Needle, or any other tapestry needle, threaded with yarn. You will need a length of yarn about three times longer than the length of the seam.
Working a backstitch seam step by step
In this tutorial, I’m using 2 turquoise swatches to show you how to seam them together using a backstitch seam with the lilac yarn. This seaming technique is worked with the wrong side of the fabric facing, to have the seam on the inside of the piece.
First, line up the edges of the pieces to be seamed together.
As said, here I’m working with the swatches with their right sides together.
First, we secure the seam by taking the needle and seaming yarn around the edge of the fabric. To do so, insert the needle from back to front underneath the strands of the edge stitches in both pieces of fabric.
To finish this step, insert the needle once again from back to front underneath the strands of the edge stitches in both pieces of fabric, and pull the yarn through.
Take care to leave a yarn tail long enough to weave in later.
Next, insert the needle from back to front underneath the strands of the next stitch to the left.
This should be approx. 1/2 cm or 1/4 inch from where the yarn came out of the fabric before. If you’re working with a very fine-gauge fabric, you could consider skipping a stitch instead of going through the next one.
Pull the yarn through.
This is how it looks:
Next, insert the yarn needle from front to back into the point where it last came out of the fabric…
… when behind the fabric, back up about 5 cm / 1/4 inch (1 or more stitches) and insert it through the fabric again from back to front.
Pull the yarn through.
Repeat steps 6, 7 and 8, each time moving to the left, until the entire edge has been worked.
To complete it, just break the yarn and pull the end through the last remaining loop before weaving in the ends.
When turning the piece around, it looks like this:
The result when viewed flat
Viewed from the wrong side of the fabric
Viewed from the right side of the fabric:
Thanks to my Patreon supporters for bringing you this freebie! Creating quality patterns and tutorials is a lot of work and resource-intensive. However, I find it important to give you free content like this tutorial. Thanks to the generous support of my Patreon supporters, I can make it happen. Thank you, patrons! Click here to join, or click here to read more about La Visch Designs on Patreon.
As I wrote in my tutorial on the mattress stitch, there are many ways to join two pieces of knitted fabric together. And they all have their own advantages and disadvantages! In this post, I’ll be talking about seaming with the whip stitch, using a darning needle. This technique is also called an overcast stitch because of the way it looks on the side where it’s worked. It’s a pretty basic and fast to work seaming technique. I’m using a contrasting yarn to make it easy to view what exactly I’m doing in the various pictures. However, if you want the seam to be less visible, make sure to use a yarn that matches the knitted fabric.
Materials used
Yarn: Paintbox Yarns Simply DK, a good value, good quality 100% acrylic yarn, here in the color Marine Blue. I also used a bit of Tea Rose.
Darning needle: Hiya Hiya Darn It Yarn Needle, or any other tapestry needle, threaded with yarn. You will need a length of yarn about three times longer than the length of the seam.
Whip stitch seaming step by step
In this tutorial, I’m using 2 turquoise swatches to show you how to seam them together using the whip stitch or overcast stitch, with the lilac yarn. This particular seaming technique can be done with both the right side or the wrong side of the fabric facing. It yields a decorative seam, that could be used as a design feature when visible on the outside of the piece, especially in a contrasting yarn. In this example, however, I’m working it with the wrong side facing, to have the seam on the inside of the piece.
First, line up the edges of the pieces to be seamed together.
As said, here I’m working with the swatches with their right sides together.
To start, insert the needle from back to front along the edge of the right side of both pieces. Take care to go under both strands of the edge stitch for each piece, and to leave a tail long enough to weave in later. Pull the yarn through.
Next, insert the needle from back to front of the next stitch on both pieces of fabric.
Pull the yarn through.
See how it forms loops over the edges of both swatches? This is why this is also called the “overcast” seaming method.
Repeat steps 3 and 4, each time moving one edge stitch to the left, until the entire edge has been worked.
To complete it, just break the yarn and pull the end through the last remaining loop before weaving in the ends.
When laid flat, it looks like this:
The result when viewed from the RS
For completeness’s sake, you can see below how this seam looks on the other side of the fabric, the right side, in this case:
What if I’m not working with BO or CO edges?
You can, of course, also use this seaming technique on the side edges of knitted fabric. In that case, identify the column of stitches at the edge of the fabric. To work the seam, insert the darning needle underneath both legs of the v at the edge of the fabric for each swatch.
