KNITmuch | Issue 07

For this little tunic, I chose whip stitch. Wherever
possible, I like to use an existing yarn end to sew
into a seam – it gives the yarn end a place to go,
and it reduces bulk at the point where a new strand
of yarn would be added. In this project, I took the
tail from the strap’s cast off. I threaded it into a
tapestry needle, and placed the straps right sides
together. The cast off edge of both straps form a
nice, double chain. I pierce the opposite strap, right
in the beginning stitch of its cast off edge, then I
go back through the first strap and sew back into
the original strap. Then, I go over the edge, and
put the tapestry needle under the “V” strands of
both straps’ chain edge, repeating this all along
the edge. When I’m a few stitches away from the
end of the seam, I weave that strand of yarn back
toward the beginning. There’s another strand of
yarn, and it needs to be woven in, too. I’ll thread
that strand, and finish my seam by working toward
the completed seam, then work this strand into the
seam as well.
While we’re talking about weaving in ends, as
long as the yarn end can be woven into a seam, I
recommend that you do that. However, we have one
yarn end at the neckline on both the front and back
of the bodice that have no seam in which to hide. My
preferred method of weaving these ends is to thread
the whole strand in a tapestry needle, find a nearby
place to get that strand to the back of the work, then
weave it through for a stitch or two. At that point, I
split the yarn into individual plies or pairs of plies if
possible. Then, I weave each of those ends into the
back of the fabric in different directions. This not only
makes it harder to detect the woven in ends from
the front of the work, but in the case of a garment
that will be treated with less-than-ideal care, it also
anchors those ends in more securely and makes it
difficult for cut ends to come loose.
The tip of the needle shows where our yarn end began. I’ve woven the whole
strand in several stitches, by following the path of the stitches in the fabric.
The yarn has been split, and these two ends will be woven off in different
directions to make a strong weave that will be difficult to detect from the
right side.
In the top photo, the yarn end originated in the back piece, and the tapestry
needle is pointing toward the knitter, through the edge stitch of the cast off
on the front piece.
In the bottom photo, the seam has been whip stitched part way across the
seam, and the yarn tail is being held at the back. The tapestry needle now
holds the yarn end from the front strap, and it’s been inserted under the cast
off edge of both pieces from front to back.
KNITmuch | issue 7
33