Sewing up!

One thing I've found that seems to make it easier is to use a different yarn from the one used for the garment, matching the colour as closely as possible, but it doesn't usually have to be exact. I use back stitch too. That seems to keep things neat.

Thanks BAGS. My next effort is going to be in very expensive wool, so don't want to spoil it. (Rowan Kidsilk Haze). I'll have a go your way.

Ooh, yamyam, Rowan Kidsilk is gorgeous! Have fun knitting it up. Is it for you or for a grandchild?

PS You could ask on ravelry.com as well. They are knitting geniuses over there and have experts on everything.

Thanks BAGS. Will look into it. It's for me actually. DGD probably wouldn't be seen dead in it but I did make her some fingerless gloves which she loves. Quite trendy apparently. (Managed to sew them up OK but it wasn't that difficult!)

I found some very good videos on 'videojug' on all aspects of knitting one in particular allowed me to make invisible seam on my grandaughters cardigan. You have to go through a few to see which type of wool/seam you need. So much easier to grasp when you can see someone actually doing it slowly with good explanation.

* Tack your seams together as you would if you were sewing a dressmaking project, this will give you control of the matching of the two sides involved.
* Using your knitting needles and starting at the beginning of your seam, pick up a stitch from each side of the seam, knit and cast off each pair of stitches all the way up the seam.
* This will join up your seams beautifully and can be done on either the inside or outside of the garment as it produces a very nice effect.
Good luck.

Petra that is such a brilliant but simple idea! Thank you - will try it on my next project.

I used to love knitting, but now arthritis in my fingers prevents it... I loved knitting for the family, my favourite was Aran , one year I knitted me, my husband , and two daughters Aran sweaters, they lasted for about 5 years... kept growing with the family everytime they were washed. With Having five grandkids, they kept me busy knitting baby clothes of every type, which of course I loved, having a bundle of cardis,jumpers, mittens, bootees etc ready for when each grandkid arrived.

yamyam I have a cardigan that has taken me ages and stitching together the seams is the bit that always scare me the most. I'm going to try the Petrapan suggestion.

pamelaJEAN your story reminded me that when my older kids were young, my mum would knit Xmas jumpers for all her grandchildren, but as they all got bigger she was having to start in January to get it done in time. I think there were 14 of them to knit for the last time. There was the Aran year, and the Mondrian Colour block year - some great photos of all of them in their jumpers. Mum's hands got too painful too, and we did miss her lovely jumpers when she had to stop.

Maybe I should resurrect that xmas grandchildren jumpers tradition, as I only have two 4 year olds to knit for!

Oh, and my friend's sister designed these fingerless gloves that I am going to try and make for myself.
http://www.p-hop.co.uk/index.php/patterns/mittens-and-gloves/jacqueline-mitts/

Might be worth combining the front/s of a garment with the back (minus one stitch from each of the inside edges) and knitting on a cable needle. I'm a knitter and sewing by hand isn't one of my strengths, so will do anything to avoid a seam! When you get to the armpits just put the stitches not being worked onto stitch holders. Good for little ones who don't like bulky, itchy seams.

Btw - if it's a jumper you will just be knitting a tube on cable needles until the armpits, which when you get the hang of it is super quick to do!

Sorry didn't mean cable needle - circular needles is what I meant, which are joined by a cable!

ok, will change it to lupomil3

Mattress stitch is pretty much invisible, YouTube tutorial here,
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NvAS-HCWk9I

I hate sewing up, and realised that it is the wool that I hate sewing with, so now I match up with the closest colour in cotton that I can find and I much prefer it. Occasionally I crochet up the side seams instead, which saves all that pulling through of the wool and having it break all the time.

I have been using mattress stitch as well, and if the knitting yarn is at all bumpy or textured I use a plain bobble-free yarn in the same colour to sew up.

May have a try at doing petra's method next time.

I really do not like sewing up!

I hate sewing up knitted garments. It seems so unnecessary. Why do we knit flat pieces for a curved body, and then stitch them together when it is possible to make tubular pieces with shaping included?

Knitting patterns these days seem to follow dressmaking patterns. Flat pieces that need to be joined instead of using the features of knitting - that it can be shaped as it's knit.

There are a lot of books on knitting in the round, and I can recommend any by Elizabeth Zimmermann, and Kniiting in the Old Way by Priscilla Gibson-Roberts and Deborah Robson. Try your library to see if they've got them.

Once you've looked at knitting this way you won't want to go back. If you don't like sewing up, don't do it!

Thank you Versavisa I will have to look those books up. I'm a neat knitter but clumsy seamstress.

I've been knitting for my new grandson, and found several 'all-in-one' baby patterns on Ravelry, some knitted top down. They've been a great success. Funny how we all dislike sewing up. I'll try some of the above suggestions, thanks for resurrecting this thread.

Oh, and if you're searching online (and all knitters should be on Ravelry. I can't recommend it highly enough) look for 'seamless' and ’knit in the round'.

And Elizabeth Zimmermann in particular is my patron saint of knitting. A very inventive lady and her daughter carries on her work. She changed the way I look at knitting and the way I approach patterns.

If you are on Ravelry please make contact with me. I use the same name there too.

Do what I do, get out the sewing machine and machine the article up.

Much quicker and neater.

petrapan I've never tried your way, but what a great idea.
The Kidsilk is so gorgeous, I knitted a scarf in Kidsilk Haze last year but it did involve a lot of swearing because it kept falling off my needles and was really slow to knit. I loved the end result though.

I have 7 garments knitted over the past 9 or so years which are either half sewn up, sewn up and being unravelled or not sewn up at all. Can never get it right.