Thanks to my Patreon supporters for bringing you this freebie! Creating quality patterns and tutorials is a lot of work and resource-intensive. However, I find it important to give you free content like this tutorial. Thanks to the generous support of my Patreon supporters, I can make it happen. Thank you, patrons! Click here to join, or click here to read more about La Visch Designs on Patreon.
What exactly are short rows? They’re partial rows of knitting in your project, that can be used to shape the fabric. Think for example of creating extra room for the bust, or to raise the back neck in sweaters. In this tutorial, I’ll tell you all about the wrap & turn method of working short rows. Good to know, is that “wrap & turn” is often abbreviated as “w&t”. If you encounter it in a knitting instruction, it is telling you to wrap a stitch with your working yarn, and then turn your work. By wrapping this stitch, any holes in the fabric by switching the knitting direction in the middle of your row or round are closed.
Grab your materials and let’s get started!
Materials used
Yarn: Paintbox Yarns Simply DK, a good value, good quality 100% acrylic yarn, here in the color 125 Spearmint Green.
Knitting needles: This is a pair of straights that I picked up at the second-hand store when I started knitting. Brand unknown.
Working wrap & turn short rows step by step
To start, work as instructed by your pattern until the point where it says “wrap & turn”.
With the yarn in back, slip the first stitch on the left-hand needle purlwise.
Bring the yarn to the front of the work…
… and slip the stitch back onto the left needle again.
Now turn your work to the wrong side.
Do you see that the stitch we slipped is now wrapped with the working yarn?
Now we’re going to repeat steps 1 to 5, but working them on the purl side instead of on the knit side.
Again, work as instructed by your pattern until the point where it says “wrap & turn”. With the yarn in front, slip the first stitch on the left-hand needle purlwise.
Bring the yarn between the needles to the back of the work…
… and slip the stitch back onto the left needle again.
Now turn your work to the right side again. Do you see that the stitch we slipped is now wrapped with the working yarn?
Before you continue working in stockinette again, we, of course, have to move the working yarn to the back again. Do so in between the knitting needle tips.
In the below picture, I’ve marked the wrapped stitches with stitch markers. It is possible to identify them without marking, but this is just easier.
In this case I didn’t make my swatch big enough, otherwise I could have continued working more sets of short rows, starting the “w&t” 3 sts before the last wrapped (marked) stitch. In other words: Working steps 1 to 8 of this tutorial more times as needed.
At some point, you’ll want to resume working over the entire row or round of the work. This is also the row where you want to pick up the strand that you wrapped around the slipped stitch, and knit it together with the stitch that it wraps.
Especially in stockinette fabric, this wrap is very visible. Also, not knitting the wrap with its stitch will make a visible hole in the fabric. In garter stitch or lace, this may not be that noticeable, though. So, first, work to the first wrapped stitch, and insert the needle from bottom to top into the wrap…
…. Then into the stitch itself as if to knit.
Wrap the yarn around the needle, and pull it through both the stitch and the wrap. Pulling it through the wrap may be a tad fiddly.
To finish the stitch, let it slide off the needle.
Here, I finished the row, turned the work and purled right to the remaining wrapped stitch.
Then, with the yarn in front, insert the needle into the **back** of the wrap, from back to front, and place it on the needle.
If you work the wrap any other way, it will be visible on the right side of the fabric.
Next, insert the needle as if to purl into both the wrap and the stitch itself.
Wrap the yarn around the needle, and pull it through both the stitch and the wrap. To finish the stitch, let it slide off the needle.
The result
Below, you can see the result of the wrap & turn short rows I worked for this tutorial. The shaping is not very dramatic, because I ended up only having room in my swatch for 1 set of short rows.
Thanks to my Patreon supporters for bringing you this freebie! Creating quality patterns and tutorials is a lot of work and resource-intensive. However, I find it important to give you free content like this tutorial. Thanks to the generous support of my Patreon supporters, I can make it happen. Thank you, patrons! Click here to join, or click here to read more about La Visch Designs on Patreon.
Short rows are a very handy way to create shaping in knitted fabric. Use it, for example, to raise the back of the neck in sweaters. You can also think of horizontal bust shaping, to prevent a sweater from riding up. I really like German short rows, because they’re pretty invisible in the resulting fabric, and they’re easy to work too. I don’t know how this technique has gotten its name, though. As I understand it, Germans know the technique as the German equivalent of “double stitch” short rows. But who knows how those things evolve?
