Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Garter stitch and me

Garter stitch and me

Garter stitch, that most basic of all knit stitch patterns, is not one of my favorites. It's true that it helps a lot when you want to avoid a rolling edge or when you need a dense, warm fabric. But it's still pretty boring to do. And besides that I always have a hard time when I have to assemble a garment that has garter stitch anywhere in it.

Today I had a new student who needed to put together her granddaughter's garter stitch sweater. Fortunately I had my copy of Nancie Wiseman's The Knitter's Book of Finishing Techniques with me. I think this is the first time I've ever understood how to use mattress stitching to do this. It's so much simpler than I thought it was. And it looks a lot better than the backstitch seams I usually used on garter stitch.

Garter stitch might just become my new best friend. Umm. Probably not.

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