I wanted a hem on a sweater, but I didn’t want to sew. So I did a provisional cast-on on smaller needles, knitted back and forth till I had a decent length hem, joined in the round on bigger needles, purled a turning row, then knitted the same number of rows as I’d knitted before the turning row. Then I put my provisional stitches on another needle, a few at a time (I couldn’t figure out a way to get them all on the needle at once) and knitted them together with the corresponding stitches on my main needles. (Like a three-needle bind-off, but without the bind-off part.) The hem is neat looking and I don’t have to sew!
I don’t think I ever saw this technique anywhere before, but it’s hard for me to believe that I came up with something that no one else has ever done. Anyone out there done something similar?
I think I’ve heard of something like that. The Hourglass sweater has you do something similar for the neckline. After you knit your turning row and the rounds for the hem, you pick up a stitch from your knitting, knit them together and BO. The hem is just done as a whipstitch hem, but your way sounds better.
Not at all a new technique, but Great that you thought about it, and figured it out on your own!
There are other options besides a purled turning row…
you can K1, YO, *K2 YO
and then drop the yarn overs (this will make your stitches all loose (you could also knit them on a much larger needle–but that is a pain)
and use the oversized stitches as turning row.
or you could K1, *YO, K2tog
on next row, Knit the YO’s this gives a "picot’ (zigzag pointed edge) for the turning row. --OK so you might not want that on a sweater for your self, but…
hems, as a finished edge,(vs ribbing) have lots of possibilities besides these!
I’ve used that on a number of pieces. I really like tailored looks and am not a huge fan of ribbing.
Just an FYI…when doing a knitted hem (in the future) the actual hem part should be done on a smaller ndl (down 2-3 szs) as it’ll be tad more firm and less apt to flare on you. You can also use this on the upper edge of pockets, but again, need to do the inside work on smaller ndls (and perhaps a rib to help snug).
I had a moment like that, too, recently. It’s certainly a feeling of accomplishment, even though I’m finding that almost everything has been done before…
It’s always good to be comfortable enough to try new stuff…especially without any guarantee it’s going to work!
I just did something similar onthe sweater i am making
when it came to casting on for the underarm, I did cast on 11 but with a double strand
when I came to the smae place in the round, I split the doubles into singles, and knit 10 onto the body, and left the other 12 for the sleeves
so far it looks seamless
and i am loving this top down Pure and Simple sweater
I thought it unlikely that I actually came up with something that hadn’t been done before. More like discovery than inventing. When we were kids, we used to say that Ben Franklin invented electricity. Same way I invented this technique.
