How do I stitch down a hem, and still have stretch?

#1

:?? [color=green] I have made a couple of things lately, namely a sweater and a pair of bootie socks, wherein I knitted ribbing which was then folded over to the back side and stitched down. I love this look and feel, but am concerned about keeping maximum stretchiness.

I haven’t run across directions for this in the myriad of books I have read now on knitting…I need to know how to anchor the rollover without just leaving a big loose bit of yarn between each stitch. Should I take two or three stitches in the same place before going to the next stitch, leaving it kindof loose between each anchor spot?

Here are the sockies; I am having trouble getting one of them on my foot. I’d like to learn more about this before I take out the hem and try again.

Any advice, anyone?[/color]

#2

[size=6][color=red]Here is the picture of the sockies…[/color][/size]

#3

your hem will only be as stretchy as your cast on/cast off
OR you can graft the live stitches to the knit stitches (not sew, but kitchener type grafting. (‘sew’ in the knit stitch)

are you binding off and then sewing? how stetchy is your bind off?

are you casting on , knitting down and then returning to sew down hem? then again, how stretchy is your cast on?

grafting can be too tight, too, but generally speaking, it offers the best solution. (that and practice!)

#4

I knitted these from the toe, up, …the ribbing was done on size 2 needles, and cast off with a size 6, so the cast off is plenty stretchy. It’s the stitching down that is giving me problems…if I just do a big loopy stitch down, it’ll be able to catch on my toes, or just get uneven.

#5

I’ve never seen knitting hemmed. Even when you buy it at a store it’s usually not hemmed. :shrug:

#6

I’m a huge fan of knitted hems. (Probably due to my many decades of sewing, tailoring.) I’ve done both the knitted form (knitting co edge tog with body) or sewn later. On upper pocket edge I’ve done rib on inside otherwise do st st for body/sleeves. Both have had perfect amt of stretch for my purposes but I like a tailored look (not something that draws in very much). I slip st every other st with body when sewing. Helps edge lie very flat.

Not sure how much that helps when working with bo’s.

cam