Friday 5 September 2014

The Perfect Finish


Finishing a knitted or crocheted project brings a huge sense of achievement whether it is a small pair of gloves or a large blanket.  But for me one of the projects I most dread finishing is one that needs to be sewn up.  I have a couple of projects languishing in my craft basket.  One of them is an intricate Fair Isle project that I spent ages knitting and the other is a mass of small granny squares. They won’t take long to put together, not compared to the amount of time they took to make. It’s very common for knitters and crocheters not to look forward to putting a project together because they aren’t confident of their making up skills. I have seen many beautiful pieces of knitting ruined by poor finishing and sewing up.  But there are a few simple steps that will really help. 

Before you even think about sewing your pieces together we recommend that you block them.  Many of you will be familiar with blocking for lace shawls, but it is also very important for garments.  If your tension means that your knitted piece is not quite the same measurements as the pattern, you can use blocking to ease it to the correct dimensions, making the fit so much better. When making squares for blankets, some might not be the uniform size.   By blocking them you can make sure they are all identical making sewing up so much easier.  We recommend that you don’t put your iron directly on your piece of knitting but rather pin it into the shape you want, hold the iron above it and press steam.
Jane Crowfoot, who wrote the book Finishing Techniques for Hand Knitting recommends one technique very highly when it comes to sewing two pieces of knitting together.  It’s mattress stitch or ladder stitch and it is really easy to pick up. Your two pieces of knitting face you with the right side of your work facing and you zig zag your sewing between one piece and the other.  The reason it is so revered is that when you pull the yarn that you’ve been sewing with tight, the seam that is created is almost invisible. 

Have a look at this video.


For a really neat finish on a shoulder or to finish a pair of socks, grafting or Kitchener stitch is a really valuable technique to learn, giving you a really neat finish. The formula for Kitchener stitch takes a little memorising but once you get in to the rhythm it’s great fun to see your project looking so good.



So when you put so much time into practising and perfecting your craft or into creating a beautiful garment or project, isn’t it worth spending a little bit of time to learn how to finesse your knitting or crochet and make your project something you can be really proud of.

What is your favourite tip?  Leave a comment and one of you will win a prize.

19 comments:

  1. thank you for the clear grafting video, I often tend to work a 3 needle bind-off instead cos i can never remember the order of it :D

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nice tutorial for the perfect finish. Finishing is the hardest part fo me..knitting is much easier

    ReplyDelete
  3. Be patient. Don´t hurry. If the hour is late, leave it until tomorrow. Let the finishing be the grand finale. Not something that You hurry through just to be done. Then, pat yourself on the back for a job well done! :)
    // Eva
    www.close2you.se

    ReplyDelete
  4. This is hugely helpful! Seaming and stitching pieces together are always daunting.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I like to use the grafting method for my knits, a nice and clean join. If I'm crocheting I will start my work by crocheting into the BACK of the foundations row, or the 'bumps'. It's easier to work and leaves a neat edge for joining, or for if you want to come back and add a decorative edge.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Danielle
      Please email us knitproeu@gmail.com so we can send you your prize

      Delete
  6. I always used to put off finishing my projects because I hate seaming. Now I try and set aside time to sit down and concentrate on neatly finishing them off. It's never as bad as the thought of doing it!

    ReplyDelete
  7. If you've never used a particular finishing technique, practice it with spare yarn first, maybe using old gauge swatches. You don't want a beautifully knitted garment to be spoiled by messy seaming.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I like to weave my ends in as I knit so I won't have that task to do after I bind off.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I do the seaming on a quite Sunday afternoon, when I have good light and am not disturbed. I also take my time doing it - I want the finishing to be neat.

    ReplyDelete
  10. The video seems to be missing

    ReplyDelete
  11. I'm not that good at sewing up, so I get my mum to do it and pay her by taking out for a trip to a yarn shop with a coffee shop.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Wow, the Kitchener stitch looks amazing! Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I used kitchener stitch once and it is so tricky that if I have to use it again, I would have to learn it again...
    I prefer garments knitted on the round, so I sew as less as posible (I love my interchargeable knitpro for that)
    My favourite tip is that blocking is your friend!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Thanks for all your comments. Danielle Dammes is our winner.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Leaving a comment here for the Facebook giveaway as not sure where else to put it! Love my KnitPro interchangeables, have just cast on another cardi with them.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I hate finishing with a passion, to the point of converting patterns to 'in the round' in order to avoid as much finishing as possible! I've been trying to "follow the rules" with my recent projects, knitting swatches and blocking etc so I'll just have to suck it up and learn mattress stitch!

    ReplyDelete