Friday, December 11, 2009

Crochet over Stocking Stitch Edging


I've done the Crochet style hem, described in Susan Guagliumi's book Hand Manipulated Stitches for Machine Knitters, page 46; Chapter 2. 10: Alternative Crochet Cast on. Please refer to the book for further details.

The method I used to do the neck isn't covered in the book and this is what I worked out to best match the hem.

Of course I could have tried to put it back onto the machine and managed it that way, but getting the V neck right is way above my ability.

How I Pick Up Neck Stitches: (Just read this bit)
Pick up stitches from the saved ones on the back - I don't cast them off; pick up stitches along the neckline - I do two of the little loops and then the big loop in the middle , ie every third is the big loop, that's my method of picking up neck stitches.

I use knit pics or pro as they are called now, with a 5.00 on the right end and 3.00 on the left end, and a 5.00mm crochet hook.

This is what I did:
Before I picked up the front neck stitches, I did a row of crochet between the stitches on the holder,
I "park" the last loop from the crochet round on the knitting needle,
but could have a stitch marker or scrap of yarn to stop it unravelling,
then picked up and knitted the front edge stitches and knitted across the back,
one round completed.

Photos:
Doing the knit one round:
Picking up the last "parked" crochet loop from the prev crochet round.
putting the loop from the prev crochet round onto the hook:


Crocheting between the stitches knitted on the previous knit row, having the thinner needle and cable make it a lot easier, it also works with the 5.00 end, but it's a lot tighter.

Doing the crochet one round between each stitch on the cable cord:The pick up round is a bit untidy so I did another round into it when I've finished the other.When I finished the neck band I went back and filled in the gaps with another line of crochet stitches, I think it looks better:
I decided to make the V a feature, so I made a centre stitch from the tail, crocheted behind it on that round with one chain behind it so it didn't pull. Every second round I did 3 together... umm. put 2 togther onto the right needle and picked the third behind it and knitted off all 3 tog.

Hopefully, I haven't forgotten anything, (I'll come back and edit anything I've messed up)!

2 comments:

Cynky said...

Dear Ozlorna,

I'm starting knitting socks on my Duo 80, and I found yours on Ravelry. Could you please tell me how you weight the knitting when you do the short row heel please. I can't seem to get the small weights which came with my Knitmaster machine up between the beds high enough to do the job. I would appreciate any advice please.

Now I've discovered your blog I will enjoy looking at your knitting.

Many thanks... Cynthia in UK

ozlorna said...

I'm a thinker outside of the box kind of knitter. so.. I do a couple of different things. I may attach a paperclip and put a weight onto it (sometimes a weight is a cheap padlock). I that's not possible, I may use a green or yellow tool to latch over the loops then attach a paperclip to the bottom and then weight it. or I may CAREFULLY drop the front bed and put a heel grip (or weight) just below the stickyouty thingy, then CAREFULLY return the front bed. THEN make sure the yarn is free (not caught up on the left needle). On cotton socks I found "helping" the stitch to knit off correctly worked best.

Hope that helped.
Lorna