KNITmuch | Issue 07

Bodice Back
With RS facing, join Col A.
Row 1: (k1, p1) to last st, k1. 53
(57, 63) sts on needle. Turn
work.
Repeat Row 1 for a total of
8 rows (1” [2.5cm]). Work as
given for Shape Armhole to ***.
Continue in pattern until work
from start of bodice measures
3½” [9cm], ending with RS facing
for next row.
Shape neck and shoulder straps
as given for Bodice front, above.
Finishing
Sew the shoulder seams together.
Sew bodice seams under arms
using mattress stitch. Weave in
all ends.
The run-down
The first two questions a beginner
is likely to ask are: “Why did she
change needle size?” and “Why
are we going back-and-forth
now?” I can explain:
The bodice of a garment is an
area where structure is desired.
I tell my students that the
shoulder seams of a garment
act as the “coat hanger”: you
want structure so that the rest of
the garment will hang properly.
By going to a slightly smaller
needle size, and switching to
seed stitch, we can add structure
and not lose anything in the
way of chest size, because seed
stitch tends to expand slightly
horizontally.
Knitting back and forth with
two little seams at the side of
the garment adds stability to the
underarm, an area that can take
a lot of wear and tear. (It also
gives me a chance to talk about
mattress stitch – you’re learning
all the skills this week!)
Once we’ve knitted up the
stitches for the front of the
bodice, the circular needle
serves as the stitch holder. This
saves transferring the remaining
stitches onto a stitch holder
and putting them back onto a
needle when we go to do the
back of the bodice. I’d have
written this section “work in seed
stitch for 8 rows,” but if I had, the
pattern would be elevated to an
intermediate level, in my opinion.
Under “Shaping the armhole,” I
wrote the instruction so that
the next stitch after the cast
off stitch will be the one that
presents to the knitter, NOT the
one that was worked to facilitate
the second cast off stitch. Most
patterns assume that the knitter
knows that the stitch on the
right needle is part of the next
stitch to be worked, but when I
began knitting it caused much
consternation. If I was writing
this pattern for an intermediate
or advanced level, I’d hold to
the practice of “most patterns,”
however, I’m writing it for an
absolute beginner, so I’ve written
it the way my “beginner knitter
mind” worked. Intermediate
and advanced knitters you’ll
recognize that we’re working
seed stitch here, so the next
stitch will need to be worked as
a purl, but I want an absolute
beginner to be able to follow my
direction to the letter.
In this section, three asterisks
(***) have been inserted. They’ll
come into play when we’re
working the bodice back.
Note that I’ve given a lot of
stitch counts in this section.
Again, the purpose for this is
to provide ample opportunities
for a beginner knitter to be able
to double-check their work.
Intermediate knitters are apt
to find them handy, too, while
advanced knitters may want to
skip over most of them.
After row 5 on the first strap,
and row 4 of the second strap, I
could have instructed “continue
working in pattern until work
measures….” Again, I’ve written
it the “spelled out” way for the
benefit of beginning knitters.
Once a beginner has worked
several patterns of this nature,
they’ll be able to go with the
more vague instruction given
quotes, above.
The bodice back has many
similarities to the bodice front.
Rather than repeat all that text
for the back of the garment,
most patterns will refer the knitter
back up to the pertinent sections.
The sentence after the three
asterisks (***) in the bodice front
directions differs on the back, so
I wrote the pattern in a way I
can explain it without having to
repeat a lot of text.
Finishing is an area that can
make or break a project, yet
very few patterns give detailed
directions for finishing. The knitter
is left to decide how to do the
various steps. Here’s what I’d do:
Shoulder seams: As I noted
earlier in this post, the shoulder
seams are the “coat hanger” of
your garment. I like to see a
sturdy cast off and a solid seam.
32 KNITmuch | issue 7