Part 1: The Interior
The interior of a piece of knitting pretty much takes care of itself until you need to block it. Your blocking method is based on the fiber content, the pattern stitches used, and your intentions for the end product. You want that lush and fluffy brioche cowl to stay lofty so you gently pat its damp self into shape. However, that holey, misshapen, lace lump needs to be stretched flat with merciless pinning, an experience from which it will emerge as an elegant shawl.
Part 2: The Edges
Ah . . . but the edges. There’s where the serious finishing happens. There are basically 3 things to do with edges in knitting, whether they’re straight or curved (you are beyond making stair-steps, right?) They are:
- IT (the edge) will be sewn into a seam.
- You will pick up and knit something new along IT (the edge).
- You will do nothing to IT (the edge). IT will be on display to all the world forevermore.
And that, my lovely knitters, is why finishing begins the minute you pick up the needles . . . because when you cast on, you’re making an edge. And that edge might make you cry later. Real tears. Like the time Joan made a beautifully textured, intricate, pink cotton drop-shoulder sweater for her husband. They were headed to Palm Springs for several weeks in the winter, this was during the 80s, and he was a very handsome and bold man, so the pink was perfect . . . except. Except . . . when he put on the sweater after weeks of Joan’s work, the bottom, cast-on edge practically cut him in two.
Joan was a very skilled knitter but, as a dedicated wool and alpaca woman, had never worked with cotton before. Somehow she misjudged and made her long-tail cast-on way too tight.
We were able to fix it, of course, with scissors, some patience, a tapestry needle, and new length of yarn, but let it be a cautionary tale to you.
Pay attention to the edges and your knitting life will be easier. I guarantee it.
I’m an experienced knitter but still picked up some useful tips from these videos. Thank you very much.
Love your hair!!
You are so welcome Lynn, and thanks!!
The writing is covering some of the important bits, such as the difference between the two pieces of 2 x 2 ribbing. I cannot see what the difference is.
Hi Cheryl-
I’ve just watched your finishing video from the early days of web content. It is excellent!
It really is true that finish makes or breaks your sweater – I have just finished a cardigan, and now I know for sure that God, or perhaps, Cheryl, is in the details!
Thank- you for your excellent instruction!
Dawn
Thank you Dawn and you are so welcome. 😀
Thank you so very much for bringing this series to our attention. Of course I wish I had known of it sooner. I am just finishing up my third sweater and will apply your methods to the completion. Its a video I will refer to time and again as I continue my journey through improving my technique. You are and excellent instructor.
Hi Cheryl, my lovely children clubbed together and bought me your Sweater 101 for my birthday in June and I have to say that it is the best knitting gift I have ever received! I have always struggled with matching my tensions to patterns, but thanks to your book that is no longer an issue! I am one sleeve away from completing my first pattern free sweater and I am loving the process! If I have a problem with my knitting you are my go-to youtuber! I wish you lived next door, but thanks to modern technology I have the next best thing!
Oh Deanna. I’m excited for you. And thank you for this lovely comment.
To think that those videos were done in 1992, long before U-Tube was even thought of. Great content and great presentation! There is a difference between home made and hand made… My mothers knitting always looked home made… You have shown how to make the finished garment look hand made… It is a lot of details along the way and most finally the finishing that gives a piece the hand made especially for you… whom ever it is…look.
Finishing is such an important piece of successful knitting but too often it’s shuffled off until the end when it’s too late to do anything to make it look good. It wasn’t your mother’s fault. She was probably just following the directions of the patterns.
Thank you Hazel. It was an interesting deal. After the “success” of my BOND tapes, which back then was unusual, I was approached by the duplicators of my tapes, along with a producer they had brought in, to make another video. This was the result. They paid the production costs. I ended up buying them out a couple of years later because they couldn’t distribute to the knitting market. My trusty friends at Patternworks, the original owners, took over the distribution.
Thanks in large part to you I am indeed the boss of my own knitting. I found you soon after learning to knit and haven’t had to replace old habits.
This is great feedback Nancy, thank you. I love it when people take charge of their knitting. It’s how my grandmother and mother did things and it used to be common.
Thank you for sending this to me. You make it look all so easy and give us the skills to adapt a pattern for a better finish. You make me want to knit all day.
Lesley . . . what a sweet thing to say. Thank you and you are so welcome.
Wonderful videos. I watched all the way through to the finishing and plan to watch them again before I start my sweater project. Thanks. I also posted them on Pinterest for easy reference.
Thank you Margaret! And you are so welcome. And thanks for posting them on Pinterest.
I used to have loads of bother with my cast-on and bind-off edges, until I realized that I couldn’t fix them and had to use different options, now both match the tension of the rest of my knitting perfectly, which is always nice.
It’s better than nice Mark. It’s great! It’s partly just a matter of awareness and paying attention.