Grab your materials and let’s get started!
Materials used
Yarn: Paintbox Yarns Simply DK, a good value, good quality 100% acrylic yarn, here in the color 125 Spearmint Green.
Knitting needles: This is a pair of straights that I picked up at the second-hand store when I started knitting. Brand unknown.
Working German short rows step by step
Work as instructed by your pattern until the point where it says “turn and make double stitch”.
Next, turn your work, making sure you have the yarn at the front of your work, ….
… and slip the first stitch on the left-hand needle purlwise.
To make the double stitch, or ds, we now tug the yarn attached to the stitch we slipped. This lifts it up and over the needle, pulling the base of the stitch with it.
This base consists of 2 strands of yarn, making it look like there are 2 stitches, hence the name “double stitch”.
Next, if the next stitch is to be purled, bring the yarn back to the front of the work between the needle and purl. If the next stitch is to be knit, keep the yarn at the back of the work.
In this step it’s important to keep the tension on the yarn, to make sure the double stitch does not slide back into its previous position, before you secure it with the new stitch worked.
Then continue to work the pattern, making double stitches as instructed.
In this example, I purled back to the end of the row, working the last 2 sts as knit stitches to keep the edges in garter stitches. Do you see the ds, just before the turning gap?
Then I worked 2 more sets of short rows, with each set turning to the WS at 2 sts before the last “turning gap”.
Please note: the ds is counted as a single stitch here! In other words: I worked steps 1 to 6 of this tutorial twice more. This is then the result:
At a certain point, you won’t be working short rows anymore and will resume working over the entire row or round of the work. To close the “turning gaps” you will be working over the double stitches.
Whenever you encounter a double stitch, just knit or purl over both strands as if it were a single stitch.
The result
When viewed from the right side:
And, of course, when viewed from the wrong side of the fabric:
Substituting German for wrap & turn short rows
When you have knitting instructions that contain classic wrap & turn short rows, you can’t just substitute them with German short rows. If you do that, the stitch counts will be off. As a result, the placement of the shaping will be slightly different from what’s intended in the pattern. The main difference between both methods is that with wrap & turn, the wrapped stitch is slipped but not worked. This means it technically isn’t part of the short row itself. With German short rows, however, the stitch in the row below the double stitch is the last stitch worked on the previous short row. This means it’s included in the short-row stitch count.
When substituting German short rows for wrap & turn ones on rows that are getting shorter: Work to the number of stitches as mentioned in the w&t instructions before the last turned stitch, then work 1 more stitch and turn your work. At that point, you’re ready to make a ds as described in step 2.
When substituting German short rows for wrap & turn ones on rows that are getting longer: Work 1 fewer stitch before the previous double stitch than called for in the directions for the w&t short rows, and turn your work. Again, you’re now ready to make a ds as described in step 2.
Thanks to my Patreon supporters for bringing you this freebie! Creating quality patterns and tutorials is a lot of work and resource-intensive. However, I find it important to give you free content like this tutorial. Thanks to the generous support of my Patreon supporters, I can make it happen. Thank you, patrons! Click here to join, or click here to read more about La Visch Designs on Patreon.
As I wrote in my tutorial on the mattress stitch, there are many ways to join two pieces of knitted fabric together. And they all have their own advantages and disadvantages! In this post, I’ll be talking about seaming with slip stitch, using a crochet hook. This technique is particularly suited for joining pieces together, that are not an exact match in rows or stitch patterns. Think for example of easing a set-in sleeve into its sleeve cap. Personally, I also prefer it over other seaming methods, because of how easy it is to undo. That flexibility can be a lifesaver when working on long seams like those on flat-knit sleeves.
Materials used
Yarn: Paintbox Yarns Simply DK, a good value, good quality 100% acrylic yarn, here in the color 142 Tea Rose. I also used a bit of 155 Vintage Pink.
Crochet hook : A crochet hook similar or smaller to the size of the knitting needles used in the project. The hook pictured is by Pony.
Slip stitch crochet seaming step by step
In this tutorial, I’m using the purple swatch to show you how to seam it close using slip stitch crochet, with the orange yarn. This particular seaming technique can be done with both the right side or the wrong side of the fabric facing. It yields a very decorative seam, that could be used as a design feature when visible on the outside of the piece, especially in a contrasting yarn. In this example, however, I’m working it with the wrong side facing, to have the seam on the inside of the piece.
