Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Fair Isle Knitting -- the armholes

Hey, I missed something!
I never told you how to finish the armholes.
First, cut up the middle of the steeking between those two identical color stripes.
Now fold this back to make a facing.
Now pass a normal knitting needle through the stitches on the holder.  On the righthand side you will do this from front to back.
Now bind off those stitches.  I recommend using the background color for this.
Put a slip knot on another needle, knit the first two stitches, then pull the first one over the second one, the way you did when you finished the shoulders.
When you have bound off the underarm stitches, cut the remaining end of yarn about a yard long.
Run the raw end through the eye of a large tapestry needle (sometimes called darning needles).
With one hand, hold the facing on the inside of the armhole just at the last background stitch before the steeking.
Now do a backstitch to fasten the facing down. The first stitch will come from the inside of the pullover just above the bottom end of the steeking and come through the pullover to the outside.
The next stitch will go around the end of the steeking inside the armhole and come out beyond the point where the first stitch comes through the pullover.
Then it will go back inside the pullover at the same place where the first stitch came out.
The third stitch will go from inside the pullover, just beyond the second stitch, to the outside and then back in where the second stitch came out.
If that's not clear, let me know.
On the inside of the pullover, every stitch has to pull the facing close to the inside, not go between the facing and the inside.
If that's not clear, let me know.
Work the entire armhole this way, starting a new piece of yarn if the old one gives out.
Work the other armhole the same way: cut the steeking; bind off the underarm; stitch the facing down inside with a backstitch.
You can go back later and do a blanket stitch in a contrast color if you want but essentially, you are finished. 
The facing may fray a little at the ends.  If you were using real Shetland wool, it would hackle together with wear and not fray.  The stitching down of the facing should stop fraying at that point and a blanket stitch will reinforce it.
Try it on.  Let me know if I need to change directions or give different directions for different sizes.

© Patricia Jo Heil, 2013-2018 All Rights Reserved

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