:cheering:
Hi - I thought of adding a vertical slit to a scarf, so I thought I could knit both sides without breaking the yarn…
The scarf is 24 stitches across so I knit about 20 rows, then knit 12 stitches and did an end stitch,and knitted back a row…
…continuing on for about 15 rows like I was knitting a mini-scarf only 12 stiches wide.
Then, of course, after about 10 rows I realized there was no way to join the other side.
I looked online, but all the patterns I found involved breaking the yarn… knitting the other side, and rejoining.
A horizontal knit pattern I found only involves binding off the middle 16 stitches, let’s say - and then casting on in the row after… very clean and simple.
I was just curious if there was any way to knit a vertical slit without having to break the yarn… maybe some way of threading the length of yarn back down to the unknit rows using a crochet hook…
something elegant, without creating broken yarn and loose ends…
thanks-a-bunch everyone!!
Hello knittingaround.
I can’t think of a way of knitting a vertical slit without breaking the yarn, but there is a way of making the joining and breaking less ‘bitty’.
Knit across the full with of the scarf until you reach the row where you want the slit to start.
Decide how many stitches wide you want your slit to be (as your scarf is 24 stitches, I would make the slit an even number eg 2 stitches).
Knit across 11 stitches (half your scarf sitiches minus half your slit stitches).
Using a new ball of yarn and joining it at stitch 12 (drop the ‘old’ yarn at this point) cast off 2 stitches and knit across the remaining 11 stitches.
You should now have 11 stitches, a gap, 11 stitches on your needle.
Using each ball knit each half seperately, untill your slit is the required length. (Some people knit both halves at the same time and others knit one half and go back to the ‘other’ yarn and then knit the 2nd half. Both methods are as good as each other.)
When you reach the row where you want to finish the slit knit across the 1st half, and continuing with the same yarn cast on the same number of stiches that you cast off (the knitting on or cable cast ons are good for this) and continue to knit across the 2nd half of your scarf. You’ll now have 24 stitches back on your needle. At this point cut the ‘other’ yarn that you no longer need leaving an end for weaving in.
Keep knitting across the full width of your scarf untill it is the final length and cast off.
You will have 2 ends to weave in, one where you joined the 2nd yarn and one where you cut it, but that shouldn’t be too much trouble to deal with.
Hope that helps.
"The scarf is 24 stitches across so I knit about 20 rows, then knit 12 stitches and did an end stitch,and knitted back a row… …continuing on for about 15 rows like I was knitting a mini-scarf only 12 stiches wide."
i can’t think of any other way to do this either. I’d be interested if anyone else can think of a way. But, you know, it’s not so bad to cut the yarn and start a new end of yarn. It gives you a couple more ends to weave in but that’s not so difficult to do.
I don’t think you can do it without cutting the yarn either unless you do it horizontally like a big buttonhole. It’s only a few extra ends though if you do it vertically. 
There are some patterns online for keyhole scarves you might check out.
Thanks for the quick responses… I’ve seen the “two balls of yarn” solution elsewhere… I think that’s the best way to do it…
When you use one skein of yarn, and cut it and then cut it again to finish the far side of the vertical slit you are basically “creating” another skein of yarn…
So it’s easier just to use another skein- although actually you can just pull off a few yards of yarn from your skein before you begin to to this… (If you’re using one large skein)…
Or even use another color for a dramatic accent to the skein.
:cheering: HOWEVER…:cheering: …I have a THEORY that you might be able, after you knit your first “half row” to maybe pull forward a huge loop of yarn, keep it to the side, keep knitting the near side of the slit…
…then somehow use this extra loop to finish the other side of the slit…
…and when you reach the “finisher” row of the slit, somehow join this loop back and then go back to knitting garter as usual.
The loop would have to be flexible somehow, so that you could just pull it through to tighten into place… so that it wouldn’t be visible other than maybe more than just an extra line of yarn…
…wish me luck on the big experiment!!!:woot:
Wouldn’t you still have to cut some part of the yarn to do that? And you’d still have a few ends to weave in. I think I’d just cut the yarn and use the one skein myself. I’ve knit many times with two skeins and it’s a pain. :lol:
Let us know how it goes. 
You can also pull yarn from the other end of the skein or ball you’re using rather than cut some off and hope you got enough but not too much. Or knit one side then cut it and start the other side. You’ll end up with the same number of ends I think. Good luck on your adventure. I’ll be interested in updates.
For me, the problem would be that you’ll end up with a length of yarn that has to be woven in as a doubled strand unles you can pull out precisely the length you need (not easy to do). If you cut the yarn so you don’t have the doubled length, you’re back to two extra ends to weave in which is what you wanted to avoid. Plus, it seems to me that the end of yarn connected to the ball will be left in the wrong place.
Let us know how this experiment goes and good luck with it!
There are some patterns online for keyhole scarves you might check out.