First, line up the edges of the pieces to be seamed together.
I like to use these bulb-pins to hold the edges together, but regular safety pins or stitch markers could also be used.
To start, insert the crochet hook from front to back through both pieces, on the utmost right of the work. Take care to go under only one edge stitch for each piece.
Next, grab a loop of your seaming yarn …
…. and pull it through both edge stitches.
Next, insert the hook from front to back through both pieces, one stitch to the left. Again, take care to go under only one edge stitch for each piece.
Again, grab a loop from your seaming yarn, and pull it through both of the edge stitches. You now have through 2 loops of yarn on your crochet hook.
Next, pull the loop closest to the tip of the hook through the second loop.
Repeat steps 5 to 7, each time moving one edge stitch to the right, until the entire edge has been worked.
To complete it, just break the yarn and pull the end through the last remaining loop before weaving in the ends.
Below, you can see how the seam looks when I flip the piece over.
Please note, this is still on the wrong side of the fabric!
The result when viewed from the RS
For completeness’s sake, you can see below how this seam looks on the other side of the fabric, the right side, in this case:
When I put the seam under a bit of tension, you can see below that the yarn used peeps through for a bit. You can see it is a design feature, using a contrasting yarn. Or, of course, just use the same yarn as for the rest of the project.
And that’s how to work a slip stitch crochet seam. Really not that hard, right?!
Thanks to my Patreon supporters for bringing you this freebie! Creating quality patterns and tutorials is a lot of work and resource-intensive. However, I find it important to give you free content like this tutorial. Thanks to the generous support of my Patreon supporters, I can make it happen. Thank you, patrons! Click here to join, or click here to read more about La Visch Designs on Patreon.
For larger-busted persons, bust shaping may be beneficial for optimal fit of a garment. In this two-part series on bust shaping, I’ll go into the nitty-gritty details on both vertical and horizontal (short row) bust shaping to help you achieve the perfect fit in your knitted garments for your body. In this part, I’ll focus on horizontal bust darts. The previous tutorial about vertical bust shaping can be found here.
What are darts?
In short, darts are a way to add in (or remove) fabric in a specific area, to accommodate the curves of the body underneath. In this tutorial, I focus on bust darts. However, you can also use darts to create more room for a tummy or buttocks, while highlighting the waist.
When talking specifically about horizontal darts, we mean the kind of darts that are worked horizontally. In other words: adding in rows of knitting to add additional length to the fabric in the place where it’s needed. In this case, at the bust. These short rows can be done working top-down or bottom-up, the approach is exactly the same. That said, my personal preference is to work garments top-down. So, that’s what I’ll use for illustrating the concept in this tutorial.
But first, we have to measure!
Measuring
We need to measure. Not only to determine whether you actually need to add horizontal bust darts, but also for how many rows. Sometimes, a sweater may ride up because a lack of width at the bust stretches the fabric in that direction. This causes it to shrink in the other direction. In that particular case, vertical bust darts would be the first modification to look into, because it’s usually easier to implement in an all-over stitch pattern, than short rows. Before we do any measuring, though, make sure you wear a well-fitting bra, because this will influence the resulting measurements.
To find the relevant vertical measurements, tie a piece of string around your waist, and measure from the “shoulder seam” to this string. First over the full bust as pictured below. Also note where both the upper bust and the full bust fall, when measured from the shoulder seam.
Next, measure again from the shoulder seam to the piece of string around the waist, but now at the side of the full bust. Alternatively, you can also measure from the shoulder seam to the waist at the back.
Now, on my mannequin there is not much difference between both measurements, only 4 centimeters or 1.57 inches. As a rule of thumb: if there is more than 5 cm (2 inches) of difference, horizontal bust darts would be beneficial. If the difference is less, the inherent stretchiness of knitted fabric is probably enough. Unless you’re making a garment with a lot of negative ease, of course.
The first relevant horizontal measurement we have to take, is the distance between the full bust points (“nipples”). To find this measurement, wrap the tape measure around the fullest part of your bust, keeping it level with the floor. In the picture below, the full bust points would be approx. at numbers 10 and 82 on the tape measure. Of course, here, I’m holding the tape measure all wrong to actually read the distance between those points.
The second horizontal measurement we have to take, is the distance between the side seam, and the full bust point. This will help you determine how many stitches to work plain before turning the work.
