The yarn used in this project is our SweetGeorgia Mohair Silk DK in Arbutus. If you turn the work so that the wrong side is facing you'll see the selvedge seam. I have a friend who parents three kids and races a... We use cookies to improve your experience on our website. Garter stitch ridges look like two rows of bricks stacked on top of each other, off-set by half. You can strengthen any weak yarn by giving it extra twist. For mattress stitch on garter stitch… Vancouver BC, V6P 3G2 Canada, Pickup hours: 10am-5pm weekdays Seaming garter stitch: In garter stitch every row is knitted, forming distinct purl ridges across the fabric. Little Cotton Rabbit Story by Jill Westgarth, Welcome to the Typepad Gift Shop - Showcasing individual talent, Abel & Cole - organic home delivery service, Little Toller Books | New and classic writing about landscape and nature, Rowen & Wren - Unique homewares & interiors. Please enable JavaScript if you would like to comment on this blog. Closed Saturday, Sunday and statutory holidays. What is joining a mystery knit-along all about anyway? Instead I ignore the bars on alternate 'smooth' rows and just sew through stitches on the 'bumpy' rows. Before you begin, it's best to consider what you are going to sew your seam with and whether you are going to use the cast on tail end from the knitted piece or use a new length of yarn. Our 10 Favourite Tips for Working with Hand-Dyed Yarns. 4. It's easy to fix this by unpicking the work to the point just beneath the jump, see 'Unpicking in the event of a mistake' below. Then just re-thread your needle and continue seaming. 2019 Holiday Kit Patterns Now Available! It seems that for some seams are dreaded and actively disliked and perhaps the main reason is because seaming takes longer and after you've finished knitting something you don't want to spend ages finishing it off. I do appreciate you stopping by though. Personally I'm a lover of seams, especially mattress stitch because it gives such a professional finish, so I thought I'd write a little about the benefits of using a mattress stitch seam and how best to work it on different knitted surfaces. Here's a seam joined by sewing through a stitch from every row (both purl bumps on one row and smooth bars on the following row), it looks messy to me: And here's a seam sewn by just using the stitches from the alternate 'bumpy' rows, which I think looks neater: Simply use the same principles as for seaming reverse stocking stitch by sewing through upper bars on one side of the seam and lower bars on the other. Instead I ignore the bars on alternate 'smooth' rows and just sew through stitches on the 'bumpy' rows. Sewing in the wrong channel between stitches (not making a neat V): Sometimes you may accidentally sew through the bar in the centre V of a stitch instead of the bar between two stitches. By clicking below, you agree that I may process your information in accordance with these terms. *Going back briefly to point 2 above. and 2 is an upper bar (mountain, frown, n etc). One of the nice things about a mattress stitch seam is the ease with which it can be undone. 2019 Holiday kit patterns now available for individual download! At this point it does not matter if the stitches are loose (see below). Seaming. Keep working up along the length of the seam, alternating between the right hand side and the left. Sometimes if your mind is wandering you can accidentally jump across channels between stitches. Seaming stripes follows exactly the same process as above. It’s been a lot of fun sharing steps along the way as Felicia has been knitting her Sailing Sweater project (design by Beckie Paul). And now that the blocking is finished and the pieces are dry (click here for the wet blocking tutorial), it’s time for Felicia to seam together both knitted pieces using the mattress stitch as called for in the pattern. Please let me know that you are happy for me to email you these occasional updates by ticking the email box: You can change your mind at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in the footer of any email you receive from me, or by contacting me at littlecottonrabbits at lcr.myzen.co.uk. You can easily learn how to use the mattress stitch and use it to join knit pieces as needed. Usually I begin seaming with the cast on tail from the work (all of my patterns give instruction to leave a certain length of yarn when you cast on) but sometimes there are reasons why you might not want to do this: In these instances you would cut a length of alternative yarn to seam with. If you need to contact me about something else you can here: I will use the information you provide on this form to be in touch with you only to provide updates about newly released patterns and any finished items for sale. You'll get weekly inspiration and updates as well as access to our exclusive "Secret Stash" projects and more. I've heard these referred to as 'frowns' and 'smiles', 'mountains' and 'valleys', 'uppers' and 'downers' and so on, you get the idea. I love knitting animals in Malabrigo worsted which is a single ply yarn but I've often found that half way up a seam the yarn just comes apart and then you have to unpick the seam and start again. And now that the blocking is finished and the pieces are dry (click here for the wet blocking tutorial), it’s time for Felicia to seam together both knitted pieces using the mattress stitch as called for in the pattern. Together, we explore projects, techniques, and ideas around how to bring more colour and creativity to our lives. You see it in the unsewn edges below? This will be very evident on the front of the work, here there is a noticeable step on the left hand side of the seam (see where the arrow is pointing to). Between every column of V shaped stitches there are horizontal bars running from the back of one stitch to the next (on the reverse of the work this is seen as a purl bump).