Horizontal bust dart placement
As with all knitting, there are 2 dimensions to consider for optimal placement: the vertical and the horizontal one. For the vertical dimension – when to start the dart (in a top-down garment) – we really have to take a good look at your personal measurements as well as your gauge. You want to have the shortest pair of short rows at or just below the bust apex. But everyone’s full bust hits at a different vertical point, as is the case for the sweater’s sleeve separation. So I really can’t give you pointers in the sense of starting x cm or inches below sleeve separation. Fortunately, we have measured this!
For the horizontal placement of the bust dart, we also have some rules of thumb:
The shortest pair of short rows should be at least 5 cm (2 inches) wider than the distance between the full bust points.
The longest pair of short rows should be at least 2.5 cm or 1 inch from the side seam.
In the below schematic, I’ve pictured the various horizontal measurements:
Horizontal bust dart worksheet
To plan out the bust darts, we will need to do a few calculations. These are based on the measurements we’ve taken and the gauge of our knitting.
A: Vertical measurement from shoulder seam to waist over the full bust: _____ i.e. size 45 cm or 12 inches.
B: Vertical measurement from shoulder seam to waist at the side of the bust or at the back: ____ (i.e. 37.5 cm or 9 inches)
C: Difference between A and B: ____ (i.e. 7.5 cm or 3 inches)
D: Calculate C (divided by 2.5 for measurements in cm) times the number of rows/rounds per 2.5 cm or per inch in your gauge: _____. This is the total number of short rows to add. Round up to the nearest even number if needed.
E: Divide D by 2 to get the number of turns at each side of the garment: ____
F: The vertical distance from shoulder seam to full bust: ____ (i.e. 27.5 cm or 11 inches)
G: The horizontal distance between the side seam and the nearest bust point: ____ (i.e. 15 cm or 6 inches)
H: Calculate G minus the horizontal distance from the side seam and the bust point (= 2.5 + 2.5 cm / 1 + 1 inches): ____ (i.e. 10 cm or 4 inches)
I: Multiply H with your stitch gauge to find your dart width: _____ This is the number of stitches to used to determine the distance (in stitches) between short row lengths.
J: Divide I by E to get the number of stitches between turns: _____
K: The horizontal distance between the bust points: ____ (i.e. 17.5 cm or 7 inches)
An example:
Say A is 45 cm, and my B is 37.5 cm. This means the difference (C) is 45 – 37.5 = 7.5 cm. With a row gauge of 24 rows / 10 cm (4 inches) or 6 rows per 2.5 cm (1 inch) I arrive at 18 short rows to add (D). This also means I will turn 9 times on each side of the bust (E). If the vertical distance from shoulder seam to full bust (F) is 27.5 cm (11 inches), this means I want to start my short rows a couple of rows or rounds later.
My G is 15 cm, and I want to keep the turns 2.5 cm (1 inch) from both the side seam and the nearest bust point. This means I have 15 – 5 = 10 cm (4 inches) to work and space the short row turns in, on each side of the bust (H). With a stitch gauge of 20 sts / 10 cm (4 inches) my (I) would be 20 sts. We already calculated that we had 9 turns to work on each side. In other words: my J = 20 divided by 9 = 2.2, meaning that we work a turn every 2 sts: every short row is 2 stitches longer (or shorter) than the previous one.
Also, working top down, we start with the shortest pair of short rows with a turning point at 2.5 cm (1 inch) or 5 sts on the outside of the full bust point. In this example, we also have 17.5 cm or 28 stitches between the full bust points. The longest pair of short rows will have its turning point at 2.5 cm or 5 stitches from the side seam.
Knitting your bust dart
To start, work a right-side row across the front of the garment to 2.5 cm (1 inch) on the outside of the bust point. Then use the short row technique if your preference, and turn the work. Next, work a wrong-side row across the front to the point 2.5 cm (1 inch) outside the other bust point. Again, turn, using your short row technique of preference.
Continue to work longer and longer rows across the front of the sweater. Each one longer than the previous one by the number of stitches calculated at J, until you have worked all the necessary short rows. You should have enough stitches in the last two short rows to go across to 2.5 cm (1 inch) of the side seam. Turn and work one final right side row across the middle and one side.
In the below image, I made a visual of this:
And with this, your short row bust dart is done, and you can continue with the rest of your garment!
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